10 Mysterious Disappearances You've Never Heard Of
8. Al-Hakim
Abū ʿAlī Manṣū, commonly referred to as Al-Hakim, was the sixth caliph (ruler) of the Fatimid Empire, and a man whose legacy is sharply debated. A dynasty of Arab origin, the Fatimid Caliphate existed from the 10th to the 12th centuries, and covered a vast area of North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.
Similar to England's Richard III, Al-Hakim, who lived from 985 to 1021, was a ruler who has quite possibly suffered from negative propaganda. As historian Paul Walker observes in his book, Caliph of Cairo: "Ultimately, both views of him, the mad and despotic tyrant, irrationally given to killing those around him on a whim, and the ideal supreme ruler, whose every action was just and righteous, were to persist, the one among his enemies and those who rebelled against him, and the other in the hearts of true believers.”
What is known for certain is that on the night of 12 February 1021, aged 35, Al-Hakim left for a solitary night-time journey to the hills outside of Cairo. This was apparently not unusual, though on this occasion the caliph did not return, and was never seen again.