Iftikhar al-Dawla

Iftikhar al-Dawla (Arabic: إفتخار الدولة, lit. 'pride of the dynasty') was the Fatimid governor of Jerusalem during the siege of 1099. On 15 July, he surrendered Jerusalem to Raymond of Saint-Gilles^[1] in the Tower of David and was escorted out of the city with his bodyguard.^[2]

Little is known about Iftikhar al-Dawla, although he is mentioned as governor of Ascalon following the fall of Jerusalem, which suggests he was Fatimid governor of the whole of Palestine.^[3] The Syrian chronicler Bar-Hebraeus refers to him as an Egyptian man. Usama ibn Munqidh's autobiography mentions an emir of the local castles of Abu Qubays, Qadmus and al-Kaf called Iftikhar al-Dawla whose sister was married to Ibn Munqidh's uncle, the ruler of Shayzar.^[3]

Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, canto 3.60 says that he met Godfrey of Bouillon “in the high court of France where I came as Egypt’s envoy long ago.” (Max Wickert translation.)