e recognition of the Fatimite caliph in this
region was little more than nominal.

His successor _Abu 'Ali al-Mansur_, who reigned under the title
_al-Hakim bi'amr allah_, came to the throne at the age of eleven, being
the son of 'Aziz by a Christian mother. He was at first under the
tutelage of the Slav Burjuwan, whose policy it was to favour the Turkish
element in the army as against the Maghribine, on which the strength of
the Fatimites had till then rested; his conduct of affairs was vigorous
and successful, and he concluded a peace with the Greek emperor. After a
few years' regency he was assassinated at the instance of the young
sovereign, who at an early age developed a dislike for control and
jealousy of his rights as caliph. He is branded by historians as the
Caligula of the East, who took a delight in imposing on his subjects a
variety of senseless and capricious regulations, and persecuting
different sections of them by cruel and arbitrary measures. It is
observable that some of those with which Hakim is credited are also
ascribed to Ibn Tulun and the Ikshid (Mahommed b. Tughj). He is perhaps
best remembered by his destruction of the church of the Holy Sepulchre
at Jerusalem (1010), a measure which helped to provoke the Crusades, but
was only part of a general scheme for converting all Christians and Jews
in his dominions to his own opinions by force. A more reputable
expedient with the same end in view was the construction of a great
library in Cairo, with ample provision for students; this was modelled
on a similar institution at Bagdad. It formed part of the great palace
of the Fatimites, and was intended to be the centre of their propaganda.
At times, however, he ordered the destruction of all Christian churches
in Egypt, and the banishment of all who did not adopt Islam. It is
strange that in the midst of these persecutions he continued to employ
Christians in high official positions. His system of persecution was not
abandoned till in the last year of his reign (1020) he thought fit to
claim divinity, a doctrine which is perpetuated by the Druses (q.v.),
called after one Darazi, who preached the divinity of Hakim at the time;
the violent opposition which this aroused among the Moslems probably led
him to adopt milder measures towards his other subjects, and those who
had been forcibly converted were permitted to return to their former
religion and rebuild their places of worship. Whether his disappearanc