Yaqub Ibn Killis - Early Life

Early Life

Fatimid Wazir, Abu al-Farj Yaqub bin Yusuf known as Ibn Killis, was born of an honorable family of Baghdad. By birth he was a Jew, born in 318 A.H./930 C.E. At the young age he came with his father to Egypt where he started his political life at the court of Kafur. He was very intelligent, hard working and honest. Very soon he secured an important position in the Court of Kafur as an expert in economics. In 356 A.H./967 C.E., he embraced Islam by which Kafur was highly pleased and appointed him as his courtier. By this promotion of Yaqub, Wazir Ibn Furat of the court of Kafur got excited with jealousy and was searching a cause to fall against him.

Incidentally in 357 A.H./967 C.E. Kafur died and Wazir Ibn Furat arrested all his companions including Yaqub bin Killis. It is said that Yaqub bribed the jailor and absconded to the West where the Fatimid Caliph Mu'izz was in power on the throne of Imamat and Caliphate.

The Fatimid Caliph Mu'izz, assigned Yaqub the responsibility of country's economy. Through his past experiences he carried out his work with great efficiency. Thereafter at the time of conquest of Egypt, Hazrat Imam Mu'izz, deputed him with Jawhar as-Siqilli for the management there. According to another version, Yaqub accompanied the Fatimid Caliph Mu'izz to Egypt in 362 A.H.

In the beginning, Ibn Furat was continued in the office of Wizarat at Egypt but in 363 A.H./974 C.E. he resigned and Hazrat Imam Mu'izz handed over the administration to Yaqub bin Killis.

During the last period of Mu'izz, and the first two years of the period of the Fatimid Caliph Aziz, (365-386 A.H.), due to toil, honesty and intelligence of Yaqub bin Killis, this position became firm and stable, so much so that in 367-68 A.H./977-78 C.E. Imam Aziz, appointed him as Wazir al Adjall (Chief Minister). Prior to this, in the Caliphate of the first four Imams, an assistant was called 'Wasta' and in this way Yaqub bin Killis was the first Wazir-i-Adjall (Chief Minister) of the Fatimid Caliphate.

During his tenure as vizier, Yaqub bin Killis established various departments anew for the administration of the state - promoted agriculture, reformed trade and stabilised currency - by which country began to flourish and revenue of provinces increased. In this very period Central Exchequer was so much solid in wealth that neither before nor afterwards such a wealth ever accrued. In 373 A.H. he had fallen from his office and it is said that Imam Aziz. had penalised him with the fine of 200,000 dinars. The actual cause of his removal is not known.

Dr. Zahid Ali assumes that because Ibn Killis had treated badly one of the court prisoners of al-Aziz to whom Imam had promised all honours, therefore Ibn Killis had to pay a fine. All the same within a lapse of few months, in 374 A.H., he was reinstated in the office and was also forgiven.