Banu Khattab was a wealthy Ibadi dynasty of

Hawwara The Hawwara () is a Berber tribal confederation in the Maghreb, primarily in Tripolitania, with descendants in Upper Egypt and Sudan. Hawwara are amongst the most prominent tribes in Upper Egypt, with branches found mainly in Qena. They are al ...

origin that thrived off of the

Trans-Saharan slave trade The trans-Saharan slave trade, also known as the Arab slave trade, was a Slavery, slave trade in which slaves Trans-Saharan trade, were mainly transported across the Sahara. Most were moved from sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa to be sold to ...

. It ruled over

Zawila Zawila (also spelled Zuila, Zweila, Zwila, Zawilah, Zuwayla or Zuweila) is a village in southwestern Libya. During the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Fezzan region. When Uqba ibn Nafi passed through the area in 46 A.H. (666/67 CE), there ...

and the surrounding oases in the

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

region from 918/919 until 1172–1177 when it was sacked and conquered by the Armenian-Mamluk Qaraqush. The instability created by Qaraqush was exploited by the Kanem, who under the reign of

Dunama Dabbalemi Dunama II Dabbalemi (Dunama Dibalemi Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Jalīl) was the '' mai'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in 1221–1259. Life Dunama Dabbalemi was the son of Abd al-Jalil II and Dibala. He succeeded his father as ''mai'' in 1221. A ...

had seized control of the Fezzan, establishing a new capital at

Traghan Traghan or Traghen and Turaghan () is a small town in the Murzuk Desert in Murzuq District in southwest Libya. It is located east of Murzuk and Zizau. A good high road is said to link Traghan to Zizau in the west, with frequent incrustations of ...

, a few miles west of Zawila. They would later go on to rule the Fezzan again under the nominal control of the

Hafsids The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

in the 15th century.

References

{{Libya-hist-stub Ibadi Muslims Fezzan Berber dynasties 918 establishments 1177 disestablishments

See also

References