Editing History of Algeria (section)

=== Zayyanid Dynasty ===
{{main|Kingdom of Tlemcen}}
[[File:Hafsids Bougie Algeria 1249 1276 ornemental Kufic.JPG|thumb|Coin of the [[Hafsids]] with ornamental [[Kufic]], [[Béjaïa|Bougie]], [[Algeria]], 1249–1276.]]
[[File:Zayyanid Kingdom at the beginning of the 14th century.png|thumb|left|The kingdom of Tlemcen at the beginning of the 14th century.<ref>{{cite web | title=Religious motivations or feudal expansionism? The Crusade of James II of Aragon against Nasrid Almeria in 1309-10 | website=Complutense University of Madrid | url=http://capire.es/eikonimago/index.php/demedioaevo/article/download/232/355 | last=Baydal Sala | first=Vicent | date=19 Nov 2017 | access-date=7 July 2020 | archive-date=2 November 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102231721/http://capire.es/eikonimago/index.php/demedioaevo/article/download/232/355 | url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen ({{langx|ar|الزيانيون}}) was a [[Berbers|Berber]]<ref name="al-Wadid-2016">{{Cite web |title=Abd al-Wadid Dynasty {{!}} Berber dynasty |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Abd-al-Wadid-dynasty |access-date=2016-07-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Appiah |first1=Anthony |last2=Gates |first2=Henry Louis |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0XNvklcqbwC |title=Encyclopedia of Africa |isbn=9780195337709 |language=en}}</ref> kingdom in what is now the northwest of [[Algeria]]. Its territory stretched from [[Tlemcen]] to the [[Chelif River|Chelif bend]] and [[Algiers]], and at its zenith reached [[Sijilmasa]] and the [[Moulouya River]] in the west, [[Tuat]] to the south and the [[Soummam River|Soummam]] in the east.<ref name="books.google.co.uk3">[https://books.google.com/books?id=wR_2DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 الدولة الزيانية في عهد يغمراسن: دراسة تاريخية وحضارية 633 هـ - 681 هـ / 1235 م - 1282 مخالد بلع] ربي Al Manhal</ref><ref name=qantara>{{cite web |website=Qantara |url=http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=603&lang=en |title=The Abdelwadids (1236-1554) |access-date=2013-05-15 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112233419/http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=603&lang=en}}</ref><ref name="Simon 17523">[https://books.google.com/books?id=V31-r9820IQC&pg=PA175 L'Algérie au passé lointain – De Carthage à la Régence d'Alger, p175]</ref>

The Tlemcen Kingdom was established after the demise of the [[Almohad Caliphate]] in 1236, and later fell under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule in 1554. It was ruled by sultans of the [[Zayyanid dynasty]]. The capital of the Tlemcen kingdom centred on [[Tlemcen]], which lay on the primary east–west route between [[Morocco]] and [[Ifriqiya]]. The kingdom was situated between the realm of the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]] the west, centred on [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], and the [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsids]] to the east, centred on [[Tunis]].

Tlemcen was a hub for the north–south trade route from [[Oran]] on the [[Mediterranean]] coast to the [[Sudan (region)|Western Sudan]]. As a prosperous trading centre, it attracted its more powerful neighbours. At different times the kingdom was invaded and occupied by the Marinids from the west,{{sfn|Despois|Marçais|Colombe|Emerit|1986|p=367}} by the Hafsids from the east, and by [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragonese]] from the north. At other times, they were able to take advantage of turmoil among their neighbours: during the reign of [[Abu Tashufin I|Abu Tashfin I]] (r. 1318–1337) the Zayyanids occupied Tunis and in 1423, under the reign of Abu Malek, they briefly [[Zayyanid Capture of Fez|captured]] Fez.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=84}}<ref name="Garrot-1910">{{Cite book |last=Garrot |first=Henri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p-xAAAAAYAAJ&q=1411 |title=Histoire générale de l'Algérie |date=1910 |publisher=Impr. P. Crescenzo |language=fr}}</ref>{{Rp|page=287}} In the south the Zayyanid realm included [[Tuat]], [[Tamentit]] and the [[Draa River|Draa]] region which was governed by Abdallah Ibn Moslem ez Zerdali, a sheikh of the Zayyanids.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=omgQAQAAIAAJ&q=ziyyanide Ksour et saints du Gourara: dans la tradition orale, l'hagiographie et les chroniques locales]. Rachid Bellil. C.N.R.P.A.H.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kyBO8X1WQdUC&dq=Abd-Allah-Ibn-Moslem-ez-Zerdali&pg=PA306 Histoire es berbères, 4]: et des dynasties musulmanes de l'afrique septentrionale. Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad Ibn Jaldun. Imprimerie du Gouvernement.</ref><ref name="books.google.co.uk3" />

==== Rise to power (13th century) ====
The ''Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād'', also called the ''Bānu Ziyān'' or Zayyanids after [[Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan]], the founder of the dynasty, were leaders of a [[Berbers|Berber]] group who had long been settled in the Central [[Maghreb]]. Although contemporary chroniclers asserted that they had a noble Arab origin, he reportedly spoke in [[Zenati languages|Zenati dialect]] and denied the lineage that genealogists had attributed to him.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khaldoun |first=Ibn |year=1856 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=81X9xomfVLcC |title=Histoire es berbères, 3: et des dynasties musulmanes de l'afrique septentrionale |publisher=Imprimerie du Gouvernement |translator=[[William McGuckin de Slane]] |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bel. |first=A. |year=1993 |chapter='Abdalwadides |title=First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09796-4 |page=65 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&pg=PA65 |access-date=2013-05-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Piquet |first=Victor |year=1937 |language=fr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bAjAAAAMAAJ |title=Histoire des monuments musulmans du Maghreb |publisher=Impr. R. Bauche}}</ref> The town of Tlemcen, called Pomaria by the Romans, is about 806m above sea level in fertile, well-watered country.{{sfn|Murray|1874|p=209}}

Tlemcen was an important centre under the [[Almoravid dynasty]] and its successors the [[Almohad Caliphate]], who began a new wall around the town in 1161.{{sfn|Murray|1874|p=210}}

Yaghmurasen ibn Zayyan (1235–83) of the ''Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād'' was governor of Tlemcen under the Almohads.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=93}} He inherited leadership of the family from his brother in 1235.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=83}} When the Almohad empire began to fall apart, in 1235, Yaghmurasen declared his independence.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=93}} The city of [[Tlemcen]] became the capital of one of three successor states, ruled for centuries by successive [[Ziyyanid]] sultans.{{sfn|Ruano|2006|p=309}} Its flag was a white crescent pointing upwards on a blue field.{{sfn|Hrbek|1997|pp=34-43}} The kingdom covered the less fertile regions of the [[Tell Atlas]]. Its people included a minority of settled farmers and villagers, and a majority of nomadic herders.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=93}}

Yaghmurasen was able to maintain control over the rival Berber groups, and when faced with the outside threat of the [[Marinid dynasty]], he formed an alliance with the [[Emir of Granada]] and the King of Castile, [[Alfonso X]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title='Abd al-Wadid |year=2010 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Vol. I: A-Ak - Bayes |edition=15th |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=978-1-59339-837-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/16 16] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency}}</ref> According to [[Ibn Khaldun]], "he was the bravest, most dreaded and honourable man of the 'Abd-la-Wadid family. No one looked after the interest of his people, maintained the influence of the kingdom and managed the state administration better than he did."{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=83}} In 1248 he defeated the Almohad Caliph in the [[Battle of Oujda]] during which the Almohad Caliph was killed. In 1264 he managed to conquer Sijilmasa, therefore bringing Sijilmasa and Tlemcen, the two most important outlets for trans-Saharan trade under one authority.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TpjwF--kPL4C&pg=PA94 Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century - Page 94]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RdEtAQAAIAAJ Histoire de l'Afrique: des origines à nos jours - Page 211]</ref> Sijilmasa remained under his control for 11 years.<ref name="Messier-2009">{{Cite book |last=Messier |first=Ronald A. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |journal=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=2009 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=ʿAbd al- Wādids |issn=1873-9830 |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref> Before his death he instructed his son and heir Uthman to remain on the defensive with the [[Marinid dynasty|Marinid kingdom]], but to expand into [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid]] territory if possible.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=83}}

==== 14th century ====
For most of its history the kingdom was on the defensive, threatened by stronger states to the east and the west. The nomadic Arabs to the south also took advantage of the frequent periods of weakness to raid the centre and take control of pastures in the south.

The city of Tlemcen was several times attacked or besieged by the [[Marinid dynasty|Marinids]], and large parts of the kingdom were occupied by them for several decades in the fourteenth century.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=93}}

[[File:Colonnes_provenant_de_la_mosquée_de_Mansourah.JPG|left|thumb|Ruins of the [[Mansourah Mosque|Mansura Mosque]], begun by the Marinids in 1303 during their siege of Tlemcen<ref name="Bloom-2020">{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRHbDwAAQBAJ |title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700-1800 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780300218701 |page=185}}</ref>]]
The Marinid [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr]] besieged Tlemcen from 1299 to 1307. During the siege he built a new town, al-Mansura, diverting most of the trade to this town.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=94}} The new city was fortified and had a mosque, baths and palaces. The siege was raised when Abu Yakub was murdered in his sleep by one of his eunuchs.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=84}}

When the Marinids left in 1307, the Zayyanids promptly destroyed al-Mansura.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=94}} The Zayyanid king Abu Zayyan I died in 1308 and was succeeded by [[Abu Hammu I]] (r. 1308–1318). Abu Hammu was later killed in a conspiracy instigated by his son and heir [[Abu Tashufin I]] (r. 1318–1337). The reigns of Abu Hammu I and Abu Tashufin I marked the second apogee of the Zayyanids, a period during which they consolidated their hegemony in the central Maghreb.<ref name="Messier-2009"/> Tlemcen recovered its trade and its population grew, reaching about 100,000 by around the 1330s.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=94}} Abu Tashufin initiated hostilities against Ifriqiya while the Marinids were distracted by their internal struggles. He besieged [[Béjaïa]] and sent an army into Tunisia that defeated the Hafsid king [[Abu Yahya Abu Bakr II]], who fled to [[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]] while the Zayyanids occupied [[Tunis]] in 1325.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=84}}<ref name="Dhina-1984">[https://books.google.com/books?id=o3SRAAAAIAAJ&q=prit+tunis+1325 Les états de l'Occident musulman aux XIIIe, XIVe et XVe siècles: institutions gouvernementales et administratives] Atallah Dhina Office des Publications Universitaires,</ref><ref name="Slim-2003">[https://books.google.com/books?id=qpdyAAAAMAAJ&q=tashfin+1325 Histoire générale de la Tunisie, Volume 2] Hédi Slim, Ammar Mahjoubi, Khaled Belkhodja, Hichem Djaït, Abdelmajid Ennabli Sud éditions,</ref>

The Marinid sultan [[Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman|Abu al-Hasan]] (r. 1331–1348) cemented an alliance with Hafsids by marrying a Hafsid princess. Upon being attacked by the Zayyanids again, the Hafsids appealed to Abu al-Hasan for help, providing him with an excuse to invade his neighbour.{{sfn|Fage|Oliver|1975|p=357}} The Marinid sultan initiated a siege of Tlemcen in 1335 and the city fell in 1337.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=94}} Abu Tashufin died during the fighting.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=84}} Abu al-Hasan received delegates from Egypt, Granada, Tunis and Mali congratulating him on his victory, by which he had gained complete control of the trans-Saharan trade.{{sfn|Fage|Oliver|1975|p=357}} In 1346 the Hafsid Sultan, Abu Bakr, died and a dispute over the succession ensued. In 1347 Abu al-Hasan annexed Ifriqiya, briefly reuniting the Maghrib territories as they had been under the Almohads.{{sfn|Fage|Oliver|1975|p=358}}

However, Abu al-Hasan went too far in attempting to impose more authority over the Arab tribes, who revolted and in April 1348 defeated his army near [[Kairouan]]. His son, [[Abu Inan Faris]], who had been serving as governor of Tlemcen, returned to Fez and declared that he was sultan. Tlemcen and the central Maghreb revolted.{{sfn|Fage|Oliver|1975|p=358}} The Zayyanid [[Abu Thabit I]] (1348-1352) was proclaimed king of Tlemcen.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=84}} Abu al-Hasan had to return from Ifriqiya by sea. After failing to retake Tlemcen and being defeated by his son, Abu al-Hasan died in May 1351.{{sfn|Fage|Oliver|1975|p=358}} In 1352 Abu Inan Faris recaptured Tlemcen. He also reconquered the central Maghreb. He took [[Béjaïa]] in 1353 and [[Tunis]] in 1357, becoming master of Ifriqiya. In 1358 he was forced to return to Fez due to Arab opposition, where he fell sick and was killed.{{sfn|Fage|Oliver|1975|p=358}}

The Zayyanid king [[Abu Hammu Musa II]] (r. 1359–1389) next took the throne of Tlemcen. He pursued an expansionist policy, pushing towards Fez in the west and into the [[Chelif River|Chelif]] valley and Béjaïa in the east.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=93}} He had a long reign punctuated by fighting against the Marinids or various rebel groups.{{sfn|Tarabulsi|2006|p=84}} The Marinids reoccupied Tlemcen in 1360 and in 1370.<ref name=qantara/> In both cases, the Marinids found they were unable to hold the region against local resistance.{{sfn|Hrbek|1997|pp=39}} Abu Hammu attacked the Hafsids in Béjaïa again in 1366, but this resulted in Hafsid intervention in the kingdom's affairs. The Hafsid sultan released Abu Hammu's cousin, Abu Zayyan, and helped him in laying claim to the Zayyanid throne. This provoked an internecine war between the two Zayyanids until 1378, when Abu Hammu finally captured Abu Zayyan in Algiers.{{sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=141}}

The historian [[Ibn Khaldun]] lived in Tlemcen for a period during the generally prosperous reign of Abu Hammu Musa II, and helped him in negotiations with the nomadic Arabs. He said of this period, "Here [in Tlemcen] science and arts developed with success; here were born scholars and outstanding men, whose glory penetrated into other countries." Abu Hammu was deposed by his son, Abu Tashfin II (1389–94), and the state went into decline.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=95}}

==== Decline (late 14th and 15th centuries) ====
[[File:A_man_of_Tlemcen.jpg|thumb|A man of Tlemcen]]
In the late 14th century and the 15th century, the state was increasingly weak and became intermittently a vassal of [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid]] [[Ifriqiya]], Marinid [[Morocco]] or the [[Crown of Aragon]].{{sfn|Hrbek|1997|pp=41}} In 1386 Abu Hammu moved his capital to Algiers, which he judged less vulnerable, but a year later his son, Abu Tashufin, overthrew him and took him prisoner. Abu Hammu was sent on a ship towards Alexandria but he escaped along the way when the ship stopped in Tunis. In 1388 he recaptured Tlemcen, forcing his son to flee. Abu Tashufin sought refuge in Fez and enlisted the aid of the Marinids, who sent an army to occupy Tlemcen and reinstall him on the throne. As a result, Abu Tashufin and his successors recognized the suzerainty of the Marinids and paid them an annual tribute.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=141}}

During the reign of the Marinid sultan [[Abu Said Uthman III|Abu Sa'id]], the Zayyanids rebelled on several occasions and Abu Sa'id had to reassert his authority.<ref name="Societe archeologique-1919">{{Cite web |last=Société archéologique |first=historique et géographique du département de Constantine Auteur du texte |date=1919 |title=Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société archéologique de la province de Constantine |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6139627s |access-date=2022-01-18 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=33–39}} After Abu Sa'id's death in 1420 the Marinids were plunged into political turmoil. The Zayyanid emir, Abu Malek, used this opportunity to throw off Marinid authority and [[Zayyanid Capture of Fez|captured Fez]] in 1423. Abu Malek installed Muhammad, a Marinid prince, as a Zayyanid vassal in Fez.<ref name="Garrot-1910"/>{{Rp|page=287}}<ref name="Societe archeologique-1919" />{{Rp|pages=47–49}} The [[Wattasid dynasty|Wattasids]], a family related to the Marinids, continued to govern from [[Salé]], where they proclaimed [[Abd al-Haqq II]], an infant, as the successor to the Marinid throne, with [[Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi|Abu Zakariyya al-Wattasi]] as [[regent]]. The Hafsid sultan, [[Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II|Abd al-Aziz II]], reacted to Abu Malek's rising influence by sending military expeditions westward, installing his own Zayyanid client king (Abu Abdallah II) in Tlemcen and pursuing Abu Malek to Fez. Abu Malek's Marinid puppet, Muhammad, was deposed and the Wattasids returned with Abd al-Haqq II to Fez, acknowledging Hafsid suzerainty.<ref name="Garrot-1910" />{{Rp|page=287}}<ref name="Societe archeologique-1919" />{{Rp|pages=47–49}} The Zayyanids remained vassals of the Hafsids until the end of the 15th century, when the Spanish expansion along the coast weakened the rule of both dynasties.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=141}}

By the end of the 15th century the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] had gained effective political control, intervening in the dynastic disputes of the amirs of Tlemcen, whose authority had shrunk to the town and its immediate neighbourship.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=95}} When the Spanish took the city of [[Oran]] from the kingdom in 1509, continuous pressure from the Berbers prompted the Spanish to attempt a counterattack against the city of Tlemcen (1543), which was deemed by the [[Papacy]] to be a crusade. The Spanish under Martin of Angulo had also suffered a prior [[Spanish Expedition to Tlemcen (1535)|defeat in 1535]] when they attempted to install a client ruler in Tlemcen. The Spanish failed to take the city in the first attack, but the strategic vulnerability of Tlemcen caused the kingdom's weight to shift toward the safer and more heavily fortified corsair base at [[Algiers]].

Tlemcen was [[Campaign of Tlemcen (1551)|captured in 1551]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]] under [[Hasan Pasha (son of Barbarossa)|Hassan Pasha]]. The last Zayyanid sultan's son escaped to Oran, then a Spanish possession. He was baptized and lived a quiet life as Don Carlos at the court of [[Philip II of Spain]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Under the Ottoman Empire Tlemcen quickly lost its former importance, becoming a sleepy provincial town.{{sfn|Wingfield|1868|p=261}} The failure of the kingdom to become a powerful state can be explained by the lack of geographical or cultural unity, the constant internal disputes and the reliance on irregular [[Arab-Berber]] nomads for the military.<ref name="al-Wadid-2016"/>