Tayyib bin Amir A Historic or Legendary?

The Ismailites were several times divided in their religious history. The most important division occurred during the time of Al-Mostanser Billah (427-487 H), the eighth Fatimid Caliph in 487 H when a group of Ismailites announced their faith in the Imamate and Caliphate of Ahmad came to be known as Mosta’lawiyeh or Mosta’liyeh, while another group announced their faith in Imamate of Abdulmajid Hafiz (526-544 H), who was an uncle of Amir, considering the Fatimid Caliphs as their Imam until the end of the Fatimid rule. This group came to be known as Hafeziyeh. Yet another group developed faith in the Imamate and occultation of the minor son of Amir, known as Tayyib, and they are known as Tayyebiyeh. Given the fact that the ruling system in Egypt accepted the Imamate of Abdulmajid Hafiz, the Tayyebiyeh members could not stay in that country but could survive with the assistance of Sulaihi dynasty of Yemen, particularly Quin Sayyida Urwi, functioning as proxy of the Fatimides in south Arabia. Even after the fall of Sulaihi dynasty, they could stay in Yemen for some time, but finally migrated to India. Tayyib as the last Imam and Mahdi of the Ismailites has a high status in this religion. The present paper is an attempt to study his life.