The two most trusted and powerful figures in the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa were Slavs who began life in the Balkans, but were transported as slaves to the North African shores and raised at the Fatimid court, where they rose to prominence. Ustadh Jawdhar (d. 973 CE) became the chief administrator of the Fatimid state in the reign of the Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Muizz li Din Allah (953-975 CE), in addition to being among his highly trusted advisors. Qa’id Jawhar is remembered as the most distinguished of the Fatimid commanders in the mediaeval Mediterranean littoral and the celebrated general who laid the foundations of Fatimid rule in Egypt in 969 CE. These are two notable examples of the significant contingent of the Saqaliba slaves who served at the Fatimid court and in the Imam-caliph’s household in a variety of capacities. Using the many newly published studies and sources for this early period, including the recently appeared edition of Jawdhar’s own personal papers, this paper examines the dialectic between the Fatimid sovereigns and their Saqaliba slaves with whom they formed a close bond. In doing so, it also explores relevant facets of Fatimid interactions within and across the Mediterranean As well it examines the social and political dynamics that enabled the rise of Slavic slaves to power and influenced their role at the Fatimid court. Important questions here deal with attitudes toward slaves and slavery and the religious dimension in the slaves’ loyalty to the imam-caliph.