The Mustansirite Hardship (Arabic: الشِّدَّةُ المُسْتَنْصِرِيَّة, romanized: Ash-shiddatu l-Mustanṣiriyyah) was a political crisis in Fatimid Egypt which resulted in a seven-year famine that occurred between 1064 and 1071 CE.
For several years before the crisis, the Nile failed to flood as was required for crop irrigation, which lowered agricultural outputs.
[2][3]: 98 In 1066, a quarrel between Turkish Mamluk slave-mercenaries and Sudanese African slaves escalated into a full-blown civil war, with both sides vying for control over the weak Caliph al-Mustansir.
[6]: 273 A market run on wheat and bread caused rapid inflation and the complete depletion of Fatimid state coffers.
[3]: 98 The 14th-century Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi relates some of the desperate measures taken by the starving masses during this time—cannibalism became commonplace, and some even resorted to kidnapping passersby by use of hooks dangled from the roof of buildings, upon which the kidnappers would eat the victim.