Al-Aziz Billah

Abu Mansur Nizar, known by his regnal name as al-Aziz Billah, was the fifth caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, from 975 to his death in 996. His reign saw the capture of Damascus and the Fatimid expansion into the Levant, which brought al-Aziz into conflict with the Byzantine emperor Basil II over control of Aleppo. During the course of this expansion, al-Aziz took into his service large numbers of Turkic and Daylamite slave-soldiers, thereby breaking the near-monopoly on Fatimid military power held until then by the Kutama Berbers.

10 May 0955

Born on the same birth day (10 May): Adam Lallana • Al Murray • Arnold Rüütel • Bert Weedon • Cindy Hyde-Smith • Gabriella Papadakis • George Coe • Konstantinos Parthenis • Lothar Schmid • Manuel Santana • Mark David Chapman • Maybelle Carter • Missy Franklin • Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri • Tonita Peña • Tyus Jones • William Henry Barlow