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Al-Mansuriya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al-Mansuriya (Arabic: المنصوريه ) was a royal residence near Kairouan, Tunisia, and the seat of Fatimid government from the time of Ismail al-Mansur
The new residence was founded in 946 by al-Mansur before the eventual victory over Abu Yazid and replaced Mahdia as the capital of the empire. The city was planned as circular construction after the model of Baghdad, with the palace of the Fatimids in the centre. The building materials were mostly taken from the old Aghlabid residence of Raqadda. It was completed under Al-Muizz, who ensured the water supply with the construction of an aqueduct.
Apart from the courtiers and slave troops, 14,000 Kutama tribespeople were settled there. After the Fatimids based themselves in Egypt the city remained the capital of the Zirids, although it was reduced to rubble in a Sunni uprising in 1016. During the invasion of the Banu Hilal the royal residence was finally moved to Mahdia in 1053. The city was plundered and subsequently served as a quarry for the inhabitants of Kairouan.
The first French excavations took place in 1921, becoming a Franco-Tunisian project in 1972.