Related Research Articles
Much of the history of Algeria has taken place on the fertile coastal plain of North Africa, which is often called the Maghreb. North Africa served as a transit region for people moving towards Europe or the Middle East, thus, the region's inhabitants have been influenced by populations from other areas, including the Carthaginians, Romans, and Vandals. The region was conquered by the Muslims in the early 8th century AD, but broke off from the Umayyad Caliphate after the Berber Revolt of 740. During the Ottoman period, Algeria became an important state in the Mediterranean sea which led to many naval conflicts. The last significant events in the country's recent history have been the Algerian War and Algerian Civil War.
The Fatimid Caliphate or Fatimid Empire was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shia dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, it ranged from the western Mediterranean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids trace their ancestry to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima and her husband Ali, the first Shia imam. The Fatimids were acknowledged as the rightful imams by different Isma'ili communities as well as by denominations in many other Muslim lands and adjacent regions. Originating during the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimids initially conquered Ifriqiya. They extended their rule across the Mediterranean coast and ultimately made Egypt the center of the caliphate. At its height, the caliphate included—in addition to Egypt—varying areas of the Maghreb, Sicily, the Levant, and the Hejaz.
The Fatimid dynasty was an Arab dynasty that ruled the Fatimid Caliphate, between 909 and 1171 CE. Claiming to be descended from Fatima and Ali and adhering to Isma'ili Shi'ism, they held the Isma'ili imamate and considered themselves the rightful leaders of the Muslim community. The line of Nizari Isma'ili imams, represented today by the Aga Khans, claims descent from a branch of the Fatimids. The Alavi Bohras, predominantly based in Vadodara, also claim descent from the Fatimids.
The Zirid dynasty, Banu Ziri, was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from what is now Algeria which ruled the central Maghreb from 972 to 1014 and Ifriqiya from 972 to 1148.
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn, better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī biʾllāh, was the founder of the Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate, the only major Shi'a caliphate in Islamic history, and the eleventh Imam of the Isma'ili branch of Shi'ism.
The Zenata are a group of Berber tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic.
Al-Qaid Jawhar ibn Abdallah was a Shia Muslim Fatimid general who led the conquest of Maghreb, and subsequently the conquest of Egypt, for the 4th Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah. He served as viceroy of Egypt until al-Mu'izz's arrival in 973, consolidating Fatimid control over the country and laying the foundations for the city of Cairo. After that, he retired from public life until his death.
Buluggin ibn Ziri, often transliterated Bologhine, in full ʾAbū al Futūḥ Sayf ad Dawlah Bulukīn ibn Zīrī ibn Manād aṣ Ṣanhājī was the first leader of the Sanhaja Berber dynasty of Zirids to serve as viceroy of Ifriqiya under the Fatimid Caliphs, founding a dynasty that continued to rule the region after him.
El-Mansuriya or Mansuriya, also known as Sabra or Sabra al-Mansuriyya, near Kairouan, Tunisia, was the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate during the rule of the Ismaili Imams al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah and al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah.
Ziri ibn Manad or Ziri son of Mennad was the founder of the Zirid dynasty in the Maghreb.
The Miknasa was a Zenata Berber tribe of the Maghreb.
Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, better known by his regnal name al-Qāʾim (القائم) or al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh, was the second caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, ruling in Ifriqiya from 934 to 946. He was the twelfth Isma'ili Imam, succeeding his father Abd Allah al-Mahdi Billah.
The Maghrawa or Meghrawa were a large Berber tribal confederation in North Africa. They were the largest branch of the Zenata confederation. Their traditional territories around the time of Muslim expansion into the Maghreb in the 7th century were around present-day northeastern Algeria. They ruled parts of the western Maghreb on behalf of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba at the end of the 10th century and during the first half of the 11th century.
The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid dynasty descended from Muhammad through his grandson Hasan. The Idrisids are traditionally considered to be the founders of the first Moroccan state, setting the stage for subsequent dynasties and states centered in this region. Their reign played an important role in the early Islamization of Morocco and also presided over an increase in Arab immigration and Arabization in major urban centers.
Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi al-Husayn al-Kalbi, known in Byzantine sources as Boulchasenes and Aboulchare (Ἀβουλχαρέ), was the first Kalbid Emir of Sicily. A member of an aristocratic family within the ruling circle of the Fatimid Caliphate, he helped suppress the great revolt of Abu Yazid in 943–947 and was sent as governor of Sicily from 948 until 953, when he returned to Ifriqiya. He was succeeded in Sicily by his son Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi, but led several campaigns in Sicily and southern Italy against the Byzantines in 955–958, as well as the raid against Almeria that sparked a brief conflict with the Caliphate of Córdoba in 955. He died at Palermo in 964, during another campaign against the Byzantines.
ʿAmmar ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī al-Ḥusayn al-Kalbī was a member of the Kalbid family and a military commander for the Fatimid Caliphate in its wars with the Byzantine Empire in Sicily and southern Italy in the 950s.
Jawdhar, surnamed al-Ustadh, was a eunuch slave who served the Fatimid caliphs al-Qa'im, al-Mansur, and al-Mu'izz as chamberlain and de facto chief minister until his death. He was an extremely powerful figure in the Fatimid court, and was ranked immediately after the caliph and his designated heir. The accession of al-Mansur was probably due to Jawdhar's machinations, and he was placed in charge of keeping the new caliph's relatives under house arrest. He enjoyed close relations with the Kalbid emirs of Sicily, which enabled him to engage in profitable commerce with the island. Jawdhar accompanied al-Mu'izz during the migration of the court from Ifriqiya to Egypt, but died on the way at Barqa. His collected documents and letters were published after his death by his secretary as the Sirat al-Ustadh Jawdhar, and form one of the main historical sources for the governance of the Fatimid state in the period.
Muhammad ibn al-Fath Wasul ibn Maymun al-Amir was the tenth Midrarid emir of Sijilmasa. He was the first Midrarid ruler to adopt Maliki Sunni Islam.
The Zirids conquered the western Maghreb in 979 when Buluggin Ibn Ziri led a campaign to expand his territory. He captured most of present-day Morocco by 980, which remained briefly under Zirid control until his death in 984.
Musa ibn Abi'l-Afiya was a Miknasa Berber chieftain who ruled the western Maghreb for the Fatimid Caliphate before defecting to the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 931. He played a central role in the Umayyad–Fatimid rivalry of the time, and is also remembered for his persecution of the Idrisids of Morocco.
References
- 1 2 Histoire de l'Afrique des origines à nos jours. Robert Cornevin, Marianne Cornevin. Payot.
- 1 2 3 A History of Egypt: Volume 6, In the Middle Ages. Stanley Lane-Poole. Cambridge University Press.
- 1 2 3 4 The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fatimids. By Heinz Halm. BRILL.
- 1 2 3 4 A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, Ǧamīl M. Abū al-Naṣr, Abun-Nasr, Jamil Mirʻi Abun-Nasr
- ↑ A History of Islamic Spain. Professor W Montgomery Watt, Pierre Cachia. Transaction Publishers.
