Al-Sayyida al-Mu'iziyya, mainly known as Durzan,[1] was the main consort of Fatimid Caliph al-Muizz[2] and the mother of the Fatimid imam-caliph al-Aziz.[3][4] She was known as the first patroness of Fatimid architecture. Durzān also founded the second great Fățimid mosque of Cairo, a congregational mosque (no longer extant) located in the Qarafa.[5][6]
| Al-Sayyida al-Mu'iziyya | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mother of the Imam-caliph | |||||
| Tenure | 975–995 | ||||
| |||||
| Born | Mahdia, Tunisia | ||||
| Died | c. 995 Cairo, Egypt | ||||
| Spouse | al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah | ||||
| Children | al-Aziz | ||||
| |||||
Durzan was born in the city of Mahdia, on the coast of modern-day Tunisia, in 955,[7] and was brought as a slave, or jariya, to the Fatimid court. It is said that, because of her beautiful singing, she was also called Taghrid (lit. 'Singing As A Bird').[7] Although many Fatimid sources were destroyed, material evidence and literary sources exist that confirm the vastness of her patronage.
In 976,[8] Durzan inaugurated the first phase through the building of the Jami al-Qarafa Mosque with her daughter, Sitt al-Malik. As Cortese and Calinedri argue, this inauguration of the Jami al-Qarafa Mosque marked the first of the two main phases of Fatimid female architectural patronage. Durzan also sponsored a qasr (palace), a bath, a watering pool and a mausoleum.[9][10]
Delia Cortese and Simonetta Calderini have noted Fatimid women’s patronage of public monuments and the link between piety – or religious propaganda – and charity during the delicate early stage of Fatimid rule.
In 973 she moved to the newly established Cairo to the court of the Caliph,[7] where later she died in 995.[11] It is said that when she died in Cairo, her daughter Sitt al-Malik mourned for a month.[11]