The Sultanate of Tuggurt was a state that extended over

Tuggurt Touggourt ( ar, ﺗﻗﺮت or تڤرت; ber, ⵜⵓⴳⵓⵔⵜ, Tugurt, lit=the gateway or 'the gate') is a city and commune, former sultanate and capital of Touggourt District, in Touggourt Province, Algeria, built next to an oasis in the Sah ...

, the oases of the neighbouring region and the

Oued Righ The Oued Righ (also spelled Oued Rir', Oued Rirh, Wadi Righ) is a region of the northeastern Algerian Sahara. It includes a number of oases, the principal centre being Touggourt. Some of these oases speak Oued Righ Berber Tugurt, also known as ...

valley between the fifteenth century and 1881. It was governed by sultans of the Banu Djellab dynasty.

Background

The city of Tuggurt was subject to the authority of the

Hafsid dynasty The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (weste ...

like all other cities in the east of present-day Algeria. During the periods of turmoil, Tuggurt would revolt and refrain from paying taxes. Like what Yusuf ibn Hasan, a chief of Tuggurt did in the era of the Hafsid Sultan Abu 'Amr Uthman, who was obliged to Subjugate the city two times, one in 1449 and another in 1465. The Sultanate of Tuggurt came to birth in a period that witnessed the weakness and fall of the Hafsid dynasty.

History

The Sultanate was founded in the fifteenth century by the Banu Djellab, a dynasty whose exact origins remain obscure. They claimed to be the last descendants of the

Marinid dynasty The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ...

, and thus modelled their court and ruling system, such as the use of a praetorian guard of black slaves, on that of the Moroccan sultans. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the founder was a certain Sulayman ibn Djellab, a Moroccan prince, related to the Marinid family, who after his return from the '' hajj'' founded a mosque in the region, and with the help of the local nomads, became recognised there as a ruler. He felt secure enough to retain local political structures, including the ''djemaa'' (council) to which he could appoint members. He equipped at his own expense a ''deira'' of five hundred horsemen who became the nucleus of his army. He then patrolled the neighborhood chastising rebels, restoring peace and levying tax. Sheikh Soliman came to terms with the

Douaouda Douaouda is a town and commune in Tipaza Province in northern Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , ...

feudal family, who commanded the “Riah” - nomadic tribes controlling the plain from the to

Ouargla Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune o ...

, by marrying his daughter to the head of this family, Ben Sakheri, who bore the title of sheikh el Arab. As early as the sixteenth century, the Sultanate of Tuggurt had to face the hegemony of the

regency of Algiers The Regency of Algiers ( ar, دولة الجزائر, translit=Dawlat al-Jaza'ir) was a state in North Africa lasting from 1516 to 1830, until it was conquered by the French. Situated between the regency of Tunis in the east, the Sultanate ...

. Salah Raïs,

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit= bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Selj ...

of Algiers, led an expedition against Tuggurt in 1552. The Ben Djellab surrendered in the face of enemy

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...

; politically they became vassals of Algiers and paid it tribute.

List of rulers

The known

Sultans Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

(and one female ruler) were:worldstatesmen, Tuggurt (Touggourt), Sultans
/ref> *Ali II (N/A) *Mabruk (Mubarak) (N/A) *Ali III (N/A) *Mustafa (N/A) *Sulayman III (N/A) *Ahmad II (1729-N/A) *Muhammad I al-`Akhal (N/A) *Ahmad IV (N/A) *Farhat (N/A) *Ibrahim (N/A) *Abd al-Qadir I (1st time) + Ahmad V (N/A) *Khalid (N/A) *Abd al-Qadir I (2nd time) (N/A) *Umar bin Bu-Kumetin (175.-1759) *Muhammad II (1759–1765) *Umar II bin Muhammad (1765–1766) *Ahmad VI (1766–1778) *Abd al-Qadir II (1778–1782) *Farhat II (1782–1792) *Ibrahim II (1792–1804) *al-Khazan (1804) *Muhammad III (1804–1822) *`Amar (`Amir) II (1822–1830) *Ibrahim III (1830–1831) *`Ali IV bin al-Kabir (1831–1833) * `Aisha (Aichouch) (female) (1833–1840) *`Abd ar-Rahman (1840–1852) *`Abd al-Qadir III (1852) *Sulayman IV (1852–1854) (last)

Background

History

List of rulers

References

See also