Founding of Cairo

Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty, after its general Jawhar al-Siqilli conquered Egypt on behalf of the caliph al-Mu'izz. The new city, called al-Qahira, meaning the victorious, was built northeast of the older settlement of Fustat as a royal and ceremonial enclosure with palaces, a mosque and the university of al-Azhar. It was a walled city intended for the court and the army, and only later did it merge with Fustat. Under later dynasties such as the Ayyubids and Mamluks, Cairo became one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, and a centre of Islamic learning. It remains the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world.

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