Nizar ibn al-Mustansir

Nizar ibn al-Mustansir
Nizar ibn al-Mustansir
	Gold dinar minted in the name of Nizar at Alexandria in 1095
Born	26 September 1045; Cairo, Egypt
Died	c. November/December 1095 (aged 50); Cairo, Egypt
Cause of death	Immurement
Title	Imam of Nizari Isma'ilism
Term	1094–1095
Predecessor	al-Mustansir Billah
Successor	Ali al-Hadi (in concealment)
Parent	al-Mustansir Billah (father);
Family	Fatimid dynasty

Abu Mansur Nizar ibn al-Mustansir (Arabic: أبو منصور نزار بن المستنصر, romanized: Abū Manṣūr Nizār ibn al-Mustanṣir; 1045–1095) was a Fatimid prince, and the oldest son of the eighth Fatimid caliph and eighteenth Isma'ili imam, al-Mustansir. When his father died in December 1094, the powerful vizier, al-Afdal Shahanshah, raised Nizar's younger brother al-Musta'li to the throne in Cairo, bypassing the claims of Nizar and other older sons of al-Mustansir. Nizar escaped Cairo, rebelled and seized Alexandria, where he reigned as caliph with the regnal name al-Mustafa li-Din Allah (Arabic: المصطفى لدين الله, romanized: al-Muṣṭafā li-Dīn Allāh). In late 1095 he was defeated and taken prisoner to Cairo, where he was executed by immurement.

During the 12th century, some of Nizar's actual or claimed descendants tried, without success, to seize the throne from the Fatimid caliphs. Many Isma'ilis, especially in Persia, rejected al-Musta'li's imamate and considered Nizar as the rightful imam. As a result, they split off from the Fatimid regime and founded the Nizari branch of Isma'ilism, with their own line of imams who claimed descent from Nizar. This line continues to this day in the person of the Aga Khan.

Nizar ibn al-Mustansir
Gold dinar minted in the name of Nizar at Alexandria in 1095
Born	26 September 1045 Cairo, Egypt
Died	c. November/December 1095 (aged 50) Cairo, Egypt
Cause of death	Immurement
Title	Imam of Nizari Isma'ilism
Term	1094–1095
Predecessor	al-Mustansir Billah
Successor	Ali al-Hadi (in concealment)
Parent	al-Mustansir Billah (father)
Family	Fatimid dynasty