The faction fights between the Turkish mercenaries and the negro troops became more constant and violent under this weak and incompetent rule. At length in 454 the Turks, led by Nasir ad-Dawla the Commander-in-Chief, drove the negro regiments out of Cairo and chased them to Upper Egypt where they were kept, although for some years they made regular attempts to recover their footing in Lower Egypt. The victorious Turks dominated Cairo, held the successive wazirs in subjection, treated the Khalif with contempt, and used their power to deplete the treasury by increasing their pay to nearly twenty times its former figure. At last Nasir ad-Dawla’s tyranny made him offensive even to his own officers, and gave the Khalif the opportunity of getting rid of him in 462. Though deposed in Cairo he was able to hold his own in Alexandria where he had the support of the B. Qorra Arabs and the Lawata Berbers. Thus the Arab and Berber tribes under Nasir, helped by some of the Turkish mercenaries, were in command of Alexandria and a considerable portion of Lower Egypt, whilst the expelled negro troops were in possession of Upper Egypt, the Khalif’s authority being limited to Cairo and its immediate vicinity. Added to this was the fact that beginning with 458 there had been a series of bad Niles followed by a famine of seven years duration (459-465), whose later period was aggravated by Cairo being practically isolated by the rebel forces to the north and to the south, the Berbers in Lower Egypt deliberately aggravating the distress by ravaging the country, destroying the embankments and canals, and seeking every way to reduce the capital and the neighbouring districts by sheer starvation. In the city a house could be bought for 20 pounds of flour, an egg was sold for a dinar, a cake of bread for fifteen dinars, and even horses, mules, cats, and dogs were sold at high prices for food. In the Khalif’s own stable where there had been 10,000 animals there were now only three thin horses, and his escort fainted from hunger as it accompanied him through the streets. Many great princes and ex-officials of the court gladly filled menial offices in the few houses where food was still found, and sought employment as grooms, sweepers, and attendants in the baths. Of all the Fatimids Mustansir had at one time enjoyed the largest revenues and in 442 he had inherited the almost incredible wealth of two aged ladies descended from his ancestor Moʿizz. But most of this had long since been plundered by the Turkish guard, and now he also was reduced to dire poverty. The Queen Mother and other ladies of the Khalif’s family made good their escape and took refuge in Baghdad. At length the people of Cairo were reduced to feeding on human flesh, which was even sold publicly in the markets. Wayfarers were waylaid in the lonelier streets, or caught by hooks let down from the windows, and devoured. As an inevitable result of this protracted famine plague broke out, whole