In the 870s the governor of Egypt, Ahmad Ibn Tulun, gained control of both Egypt and Syria and governed as an autonomous ruler, though he was careful not to openly break with the caliph. An army from Baghdad restored them to the caliph’s control in 905, but thirty years later Egypt again became autonomous under a rebellious governor, Muhammad ibn Tughj (935). In 969 the Fatimids, a fervent Shi’ite sect, conquered Egypt. The Fatimids make no pretence of loyalty to the caliph in Baghdad, and their aim is, in fact, to displace them as the rulers of the entire Islamic world.

As an independent state, Egypt’s tax revenues are now all spent within its own borders, rather than some or all of them being dispatched to some distant imperial capital such as Rome, Constantinople or Baghdad. This has allowed Egypt’s rulers to invest in Egypt’s agriculture, improve and maintain the irrigation system, increase the prosperity of the country and boost the government’s tax revenues.

The process of Islamization (and Arabization) has been slowly gaining pace in Egypt. This has not been official policy: quite the reverse (non-Muslims paid higher taxes, so conversion was not encouraged by the government). However, the need by many people to deal with the new ruling elite has spread the knowledge of Arabic, and perhaps too the advantages which come from belonging to the ruler’s religious community, has encouraged many to convert. Nevertheless, the majority of Egyptians are still Christians at this date.