Egyptian factional strife and famine drove the Fatimids to military dictatorship

Evidence

These misadventures abroad no doubt contributed to the growing troubles at home in Egypt. While factional strife led the government of the country into a vicious circle of disorder and tyranny, economic upheavals culminated in a series of disastrous famines, which, according to the chroniclers, reduced the people to eating cats and dogs. Finally, in 466/1073, an able soldier, Badr al-Jamali, established an authoritarian regime which restored order and some measure of prosperity. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 419

Categorization

• CANDY: Chroniclers report Egyptians reduced to eating cats and dogs during Fatimid famine — a grim but tweetable historical detail.