the cities and delegated administration of the cities to ghulam (military slave) governors. During this period of Bedouin rule, the area of settled agriculture shrank while the area allocated to Bedouin pastures grew, and trade routes linking various cities, towns, and villages were threatened by Bedouin raids. After the death of the Numayrid amir Shabib ibn Waththab in 1039-40, Raqqa and its surrounding fertile pastures became the center of a conflict between the Numayrids and the Mirdasids of Aleppo. Shabib's sister as-Sayyidah al-'Alawiyyah was given Raqqa as an inheritance; through her marriage to the Mirdasid amir Thimal ibn Salih, the city and its territory came under Mirdasid control She ousted the ghulam governor of Raqqa appointed by her brothers al-Muta'in and al-Qawam, who now shared power as Numayrid amirs. However, Shabib's young son Mani' viewed himself as the legitimate heir to his father's lands, including Raqqa. By 1056, he had become an adult and gained power as sole Numayrid amir. He sent a demand to Thimal requesting that Raqqa be handed over to him; Thimal refused, and in April 1056 war broke out between the two sides. Ultimately, though, it was diplomacy that ended up bringing Raqqa back under Mani's control. While this was all happening, conflict was brewing between the Fatimid Caliphate (which Thimal was aligned with) and the Seljuk Empire (which Mani' was aligned with). The Turkic general Arslan al-Basasiri, who supported the Fatimids, had been driven out of Baghdad in December 1055 by the Seljuks and was now continuing anti-Seljuk operations from his new base at al-Rahba nearby. In October 1057, al-Basasiri went north up the Euphrates towards Balis and on the way captured Raqqa from Thimal's forces. At the same time, the Fatimid envoy al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi met with Mani' to secure his support for the Fatimids. In return, al-Basasiri handed over control of Raqqa to Mani'. Now under Fatimid protection, the Numayrids reached the height of their power. Substantial amounts of Fatimid money were probably transferred into Mani's coffers at this point, which allowed him to undertake major construction projects in his cities and thus present himself as the only urban ruler from the Numayrid dynasty (although the Numayrids in general remained nomadic pastoralists). The biggest projects were in his capital of Harran, but he probably also started some in Raqqa as well. He certainly had a mint active in Raqqa at this point —