The vizier (Arabic: وزير‎, romanized: wazīr) was the senior minister of the Fatimid Caliphate for most of the Egyptian period of its existence. Originally it was held by civilian officials who acted as the chief civilian ministers of the caliphs, analogous to the original Abbasid model. When a vizier was not appointed, an "intermediary" (wāsiṭa) was designated instead. The enfeeblement of the caliph's power and the crisis of the Fatimid regime under Caliph al-Mustansir, however, led to the rise of military strongmen, who dominated the post from the 1070s until the Caliphate's end. These "viziers of the sword" were also commanders-in-chief of the army, effectively sidelined the caliphs and ruled in their stead, often seizing power from their predecessors. The last vizier, Saladin, abolished