The Zayyanid dynasty or Ziyanids (, ''Ziyāniyyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids (, ''Bānu ʿAbd āl-Wād'') was a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Zenata dynasty that ruled the

Kingdom of Tlemcen The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen () was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached ...

, mainly in modern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

centered on the town of

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

in northwest Algeria. The Zayyanid dynasty's rule lasted from 1235 to 1557.

History

On the collapse of the

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berbers, Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). Th ...

's rule around 1236, the

became independent under the rule of the Zayyanids, and Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan. Ibn Zyan was able to maintain control over the rival

groups, and when faced with the outside threat of the

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

s, he formed an alliance with the Sultan of Granada and the

King of Castile This is a list of kings regnant and queens regnant of the Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom and Crown of Castile. For their predecessors, see List of Castilian counts. Kings and Queens of Castile Jiménez dynasty House of Ivrea / Burgundy ...

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

. After an eight-year siege of Tlemcen by the Marinids that ended in 1307, the reigns of Abu Hammu I (r. 1308–1318) and Abu Tashufin I (r. 1318–1337) marked a second political apogee of the Zayyanids with a consolidated hold over the central Maghreb. This period of strength was followed by a Marinid occupation of Tlemcen between 1337 and 1359 (with an interruption from 1348 to 1352). There were occasional Marinid attempts to retake Tlemcen up to 1370, but they found that they were unable to hold the region against local resistance.I. Hrbek (1997), The disintegration of political unity in the Maghrib, in Joseph Ki-Zerbo & Djibril T Niane (eds.) (1997), General History of Africa, vol. IV: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century (abridged ed.) UNESCO, James Curry Ltd., and Univ. Calif. Press., pp. 34–43. Under the long reign of Abu Hammu II (r. 1359–1389), the Zayyanid state enjoyed a third period of political strength. In the 15th century, Zayyanid expansion eastward was attempted, but proved disastrous, as consequences of these incursions they were so weakened that over the following two centuries, the Zayyanid kingdom was intermittently a vassal of Hafsid

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

, Marinid

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, or

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

. During the first half of the 16th century,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the Ottoman Regency of Algiers fought over control of Tlemcen, with the Zayyanid sultans often installed as puppets of one side or the other. By 1551, the Ottomans had occupied Tlemcen and the last Zayyanid ruler, Hasan al-Abdallah, fled to

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

under Spanish protection and died a few years later, thus ending Zayyanid rule.

List of rulers

Dates and most alternate names taken from John Stewart's ''African States and Rulers'' (1989).

References

External links

Britannica.com: The ʿAbd al-Wādid Dynasty

Qantara-med.org: The Abdelwadids (1236–1554)
– ''by Yassir Benhima''. {{Authority control Medieval history of Algeria Countries in medieval Africa Sunni dynasties History of Tlemcen Province Zenata 16th century in Algeria States and territories established in 1236 States and territories disestablished in 1556 13th-century establishments in Africa 1550s disestablishments in Africa

History

List of rulers

See also

References

External links