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| History ofAlgeria |
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Much of thehistory ofAlgeria has taken place on the fertilecoastal plain ofNorth Africa, which is often called theMaghreb.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 theCarthaginians,Romans, andVandals. The region was conquered by theMuslims in the early 8th century AD, but broke off from theUmayyad Caliphate after theBerber 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 theAlgerian War andAlgerian Civil War.
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Evidence of the early human occupation of Algeria is demonstrated by the discovery of 1.8 million year oldOldowan stone tools found at Ain Hanech in 1992.[1] In 1954 fossilisedHomo erectus bones were discovered by C. Arambourg at Ternefine that are 700,000 years old.Neolithic civilization (marked by animaldomestication andsubsistence agriculture) developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean Maghrib between 6000 and 2000 BC. This type of economy, richly depicted in theTassili n'Ajjercave paintings in southeastern Algeria, predominated in the Maghrib until the classical period.
Numidia (Berber:Inumiden; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of theNumidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-dayAlgeria, but later expanding across what is today known asTunisia,Libya, and some parts ofMorocco. The polity was originally divided between theMassylii in the east and theMasaesyli in the west. During theSecond Punic War (218–201 BC),Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeatedSyphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into one kingdom. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being aRoman province and a Romanclient state.
Numidia, at its largest extent, was bordered byMauretania to the west, at theMoulouya River,[2]Africa to the east (also exercising control over Tripolitania), theMediterranean Sea to the north, and theSahara to the south. It was one of the first major states in the history of Algeria and theBerbers.
By 112 BC,Jugurtha resumed his war with Adherbal. He incurred the wrath of Rome in the process by killing some Roman businessmen who were aiding Adherbal. After a brief war with Rome, Jugurtha surrendered and received a highly favourable peace treaty, which raised suspicions of bribery once more. The local Roman commander was summoned to Rome to face corruption charges brought by his political rivalGaius Memmius. Jugurtha was also forced to come to Rome to testify against the Roman commander, where Jugurtha was completely discredited once his violent and ruthless past became widely known, and after he had been suspected of murdering a Numidian rival.
War broke out between Numidia and theRoman Republic and several legions were dispatched to North Africa under the command of the ConsulQuintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. The war dragged out into a long and seemingly endless campaign as the Romans tried to defeat Jugurtha decisively. Frustrated at the apparent lack of action, Metellus' lieutenantGaius Marius returned to Rome to seek election as Consul. Marius was elected, and then returned to Numidia to take control of the war. He sent his QuaestorSulla to neighbouring Mauretania in order to eliminate their support for Jugurtha. With the help ofBocchus I of Mauretania, Sulla captured Jugurtha and brought the war to a conclusive end. Jugurtha was brought to Rome in chains and was placed in theTullianum.[3]
Jugurtha was executed by the Romans in 104 BC, after being paraded through the streets in Gaius Marius' Triumph.[4]
The Greek historians referred to these peoples as "Νομάδες" (i.e. Nomads), which by Latin interpretation became "Numidae" (but cf. also the correct use ofNomades).[5][6] HistorianGabriel Camps, however, disputes this claim, favoring instead an African origin for the term.[7]
The name appears first inPolybius (second century BC) to indicate the peoples and territory west ofCarthage including the entire north of Algeria as far as the river Mulucha (Muluya), about 160 kilometres (100 mi) west ofOran.[8]
The Numidians were composed of two great tribal groups: theMassylii in eastern Numidia, and theMasaesyli in the west. During the first part of theSecond Punic War, the eastern Massylii, under their kingGala, were allied with Carthage, while the western Masaesyli, under kingSyphax, were allied with Rome. The Kingdom of Masaesyli under Syphax extended from the Moulouya river to Oued Rhumel.[9]
However, in 206 BC, the new king of the eastern Massylii,Masinissa, allied himself with Rome, and Syphax of the Masaesyli switched his allegiance to the Carthaginian side. At the end of the war, the victorious Romans gave all of Numidia to Masinissa of the Massylii.[8] At the time of his death in 148 BC, Masinissa's territory extended from the Moulouya to the boundary of the Carthaginian territory, and also southeast as far asCyrenaica to the gulf ofSirte, so that Numidia entirely surrounded Carthage (Appian,Punica, 106) except towards the sea. Furthermore, after the capture of Syphax the king in modern day Morocco with his capital based in Tingis, Bokkar, had become a vassal of Massinissa.[10][11][12] Massinissa had also penetrated as far south beyond the Atlas to theGaetuli andFezzan was part of his domain.[13][14]
In 179 B.C. Masinissa had received a golden crown from the inhabitants ofDelos as he had offered them a shipload of grain. A statue of Masinissa was set up in Delos in honour of him as well as an inscription dedicated to him in Delos by a native fromRhodes. His sons too had statues of them erected on the island of Delos and the King ofBithynia, Nicomedes, had also dedicated a statue to Masinissa.[15]
After the death of the long-lived Masinissa around 148 BC, he was succeeded by his sonMicipsa. When Micipsa died in 118 BC, he was succeeded jointly by his two sonsHiempsal I andAdherbal and Masinissa's illegitimate grandson,Jugurtha, who was very popular among the Numidians. Hiempsal and Jugurtha quarrelled immediately after the death of Micipsa. Jugurtha had Hiempsal killed, which led to open war with Adherbal.[16]
Phoenician traders arrived on the North African coast around 900 BC and establishedCarthage (in present-dayTunisia) around 800 BC. During the classical period, Berber civilization was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organization supported several states. Trade links between Carthage and the Berbers in the interior grew, but territorial expansion also resulted in the enslavement or military recruitment of some Berbers and in the extraction of tribute from others.
The Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by the Romans in thePunic Wars, and in 146 BC, the city of Carthage was destroyed. As Carthaginian power waned, the influence of Berber leaders in the hinterland grew.
By the 2nd century BC, several large but loosely administered Berber kingdoms had emerged. After that, kingMasinissa managed to unifyNumidia under his rule.[17][18][19]
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Christianity arrived in the 2nd century. By the end of the 4th century, the settled areas had become Christianized, and some Berber tribes had converted en masse.
After thefall of the Western Roman Empire, Algeria came under the control of theVandal Kingdom. Later, theEastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire) conquered Algeria from the Vandals, incorporating it into thePraetorian prefecture of Africa and later theExarchate of Africa.
From the 8th centuryUmayyad conquest of North Africa led byMusa bin Nusayr, Arab colonization started. The 11th century invasion of migrants from the Arabian peninsula brought oriental tribal customs. The introduction ofIslam andArabic had a profound impact on North Africa. The new religion and language introduced changes in social and economic relations, and established links with the Arab world through acculturation and assimilation.
The second Arab military expeditions into the Maghreb, between 642 and 669, resulted in the spread of Islam. TheUmayyads (a Muslim dynasty based in Damascus from 661 to 750) recognised that the strategic necessity of dominating the Mediterranean dictated a concerted military effort on the North African front. By 711 Umayyad forces helped by Berber converts to Islam had conquered all of North Africa. In 750 theAbbasids succeeded the Umayyads as Muslim rulers and moved thecaliphate toBaghdad. Under the Abbasids, BerberKharijitesSufriBanu Ifran were opposed toUmayyad andAbbasids. After, theRustumids (761–909) actually ruled most of the central Maghrib fromTahirt, southwest of Algiers. The imams gained a reputation for honesty, piety, and justice, and the court of Tahirt was noted for its support of scholarship. The Rustumid imams failed, however, to organise a reliable standing army, which opened the way for Tahirt's demise under the assault of theFatimid dynasty.
The Fatimids left the rule of most of Algeria to theZirids andHammadid (972–1148), a Berber dynasty that centered significant local power in Algeria for the first time, but who were still at war withBanu Ifran (kingdom ofTlemcen) andMaghraoua (942-1068).[20] This period was marked by constant conflict, political instability, and economic decline. Following a large incursion of Arab Bedouin from Egypt beginning in the first half of the 11th century, the use of Arabic spread to the countryside, and sedentary Berbers were gradually Arabised.
TheAlmoravid ("those who have made a religious retreat") movement developed early in the 11th century among the Sanhaja Berbers of southern Morocco. The movement's initial impetus was religious, an attempt by a tribal leader to impose moral discipline and strict adherence to Islamic principles on followers. But the Almoravid movement shifted to engaging in military conquest after 1054. By 1106, the Almoravids had conquered the Maghreb as far east as Algiers andMorocco, and Spain up to theEbro River.
Like the Almoravids, theAlmohads ("unitarians") found their inspiration inIslamic reform. The Almohads took control of Morocco by 1146, captured Algiers around 1151, and by 1160 had completed the conquest of the central Maghrib. The zenith of Almohad power occurred between 1163 and 1199. For the first time, the Maghrib was united under a local regime, but the continuing wars in Spain overtaxed the resources of the Almohads, and in the Maghrib their position was compromised by factional strife and a renewal of tribal warfare.
In the central Maghrib, theAbdalwadid founded a dynasty that ruled theKingdom of Tlemcen in Algeria. For more than 300 years, until the region came under Ottoman suzerainty in the 16th century, the Zayanids kept a tenuous hold in the central Maghrib. Many coastal cities asserted their autonomy as municipal republics governed by merchant oligarchies, tribal chieftains from the surrounding countryside, or the privateers who operated out of their ports. Nonetheless,Tlemcen, the "pearl of the Maghrib," prospered as a commercial center.
According to historians of the Middle Ages, the Berbers were divided into two branches, both going back to their ancestors Mazigh. The two branches, called Botr and Barnès were divided into tribes, and each Maghreb region is made up of several tribes. The large Berber tribes or peoples areSanhaja,Houara,Zenata,Masmuda,Kutama,Awarba,Barghawata ... etc. Each tribe is divided into sub tribes. All these tribes had independent and territorial decisions.[21]
Several Berber dynasties emerged during the Middle Ages: - In North and West Africa, in Spain (al-Andalus),Sicily, Egypt, as well as in the southern part of the Sahara, in modern-day Mali, Niger, and Senegal. The medieval historianIbn Khaldun described the follying Berber dynasties:Zirid,Banu Ifran,Maghrawa,Almoravid,Hammadid,Almohad Caliphate,Marinid,Zayyanid,Wattasid,Meknes,Hafsid dynasty,Fatimids.[21]
The invasion of theBanu HilalArab tribes in the 11th century sackedKairouan, and the area underZirid control was reduced to the coastal region, and the Arab conquests fragmented into pettyBedouinemirates.[a]
The Maghrawa or Meghrawa (Arabic:المغراويون) were a largeZenataBerber tribalconfederation whose cradle and seat of power was the territory located on theChlef in the north-western part of today'sAlgeria, bounded by theOuarsenis to the south, theMediterranean Sea to the north andTlemcen to the west. They ruled these areas on behalf of theUmayyadCaliphate of Cordoba at the end of the 10th century and during the first half of the 11th century. TheMaghrawa confederation ofzanata Berbers supposedly originated in the region of modernAlgeria between Tlemcen and Tenes.[22]
The confederation of Maghrawa were the majority people of the central Maghreb among theZenata (Gaetuli). Both nomadic and sedentary, the Maghrawa lived under the command of Maghrawa chiefs or Zenata. Algiers has been the territory of the Maghrawa since ancient times.[23] The name Maghrawa was transcribed into Greek by historians. The great kingdom of the Maghrawa was located between Algiers,Cherchell, Ténès, Chlef, Miliana andMédéa. The Maghrawa imposed their domination in the Aurès.[24][when?] Chlef and its surroundings were populated by the Maghrawa according toIbn Khaldun.[25] The Maghrawa settled and extended their domination throughout theDahra and beyond Miliana to theTafna wadi near Tlemcen,[when?] and were found as far away asMali.[citation needed]
The Maghrawa were one of the first Berber tribes to submit toIslam in the 7th century.[26] They supportedUqba ibn Nafi in his campaign to theAtlantic in 683. They defected fromSunni Islam and becameKharijite Muslims from the 8th century, and allied first with theIdrisids, and, from the 10th century on, with theUmayyads of Córdoba inAl-Andalus. As a result, they were caught up in the Umayyad-Fatimid conflict inMorocco andAlgeria. Although they won a victory over the allies of the Fatimids in 924, they soon allied with them. When they switched back to the side of Córdoba, theZirids briefly took control over most of Morocco,[27][25] and ruled on behalf of the Fatimids. In 976/977 the Maghrawa conquered Sijilmasa from theBanu Midrar,[28] and in 980 were able to drive theMiknasa out ofSijilmasa as well.[25]
The Maghrawa reached their peak underZiri ibn Atiyya (to 1001), who achieved supremacy inFez under Umayyadsuzerainty, and expanded their territory at the expense of theBanu Ifran in the northern Maghreb – another Zenata tribe whose alliances had shifted often between the Fatimids and the Umayyads of Córdoba.[29] Ziri ibn Atiyya conquered as much as he could of what is now northern Morocco and was able to achieve supremacy in Fez by 987.[28] In 989 he defeated his enemy, Abu al-Bahār, which resulted in Ziri ruling fromZab toSous Al-Aqsa, in 991 achieving supremacy in the western Maghreb.[30][28] As a result of his victory he was invited to Córdoba byIbn Abi 'Amir al-Mansur (alsoLatinized as Almanzor), theregent of CaliphHisham II andde facto ruler of the Caliphate of Córdoba.[25] Ziri brought many gifts and Al-Mansur housed him in a lavish palace, but Ziri soon returned to North Africa.[31][29] The Banu Ifran took advantage of his absence and, under Yaddū, managed to capture Fez.[25][full citation needed] After a bloody struggle, Ziri reconquered Fez in 993 and displayed Yaddū's severed head on its walls.[citation needed]
A period of peace followed, in which Ziri founded the city ofOujda in 994 and made it his capital.[32][29] However, Ziri was loyal to the Umayyad caliphs in Cordoba and increasingly resented the way that Ibn Abi 'Amir was holding Hisham II captive while progressively usurping his power. In 997 Ziri rejected Ibn Abi 'Amir's authority and declared himself a direct supporter of Caliph Hisham II.[31][29] Ibn Abi 'Amir sent an invasion force to Morocco.[31] After three unsuccessful months, Ibn Abi 'Amir's army was forced to retreat to the safety ofTangiers, so Ibn Abi 'Amir sent a powerful reinforcements under his sonAbd al-Malik.[citation needed] The armies clashed near Tangiers, and in this battle, Ziri was stabbed by an African soldier who reported to Abd al-Malik that he had seriously wounded the Zenata leader. Abd al-Malik pressed home the advantage, and the wounded Ziri fled, hotly pursued by the Caliph's army. The inhabitants of Fez would not let him enter the city, but opened the gates to Abd al-Malik on 13 October 998. Ziri fled to the Sahara, where he rallied the Zenata tribes and overthrew the unpopular remnants of theIdrisid dynasty atTiaret. He was able to expand his territory to include Tlemcen and other parts of western Algeria, this time under Fatimid protection. Ziri died in 1001 of the after-effects of the stab wounds. He was succeeded by his son Al-Mu'izz, who made peace with Al-Mansur, and regained possession of all his father's former territories.[citation needed]
A revolt against the Andalusian Umayyads was put down by Ibn Abi 'Amir, although the Maghrawa were able to regain power in Fez. Under the succeeding rulers al-Muizz (1001–1026), Hamman (1026–1039) and Dunas (1039), they consolidated their rule in northern and central Morocco.[citation needed]
Internal power struggles after 1060 enabled theAlmoravid dynasty to conquer the Maghrawa realm in 1070 and put an end to their rule. In the mid 11th century the Maghrawa still controlled most of Morocco, notably most of the Sous andDraa River area as well asAghmat, Fez and Sijilmasa.[28] Later, Zenata power declined. The Maghrawa and Banu Ifran began oppressing their subjects, shedding their blood, violating their women, breaking into homes to seize food and depriving traders of their goods. Anyone who tried to ward them off was killed.[33]
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The Zirid dynasty (Arabic:الزيريون,romanized: az-zīriyyūn), Banu Ziri (Arabic:بنو زيري,romanized: banū zīrī), or the Zirid state (Arabic:الدولة الزيرية,romanized: ad-dawla az-zīriyya)[34] was aSanhajaBerberdynasty from modern-dayAlgeria which ruled the centralMaghreb from 972 to 1014 andIfriqiya (eastern Maghreb) from 972 to 1148.[35][36]
Descendants ofZiri ibn Manad, a military leader of theFatimid Caliphate and the eponymous founder of the dynasty, the Zirids wereemirs who ruled in the name of the Fatimids. The Zirids gradually established their autonomy in Ifriqiya through military conquest until officially breaking with the Fatimids in the mid-11th century. The rule of the Zirid emirs opened the way to a period in North African history where political power was held by Berber dynasties such as theAlmoravid dynasty,Almohad Caliphate,Zayyanid dynasty,Marinid Sultanate andHafsid dynasty.[37]
UnderBuluggin ibn Ziri the Zirids extended their control westwards and briefly occupiedFez and much of present-dayMorocco after 980, but encountered resistance from the localZenata Berbers who gave their allegiance to theCaliphate of Cordoba.[38][39][40][41] To the east, Zirid control was extended overTripolitania after 978[42] and as far asAjdabiya (in present-day Libya).[43][44] One member of the dynastic family,Zawi ibn Ziri, revolted and fled toal-Andalus, eventually founding theTaifa of Granada in 1013, after the collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba.[36] Another branch of the Zirids, theHammadids, broke away from the main branch after various internal disputes and took control of the territories of the central Maghreb after 1015.[45] The Zirids proper were then designated as Badicides and occupied only Ifriqiya between 1048 and 1148.[46] They were based inKairouan until 1057, when they moved the capital toMahdia on the coast.[47] The Zirids of Ifriqiya also intervened inSicily during the 11th century, as theKalbids, the dynasty who governed the island on behalf of the Fatimids, fell into disorder.[48]
The Zirids of Granada surrendered to the Almoravids in 1090,[49] but the Badicides and the Hammadids remained independent during this time. Sometime between 1041 and 1051 the Zirid ruleral-Mu'izz ibn Badis renounced the Fatimid Caliphs and recognized theSunni MuslimAbbasid Caliphate.[50] In retaliation, the Fatimids instigated the migration of theBanu Hilal tribe to the Maghreb, dealing a serious blow to Zirid power in Ifriqiya.[47][51] In the 12th century, theHilalian invasions combined with the attacks of theNormans of Sicily along the coast further weakened Zirid power. The last Zirid ruler,al-Hasan, surrendered Mahdia to the Normans in 1148, thus ending independent Zirid rule.[51] TheAlmohad Caliphate conquered the central Maghreb and Ifriqiya by 1160, ending the Hammadid dynasty in turn and finally unifying the whole of the Maghreb.[38][52]
The Zirids wereSanhajaBerbers, from thesedentary Talkata tribe,[53][54] originating from the area of modernAlgeria. In the 10th century this tribe served as vassals of theFatimid Caliphate, anIsma'iliShi'a state that challenged the authority of theSunniAbbasid caliphs. Theprogenitor of the Zirid dynasty,Ziri ibn Manad (r. 935–971) was installed as governor of the centralMaghreb (roughly north-eastern Algeria today) on behalf of the Fatimids, guarding the western frontier of the Fatimid Caliphate.[55][56] With Fatimid support Ziri founded his own capital and palace at'Ashir, south-east ofAlgiers, in 936.[57][58][59] He proved his worth as a key ally in 945, during theKharijite rebellion ofAbu Yazid, when he helped break Abu Yazid's siege of the Fatimid capital,Mahdia.[60][61] After playing this valuable role, he expanded 'Ashir with a new palace circa 947.[57][62] In 959 he aidedJawhar al-Siqili on a Fatimid military expedition which successfully conqueredFez andSijilmasa in present-day Morocco. On their return home to the Fatimid capital they paraded theemir of Fez and the “Caliph” Ibn Wasul of Sijilmasa in cages in a humiliating manner.[63][64][65] After this success, Ziri was also givenTahart to govern on behalf of the Fatimids.[66] He was eventually killed in battle against theZanata in 971.[58][67]
When the Fatimids moved their capital toEgypt in 972, Ziri's sonBuluggin ibn Ziri (r. 971–984) was appointed viceroy ofIfriqiya. He soon led anew expedition west and by 980 he had conquered Fez and most of Morocco, which had previously been retaken by theUmayyads of Cordoba in 973.[68][69] He also led asuccessful expedition toBarghawata territory, from which he brought back a large number of slaves to Ifriqiya.[70] In 978 the Fatimids also granted Buluggin overlordship ofTripolitania (in present-dayLibya), allowing him to appoint his own governor inTripoli. In 984 Buluggin died in Sijilmasa from an illness and his successor decided to abandon Morocco in 985.[51][71][72]
After Buluggin's death, rule of the Zirid state passed to his son,Al-Mansur ibn Buluggin (r. 984–996), and continued through his descendants. However, this alienated the other sons of Ziri ibn Manad who now found themselves excluded from power. In 999 many of these brothers launched a rebellion in 'Ashir againstBadis ibn al-Mansur (r. 996–1016), Buluggin's grandson, marking the first serious break in the unity of the Zirids.[73] The rebels were defeated in battle byHammad ibn Buluggin, Badis' uncle, and most of the brothers were killed. The only remaining brother of stature,Zawi ibn Ziri, led the remaining rebels westwards and sought new opportunity inal-Andalus under theUmayyads Caliphs of Cordoba, the former enemies of the Fatimids and Zirids.[73][74] He and his followers eventually founded an independent kingdom in al-Andalus, theTaifa of Granada, in 1013.[75][76]
After 1001 Tripolitania broke away under the leadership of Fulful ibn Sa'id ibn Khazrun, aMaghrawa leader who founded theBanu Khazrun dynasty, which endured until 1147.[77][42][78] Fulful fought a protracted war againstBadis ibn al-Mansur and sought outside help from the Fatimids and even from the Umayyads of Cordoba, but after his death in 1009 the Zirids were able to retake Tripoli for a time. The region nonetheless remained effectively under control of the Banu Khazrun, who fluctuated between practical autonomy and full independence, often playing the Fatimids and the Zirids against each other.[79][80][42][81] The Zirids finally lost Tripoli to them in 1022.[82]
Badis appointed Hammad ibn Buluggin as governor of 'Ashir and the western Zirid territories in 997.[83] He gave Hammad a great deal of autonomy, allowing him to campaign against the Zanata and control any new territories he conquered.[60][84] Hammad constructed his own capital, theQal'at Bani Hammad, in 1008, and in 1015 he rebelled against Badis and declared himself independent altogether, while also recognizing the Abbasids instead of the Fatimids as caliphs. Badis besieged Hammad's capital and nearly subdued him, but died in 1016 shortly before this could be accomplished. His son and successor,al-Mu'izz ibn Badis (r. 1016–1062), defeated Hammad in 1017, which forced the negotiation of a peace agreement between them. Hammad resumed his recognition of the Fatimids as caliphs but remained independent, forging a newHammadid state which controlled a large part of present-day Algeria thereafter.[84]
The Zirid period of Ifriqiya is considered a high point in its history, with agriculture, industry, trade and learning, both religious and secular, all flourishing, especially in their capital,Qayrawan (Kairouan).[85] The early reign ofal-Mu'izz ibn Badis (r. 1016–1062) was particularly prosperous and marked the height of their power in Ifriqiya.[60] In the eleventh century, when the question of Berber origin became a concern, the dynasty of al-Mu'izz started, as part of the Zirids' propaganda, to emphasize its supposed links to theHimyarite kings as a title to nobility, a theme that was taken the by court historians of the period.[86][87] Management of the area by later Zirid rulers was neglectful as the agricultural economy declined, prompting an increase in banditry among the rural population.[85] The relationship between the Zirids their Fatimid overlords varied - in 1016 thousands ofShiites died in rebellions in Ifriqiya, and the Fatimids encouraged the defection of Tripolitania from the Zirids, but nevertheless the relationship remained close. In 1049 the Zirids broke away completely by adopting Sunni Islam and recognizing the Abbasids ofBaghdad as rightful Caliphs, a move which was popular with the urbanArabs of Kairouan.[88][89]
InSicily theKalbids continued to govern on behalf of the Fatimids but the island descended into political disarray during the 11th century,[48] inciting the Zirids to intervene on the island. In 1025 (or 1021[90]), al-Mu'izz ibn Badis sent a fleet of 400 ships to the island in response to theByzantines reconqueringCalabria (in southern Italy) from the Muslims, but the fleet was lost in a powerful storm off the coast ofPantelleria.[60][90][91] In 1036, the Muslim population of the island request aid from al-Mu'izz to overthrow the Kalbid emir Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Akhal, whose rule they considered flawed and unjust.[48] The request also contained a pledge to recognize al-Mu'izz as their ruler.[90] Al-Mu'izz, eager to expand his influence after the fragmentation of Zirid North Africa, accepted and sent his son, 'Abdallah, to the island with a large army.[90][48][92] Al-Akhal, who had been in negotiations with the Byzantines, requested help from them. A Byzantine army intervened and defeated the Zirid army on the island, but it then withdrew to Calabria, allowing 'Abdallah to finish off al-Akhal.[48] Al-Akhal was besieged inPalermo and killed in 1038.[90][48][61] 'Abdallah was subsequently forced to withdraw from the island, either due to the ever-divided Sicilians turning against him or due to another Byzantine invasion in 1038, led byGeorge Maniakes.[92][90] Another Kalbid amir, al-Hasan al-Samsam, was elected to govern Sicily, but Muslim rule there disintegrated into various petty factions leading up to theNorman conquest of the island in the second half of the 11th century.[93][48][90]
The Zirids renounced the Fatimids and recognized the Abbasid Caliphs in 1048-49,[60] or sometime between 1041 and 1051.[43][61][b] In retaliation, the Fatimids sent the Arab tribes of theBanu Hilal and theBanu Sulaym to the Maghreb.[60][84] The Banu Sulaym settled first in Cyrenaica, but the Banu Hilal continued towards Ifriqiya.[84] The Zirids attempted to stop their advance towards Ifriqiya, they sent 30,000 Sanhaja cavalry to meet the 3,000 Arab cavalry of Banu Hilal in theBattle of Haydaran of 14 April 1052.[94] Nevertheless, the Zirids were decisively defeated and were forced to retreat, opening the road to Kairouan for the Hilalian Arab cavalry.[94][95][96] The resulting anarchy devastated the previously flourishing agriculture, and the coastal towns assumed a new importance as conduits for maritime trade and bases for piracy against Christian shipping, as well as being the last holdout of the Zirids.[95] TheBanu Hilal invasions eventually forced al-Mu'izz ibn Badis to abandon Kairouan in 1057 and move his capital to Mahdia, while the Banu Hilal largely roamed and pillaged the interior of the former Zirid territories.[47][60]
As a result of the Zirid withdrawal, various local principalities emerged in different areas. InTunis, the shaykhs of the city elected Abd al-Haqq ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Khurasan (r. 1059-1095) as local ruler. He founded the local Banu Khurasan dynasty that governed the city thereafter, alternately recognizing the Hammadids or the Zirids as overlords depending on the circumstances.[97][98] InQabis (Gabès), the Zirid governor, al-Mu'izz ibn Muhammad ibn Walmiya remained loyal until 1062 when, outraged by the expulsion of his two brothers from Mahdia by al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, he declared his independence and placed himself under the protection of Mu'nis ibn Yahya, a chief of Banu Hilal.[99][100]Sfaqus (Sfax) was declared independent by the Zirid governor, Mansur al-Barghawati, who was murdered and succeeded by his cousin Hammu ibn Malil al-Barghawati.[101]
Al-Mui'zz ibn Badis was succeeded by his son,Tamim ibn al-Mu'izz (r. 1062-1108), who spent much of his reign attempting to restore Zirid power in the region. In 1063 he repelled a siege of Mahdia by the independent ruler of Sfax while also capturing the important port ofSus (Sousse).[102] Meanwhile, the Hammadid ruleral-Nasir ibn 'Alannas (r. 1062-1088) began to intervene in Ifriqiya around this time, having his sovereignty recognized in Sfax, Tunis, and Kairouan. Tamim organized a coalition with some of the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes and succeeded in inflicting a heavy defeat on al-Nasir at the Battle of Sabiba in 1065. The war between the Zirids and Hammadids continued until 1077, when a truce was negotiated, sealed by a marriage between Tamim and one of al-Nasir's daughters.[103] In 1074 Tamim sent a naval expedition toCalabria where they ravaged the Italian coasts, plunderedNicotera and enslaved many of its inhabitants. The next year (1075) another Zirid raid resulted in the capture ofMazara in Sicily; however, the Zirid emir rethought his involvement in Sicily and decided to withdraw, abandoning what they had briefly held.[104] In 1087, the Zirid capital, Mahdia, was sacked by thePisans.[105] According toEttinghausen,Grabar, and Jenkins-Madina, thePisa Griffin is believed to have been part of the spoils taken during the sack.[106] In 1083 Mahdia was besieged by a chief of the Banu Hilal, Malik ibn 'Alawi. Unable to take the city, Malik instead turned to Kairouan and captured that city, but Tamim marched out with his entire army and defeated the Banu Hilal forces, at which point he also brought Kairouan back under Zirid control.[107] He went on to capture Gabès in 1097 and Sfax in 1100.[107] Gabès, however, soon declared itself independent again under the leadership of the Banu Jami', a family from the Riyahi branch of the Banu Hilal.[100][99]
Tamim's son and successor, Yahya ibn Tamim (r. 1108-1116), formally recognized the Fatimid caliphs again and received an emissary from Cairo in 1111.[107] He captured an important fortress nearCarthage called Iqlibiya and his fleet launched raids againstSardinia andGenoa, bringing back many captives.[107] He was assassinated in 1116 and succeeded by his son, 'Ali ibn Yahya (r. 1116-1121).[107] 'Ali continued to recognize the Fatimids, receiving another embassy from Cairo in 1118.[108] He imposed his authority on Tunis, but failed to recapture Gabès from its local ruler, Rafi' ibn Jami', whose counterattack he then had to repel from Mahdia.[108][99] He was succeeded by his son al-Hasan in 1121, the last Zirid ruler.[61]
During the 1130s and 1140s the Normans of Sicily began to capture cities and islands along the coast of Ifriqiya.[109]Jerba was captured in 1135 and Tripoli was captured in 1146. In 1148, the Normans captured Sfax, Gabès, and Mahdia.[109][77] In Mahdia, the population was weakened by years of famine and the bulk of the Zirid army was away on another campaign when the Norman fleet, commanded byGeorge of Antioch, arrived off the coast. Al-Hasan decided to abandon the city, leaving it to be occupied, which effectively ended the Zirid dynasty's rule.[60][110] Al-Hasan fled to the citadel of al-Mu'allaqa near Carthage and stayed there for a several months. He planned to flee to the Fatimid court in Egypt but the Norman fleet blocked his way, so instead he headed west, making for theAlmohad court of 'Abd al-Mu'min inMarrakesh. He obtained permission from Yahya ibn al-'Aziz, the Hammadid ruler, to cross his territory, but after entering Hammadid territory he was detained and placed underhouse arrest in Algiers.[60][110] When 'Abd al-Mu'min captured Algiers in 1151, he freed al-Hasan, who accompanied him back to Marrakesh. Later, when 'Abd al-Mu'min conquered Mahdia in 1160, placing all of Ifriqiya under Almohad rule,al-Hasan was with him.[52][60] 'Abd al-Mu'min appointed him governor of Mahdia, where he remained, residing in the suburb of Zawila, until 'Abd al-Mu'min's death in 1163. The new Almohad caliph,Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, subsequently ordered him to come back to Marrakesh, but al-Hasan died along the way inTamasna in 1167.[60][61]
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The Hammadid dynasty (Arabic: الحمّاديون) was a branch of theSanhajaBerberdynasty that ruled an area roughly corresponding to north-eastern modernAlgeria between 1008 and 1152. The state reached its peak underNasir ibn Alnas during which it was briefly the most important state in Northwest Africa.[111]
The Hammadid dynasty's first capital was atQalaat Beni Hammad. It was founded in 1007, and is now aUNESCO World Heritage Site. When the area was sacked by theBanu Hilal tribe, the Hammadids moved their capital toBéjaïa in 1090.
The Almohad Caliphate (IPA:/ˈælməhæd/;Arabic:خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ orدَوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ orٱلدَّوْلَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِيَّةُ from
Arabic:ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ,romanized: al-Muwaḥḥidūn,lit. 'those who profess theunity of God'[112][113][114]: 246 ) was aNorth AfricanBerberMuslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of theIberian Peninsula (Al Andalus) andNorth Africa (theMaghreb).[115][116][117]
TheAlmohad doctrine was founded byIbn Tumart among the BerberMasmuda tribes, but the Almohad caliphate and its ruling dynasty were founded after his death byAbd al-Mu'min al-Gumi,[118][119][120][121][122] which was born in theHammadid region ofTlemcen,Algeria.[123] Around 1120, Ibn Tumart first established a Berber state inTinmel in theAtlas Mountains.[115] Under Abd al-Mu'min (r. 1130–1163) they succeeded in overthrowing the rulingAlmoravid dynasty governing Morocco in 1147, when he conqueredMarrakesh and declared himselfcaliph. They then extended their power over all of theMaghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus soon followed, and all of MuslimIberia was under Almohad rule by 1172.[124]
The turning point of their presence in the Iberian Peninsula came in 1212, whenMuhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214) was defeated at theBattle of Las Navas de Tolosa in theSierra Morena by an alliance of the Christian forces fromCastile,Aragon andNavarre. Much of the remaining territories of al-Andalus were lost in the ensuing decades, with the cities ofCórdoba andSeville falling to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.
The Almohads continued to rule in Africa until the piecemeal loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies, theMarinids, from northern Morocco in 1215. The last representative of the line,Idris al-Wathiq, was reduced to the possession of Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269; the Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western Maghreb.
The Almohad movement originated withIbn Tumart, a member of theMasmuda, aBerber tribal confederation of theAtlas Mountains of southern Morocco. At the time,Morocco, westernAlgeria and Spain (al-Andalus), were under the rule of theAlmoravids, aSanhaja Berber dynasty. Early in his life, Ibn Tumart went to Spain to pursue his studies, and thereafter toBaghdad to deepen them. In Baghdad, Ibn Tumart attached himself to the theological school ofal-Ash'ari, and came under the influence of the teacheral-Ghazali. He soon developed his own system, combining the doctrines of various masters. Ibn Tumart's main principle was a strict unitarianism (tawhid), which denied the independent existence of theattributes of God as being incompatible with His unity, and therefore a polytheistic idea. Ibn Tumart represented a revolt against what he perceived asanthropomorphism in Muslim orthodoxy. His followers would become known as theal-Muwaḥḥidūn ("Almohads"), meaning those who affirm the unity of God.
After his return to theMaghreb c. 1117, Ibn Tumart spent some time in variousIfriqiyan cities, preaching and agitating, heading riotous attacks on wine-shops and on other manifestations of laxity. He laid the blame for the latitude on the ruling dynasty of the Almoravids, whom he accused of obscurantism and impiety. He also opposed their sponsorship of theMaliki school of jurisprudence, which drew upon consensus (ijma) and other sources beyond theQur'an andSunnah in their reasoning, an anathema to the stricterZahirism favored by Ibn Tumart. His antics and fiery preaching led fed-up authorities to move him along from town to town. After being expelled fromBejaia, Ibn Tumart set up camp in Mellala, in the outskirts of the city, where he received his first disciples – notably, al-Bashir (who would become his chief strategist) andAbd al-Mu'min (a Zenata Berber, who would later become his successor).
In 1120, Ibn Tumart and his small band of followers proceeded toMorocco, stopping first inFez, where he briefly engaged the Maliki scholars of the city in debate. He even went so far as to assault the sister[citation needed] of theAlmoravid emir ʿAli ibn Yusuf, in the streets ofFez, because she was going about unveiled, after the manner of Berber women. After being expelled from Fez, he went toMarrakesh, where he successfully tracked down the Almoravid emirAli ibn Yusuf at a local mosque, and challenged the emir, and the leading scholars of the area, to a doctrinal debate. After the debate, the scholars concluded that Ibn Tumart's views were blasphemous and the man dangerous, and urged him to be put to death or imprisoned. But the emir decided merely to expel him from the city.
Ibn Tumart took refuge among his own people, the Hargha, in his home village of Igiliz (exact location uncertain), in theSous valley. He retreated to a nearby cave, and lived out an ascetic lifestyle, coming out only to preach his program of puritan reform, attracting greater and greater crowds. At length, towards the end ofRamadan in late 1121, after a particularly moving sermon, reviewing his failure to persuade the Almoravids to reform by argument, Ibn Tumart 'revealed' himself as the trueMahdi, a divinely guided judge and lawgiver, and was recognized as such by his audience. This was effectively a declaration of war on the Almoravid state.
On the advice of one of his followers, Omar Hintati, a prominent chieftain of theHintata, Ibn Tumart abandoned his cave in 1122 and went up into theHigh Atlas, to organize the Almohad movement among the highlandMasmuda tribes. Besides his own tribe, the Hargha, Ibn Tumart secured the adherence of the Ganfisa, the Gadmiwa, the Hintata, the Haskura, and the Hazraja to the Almohad cause. Around 1124, Ibn Tumart erected theribat ofTinmel, in the valley of the Nfis in the High Atlas, an impregnable fortified complex, which would serve both as the spiritual center and military headquarters of the Almohad movement.
For the first eight years, the Almohad rebellion was limited to a guerilla war along the peaks and ravines of the High Atlas. Their principal damage was in rendering insecure (or altogether impassable) the roads and mountain passes south of Marrakesh – threatening the route to all-importantSijilmassa, the gateway of thetrans-Saharan trade. Unable to send enough manpower through the narrow passes to dislodge the Almohad rebels from their easily defended mountain strong points, the Almoravid authorities reconciled themselves to setting up strongholds to confine them there (most famously the fortress ofTasghîmût that protected the approach to Aghmat, which was conquered by the Almohads in 1132[114]), while exploring alternative routes through more easterly passes.
Ibn Tumart organized the Almohads as a commune, with a minutely detailed structure. At the core was theAhl ad-dār ("House of the Mahdi:), composed of Ibn Tumart's family. This was supplemented by two councils: an inner Council of Ten, the Mahdi's privy council, composed of his earliest and closest companions; and the consultative Council of Fifty, composed of the leadingsheikhs of the Masmuda tribes. The early preachers and missionaries (ṭalaba andhuffāẓ) also had their representatives. Militarily, there was a strict hierarchy of units. The Hargha tribe coming first (although not strictly ethnic; it included many "honorary" or "adopted" tribesmen from other ethnicities, e.g. Abd al-Mu'min himself). This was followed by the men of Tinmel, then the other Masmuda tribes in order, and rounded off by the black fighters, theʻabīd. Each unit had a strict internal hierarchy, headed by amohtasib, and divided into two factions: one for the early adherents, another for the late adherents, each headed by amizwar (oramzwaru); then came thesakkakin (treasurers), effectively the money-minters, tax-collectors, and bursars, then came the regular army (jund), then the religious corps – themuezzins, thehafidh and thehizb – followed by the archers, the conscripts, and the slaves.[125] Ibn Tumart's closest companion and chief strategist, al-Bashir, took upon himself the role of "political commissar", enforcing doctrinal discipline among the Masmuda tribesmen, often with a heavy hand.
In early 1130, the Almohads finally descended from the mountains for their first sizeable attack in the lowlands. It was a disaster. The Almohads swept aside an Almoravid column that had come out to meet them beforeAghmat, and then chased their remnant all the way toMarrakesh. They laid siege to Marrakesh for forty days until, in April (or May) 1130, the Almoravids sallied from the city and crushed the Almohads in the bloodyBattle of al-Buhayra (named after a large garden east of the city). The Almohads were thoroughly routed, with huge losses. Half their leadership was killed in action, and the survivors only just managed to scramble back to the mountains.[126]
Ibn Tumart died shortly after, in August 1130. That the Almohad movement did not immediately collapse after such a devastating defeat and the death of their charismatic Mahdi, is likely due to the skills of his successor, Abd al-Mu'min.[127]: 70 Ibn Tumart's death was kept a secret for three years, a period which Almohad chroniclers described as aghayba or "occultation". This period likely gave Abd al-Mu'min time to secure his position as successor to the political leadership of the movement.[127]: 70 Although aZenata Berber from Tagra (Algeria),[128] and thus an alien among the Masmuda of southern Morocco, Abd al-Mu'min nonetheless saw off his principal rivals and hammered wavering tribes back to the fold. In an ostentatious gesture of defiance, in 1132, if only to remind the emir that the Almohads were not finished, Abd al-Mu'min led an audacious night operation that seized Tasghîmût fortress and dismantled it thoroughly, carting off its great gates back to Tinmel.[citation needed] Three years after Ibn Tumart's death he was officially proclaimed "Caliph".[129]
In order to neutralise the Masmudas, to whom he was a stranger, Abd al-Mumin relied on his tribe of origin, the Kumiyas (a Berber tribe fromOrania), which he integrated massively into the army and within the Almohad power.[130][131][132] He thus appointed his son as his successor and his other children as governors of the provinces of the Caliphate.[133] The Kumiyas would later form the bodyguard of Abd al Mumin and his successor.[134] In addition, he also relied on Arabs, representatives of the greatHilalian families, whom he deported to Morocco to weaken the influence of the Masmuda sheikhs. These moves have the effect of advancing the Arabisation of the future Morocco.[135]
Abd al-Mu'min then came forward as the lieutenant of the Mahdi Ibn Tumart. Between 1130 and his death in 1163, Abd al-Mu'min not only rooted out the Almoravids, but extended his power over all northern Africa as far asEgypt, becoming amir ofMarrakesh in 1147.
Al-Andalus followed the fate of Africa. Between 1146 and 1173, the Almohads gradually wrested control from the Almoravids over the Moorish principalities in Iberia. The Almohads transferred the capital of Muslim Iberia fromCórdoba toSeville. They founded a great mosque there; its tower, theGiralda, was erected in 1184 to mark the accession of Ya'qub I. The Almohads also built a palace there called Al-Muwarak on the site of the modern dayAlcázar of Seville.
The Almohad princes had a longer and more distinguished career than the Almoravids. The successors of Abd al-Mumin,Abu Yaqub Yusuf (Yusuf I, ruled 1163–1184) andAbu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur (Yaʻqūb I, ruled 1184–1199), were both able men. Initially their government drove many Jewish and Christian subjects to take refuge in the growing Christian states of Portugal, Castile, andAragon. Ultimately they became less fanatical than the Almoravids, and Ya'qub al-Mansur was a highly accomplished man who wrote a goodArabic style and protected the philosopherAverroes. In 1190–1191, hecampaigned in southern Portugal and won back territory lost in 1189. His title of "al-Manṣūr" ("the Victorious") was earned by his victory overAlfonso VIII of Castile in theBattle of Alarcos (1195).
From the time ofYusuf II, however, the Almohads governed their co-religionists in Iberia and central North Africa through lieutenants, their dominions outsideMorocco being treated as provinces. When Almohad emirs crossed the Straits it was to lead ajihad against the Christians and then return to Morocco.[136]
In 1212, the Almohad CaliphMuhammad 'al-Nasir' (1199–1214), the successor of al-Mansur, after an initially successful advance north, was defeated by an alliance of the four Christian kings ofCastile,Aragón,Navarre, and Portugal, at theBattle of Las Navas de Tolosa in theSierra Morena. The battle broke the Almohad advance, but the Christian powers remained too disorganized to profit from it immediately.
Before his death in 1213, al-Nasir appointed his young ten-year-old son as the nextcaliphYusuf II "al-Mustansir". The Almohads passed through a period of effectiveregency for the young caliph, with power exercised by an oligarchy of elder family members, palace bureaucrats and leading nobles. The Almohad ministers were careful to negotiate a series of truces with the Christian kingdoms, which remained more-or-less in place for next fifteen years (theloss of Alcácer do Sal to theKingdom of Portugal in 1217 was an exception).
In early 1224, the youthful caliph died in an accident, without any heirs. The palace bureaucrats inMarrakesh, led by thewazir Uthman ibn Jam'i, quickly engineered the election of his elderly grand-uncle,Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu', as the new Almohad caliph. But the rapid appointment upset other branches of the family, notably the brothers of the late al-Nasir, who governed inal-Andalus. The challenge was immediately raised by one of them, then governor inMurcia, who declared himself CaliphAbdallah al-Adil. With the help of his brothers, he quickly seized control of al-Andalus. His chief advisor, the shadowy Abu Zayd ibn Yujjan, tapped into his contacts in Marrakesh, and secured thedeposition and assassination of Abd al-Wahid I, and the expulsion of the al-Jami'iclan.
Thiscoup has been characterized as the pebble that finally broke al-Andalus. It was the first internal coup among the Almohads. The Almohad clan, despite occasional disagreements, had always remained tightly knit and loyally behind dynastic precedence. Caliph al-Adil's murderous breach of dynastic and constitutional propriety marred his acceptability to other Almohadsheikhs. One of the recusants was his cousin, Abd Allah al-Bayyasi ("theBaezan"), the Almohad governor ofJaén, who took a handful of followers and decamped for the hills around Baeza. He set up a rebel camp and forged an alliance with the hitherto quietFerdinand III of Castile. Sensing his greater priority was Marrakesh, where recusant Almohadsheikhs had rallied behind Yahya, another son of al-Nasir, al-Adil paid little attention to this little band of misfits.
The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen (Arabic:الزيانيون) was aBerber[138][139] kingdom in what is now the northwest ofAlgeria. Its territory stretched fromTlemcen to theChelif bend andAlgiers, and at its zenith reachedSijilmasa and theMoulouya River in the west,Tuat to the south and theSoummam in the east.[140][141][142]
The Tlemcen Kingdom was established after the demise of theAlmohad Caliphate in 1236, and later fell underOttoman rule in 1554. It was ruled by sultans of theZayyanid dynasty. The capital of the Tlemcen kingdom centred onTlemcen, which lay on the primary east–west route betweenMorocco andIfriqiya. The kingdom was situated between the realm of theMarinids the west, centred onFez, and theHafsids to the east, centred onTunis.
Tlemcen was a hub for the north–south trade route fromOran on theMediterranean coast to theWestern 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,[143] by the Hafsids from the east, and byAragonese from the north. At other times, they were able to take advantage of turmoil among their neighbours: during the reign ofAbu Tashfin I (r. 1318–1337) the Zayyanids occupied Tunis and in 1423, under the reign of Abu Malek, they brieflycaptured Fez.[144][145]: 287 In the south the Zayyanid realm includedTuat,Tamentit and theDraa region which was governed by Abdallah Ibn Moslem ez Zerdali, a sheikh of the Zayyanids.[146][147][140]
TheBānu ʿabd āl-Wād, also called theBānu Ziyān or Zayyanids afterYaghmurasen Ibn Zyan, the founder of the dynasty, were leaders of aBerber group who had long been settled in the CentralMaghreb. Although contemporary chroniclers asserted that they had a noble Arab origin, he reportedly spoke inZenati dialect and denied the lineage that genealogists had attributed to him.[148][149][150] The town of Tlemcen, called Pomaria by the Romans, is about 806m above sea level in fertile, well-watered country.[151]
Tlemcen was an important centre under theAlmoravid dynasty and its successors theAlmohad Caliphate, who began a new wall around the town in 1161.[152]
Yaghmurasen ibn Zayyan (1235–83) of theBānu ʿabd āl-Wād was governor of Tlemcen under the Almohads.[153] He inherited leadership of the family from his brother in 1235.[154] When the Almohad empire began to fall apart, in 1235, Yaghmurasen declared his independence.[153] The city ofTlemcen became the capital of one of three successor states, ruled for centuries by successiveZiyyanid sultans.[155] Its flag was a white crescent pointing upwards on a blue field.[156] The kingdom covered the less fertile regions of theTell Atlas. Its people included a minority of settled farmers and villagers, and a majority of nomadic herders.[153]
Yaghmurasen was able to maintain control over the rival Berber groups, and when faced with the outside threat of theMarinid dynasty, he formed an alliance with theEmir of Granada and the King of Castile,Alfonso X.[157] According toIbn 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."[154] In 1248 he defeated the Almohad Caliph in theBattle 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.[158][159] Sijilmasa remained under his control for 11 years.[160] Before his death he instructed his son and heir Uthman to remain on the defensive with theMarinid kingdom, but to expand intoHafsid territory if possible.[154]
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 theMarinids, and large parts of the kingdom were occupied by them for several decades in the fourteenth century.[153]
The MarinidAbu 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.[162] 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.[144]
When the Marinids left in 1307, the Zayyanids promptly destroyed al-Mansura.[162] The Zayyanid king Abu Zayyan I died in 1308 and was succeeded byAbu Hammu I (r. 1308–1318). Abu Hammu was later killed in a conspiracy instigated by his son and heirAbu 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.[160] Tlemcen recovered its trade and its population grew, reaching about 100,000 by around the 1330s.[162] Abu Tashufin initiated hostilities against Ifriqiya while the Marinids were distracted by their internal struggles. He besiegedBéjaïa and sent an army into Tunisia that defeated the Hafsid kingAbu Yahya Abu Bakr II, who fled toConstantine while the Zayyanids occupiedTunis in 1325.[144][163][164]
The Marinid sultanAbu 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.[165] The Marinid sultan initiated a siege of Tlemcen in 1335 and the city fell in 1337.[162] Abu Tashufin died during the fighting.[144] 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.[165] 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.[166]
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 nearKairouan. 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.[166] The ZayyanidAbu Thabit I (1348-1352) was proclaimed king of Tlemcen.[144] 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.[166] In 1352 Abu Inan Faris recaptured Tlemcen. He also reconquered the central Maghreb. He tookBéjaïa in 1353 andTunis 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.[166]
The Zayyanid kingAbu 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 theChelif valley and Béjaïa in the east.[153] He had a long reign punctuated by fighting against the Marinids or various rebel groups.[144] The Marinids reoccupied Tlemcen in 1360 and in 1370.[141] In both cases, the Marinids found they were unable to hold the region against local resistance.[167] 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.[168]
The historianIbn 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.[169]
In the late 14th century and the 15th century, the state was increasingly weak and became intermittently a vassal ofHafsidIfriqiya, MarinidMorocco or theCrown of Aragon.[170] 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.[168]
During the reign of the Marinid sultanAbu Sa'id, the Zayyanids rebelled on several occasions and Abu Sa'id had to reassert his authority.[171]: 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 andcaptured Fez in 1423. Abu Malek installed Muhammad, a Marinid prince, as a Zayyanid vassal in Fez.[145]: 287 [171]: 47–49 TheWattasids, a family related to the Marinids, continued to govern fromSalé, where they proclaimedAbd al-Haqq II, an infant, as the successor to the Marinid throne, withAbu Zakariyya al-Wattasi asregent. The Hafsid sultan,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.[145]: 287 [171]: 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.[168]
By the end of the 15th century theKingdom 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.[169] When the Spanish took the city ofOran 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 thePapacy to be a crusade. The Spanish under Martin of Angulo had also suffered a priordefeat 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 atAlgiers.
Tlemcen wascaptured in 1551 by theOttoman Empire underHassan 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 ofPhilip II of Spain.[citation needed]
Under the Ottoman Empire Tlemcen quickly lost its former importance, becoming a sleepy provincial town.[172] 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 irregularArab-Berber nomads for the military.[138]
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The final triumph of the 700-yearChristian conquest of Spain was marked by the fall ofGranada in 1492. Christian Spain imposed its influence on the Maghrib coast by constructing fortified outposts and collecting tribute. But Spain never sought to extend its North African conquests much beyond a few modest enclaves. Privateering was an age-old practice in the Mediterranean, and North African rulers engaged in it increasingly in the late 16th and early 17th centuries because it was so lucrative. Until the 17th century theBarbary pirates used galleys, but aDutch renegade of the name ofZymen Danseker taught them the advantage of using sailing ships.[173]
Algeria became the privateering city-state par excellence, and two privateer brothers were instrumental in extending Ottoman influence in Algeria. At about the time Spain was establishing itspresidios in the Maghrib, the Muslim privateer brothersAruj andKhair ad Din—the latter known to Europeans asBarbarossa, or Red Beard—were operating successfully off Tunisia. In 1516 Aruj moved his base of operations to Algiers but was killed in 1518. Khair ad Din succeeded him as military commander of Algiers, and the Ottoman sultan gave him the title of beglerbey (provincial governor).
The Spanish expansionist policy in North Africa began with the Catholic Monarchs and the regentCisneros, once theReconquista in the Iberian Peninsula was finished. That way, several towns and outposts in the Algerian coast were conquered and occupied:Mers El Kébir (1505),Oran (1509),Algiers (1510) andBugia (1510). TheSpanish conquest of Oran was won with much bloodshed: 4,000 Algerians were massacred, and up to 8,000 were taken prisoner. For about 200 years, Oran's inhabitants were virtually held captive in their fortress walls, ravaged by famine and plague; Spanish soldiers, too, were irregularly fed and paid.[174]
The Spaniards left Algiers in 1529, Bujia in 1554, Mers El Kébir and Oran in 1708. The Spanish returned in 1732 when the armada of theDuke of Montemar was victorious in the Battle of Aïn-el-Turk andretook Oran and Mers El Kébir; the Spanish massacred many Muslim soldiers.[175] In 1751, a Spanish adventurer, named John Gascon, obtained permission, and vessels and fireworks, to go against Algiers, and set fire, at night, to the Algerian fleet. The plan, however, miscarried. In 1775,Charles III of Spain sent a large force to attack Algiers, under the command ofAlejandro O'Reilly (who had led Spanish forces in crushing French rebellion in Louisiana), resulting in a disastrous defeat. The Algerians suffered 5,000 casualties.[176] The Spanish navybombarded Algiers in 1784; over 20,000 cannonballs were fired, much of the city and its fortifications were destroyed and most of the Algerian fleet was sunk.[177]
Oran and Mers El Kébir were held until 1792, when they were sold by the kingCharles IV to theBey of Algiers.
The Regency of Algiers[c] (Arabic:دولة الجزائر,romanized: Dawlat al-Jaza'ir[d]) was a state inNorth Africa lasting from 1516 to 1830, until it wasconquered by the French. Situated between theregency of Tunis in the east, theSultanate of Morocco (from 1553) in the west andTuat[186][187] as well as the country south ofIn Salah[188] in the south (and theSpanish and Portuguese possessions of North Africa), the Regency originally extended its borders fromLa Calle in the east to Trara in the west and fromAlgiers toBiskra,[189] and afterwards spread to the present eastern and western borders of Algeria.[190]
It had various degrees of autonomy throughout its existence, in some cases reaching complete independence, recognized even by theOttoman sultan.[191] The country was initially governed by governors appointed by the Ottoman sultan (1518–1659), rulers appointed by theOdjak of Algiers (1659–1710), and thenDeys elected by theDivan of Algiers from (1710-1830).
From 1496, the Spanish conquered numerous possessions on the North African coast:Melilla (1496),Mers El Kébir (1505),Oran (1509),Bougie (1510),Tripoli (1510),Algiers,Shershell,Dellys, andTenes.[192] The Spaniards later led unsuccessful expeditions to take Algiers in theAlgiers expedition in 1516,1519 and another failedexpedition in 1541.
Around the same time, the Ottomanprivateer brothersOruç andHayreddin—both known toEuropeans as Barbarossa, or "Red Beard"—were operating successfully offTunisia under theHafsids. In 1516, Oruç moved his base of operations to Algiers. He asked for the protection of theOttoman Empire in 1517, but was killed in 1518 during his invasion of theZayyanid Kingdom ofTlemcen. Hayreddin succeeded him as military commander of Algiers.[193]
In 1551Hasan Pasha, the son of Hayreddin defeated the Spanish-Moroccan armies during acampaign to recapture Tlemcen, thus cementing Ottoman control in western and central Algeria.[194]
After that, the conquest of Algeria sped up. In 1552Salah Rais, with the help of someKabyle kingdoms,conquered Touggourt, and established a foothold in the Sahara.[195]
In the 1560s eastern Algeria was centralized, and the power struggle which had been present ever since theEmirate of Béjaïa collapsed came to an end.
During the 16th, 17th, and early 18th century, the Kabyle Kingdoms ofKuku andAit Abbas managed to maintain their independence[196][197][198] repelling Ottoman attacks several times, notably in theFirst Battle of Kalaa of the Beni Abbes. This was mainly thanks to their ideal position deep inside theKabylia Mountains and their great organisation, and the fact that unlike in the West and East where collapsing kingdoms such as Tlemcen or Béjaïa were present, Kabylia had two new and energetic emirates.
Hayreddin Barbarossa established the military basis of the regency. The Ottomans provided a supporting garrison of 2,000 Turkish troops with artillery.[199] He leftHasan Agha in command as his deputy when he had to leave forConstantinople in 1533.[200] The son of Barbarossa,Hasan Pashan was in 1544 when his father retired, the first governor of the Regency to be directly appointed by the Ottoman Empire. He took the title ofbeylerbey.[200] Algiers became a base in the war againstSpain, and also in theOttoman conflicts with Morocco.
Beylerbeys continued to be nominated for unlimited tenures until 1587. After Spain had sent an embassy to Constantinople in 1578 to negotiate a truce, leading to a formal peace in August 1580, the Regency of Algiers was a formal Ottoman territory, rather than just a military base in the war against Spain.[200] At this time, the Ottoman Empire set up a regular Ottoman administration in Algiers and its dependencies, headed byPashas, with 3-year terms to help considate Ottoman power in the Maghreb.
Despite the end of formal hostilities with Spain in 1580, attacks on Christian and especially Catholic shipping, withslavery for the captured, became prevalent in Algiers and were actually the main industry and source of revenues of the Regency.[201]
In the early 17th century, Algiers also became, along with other North African ports such asTunis, one of the bases forAnglo-Turkish piracy. There were as many as 8,000renegades in the city in 1634.[201][202] (Renegades were former Christians, sometimes fleeing the law, who voluntarily moved to Muslim territory and converted toIslam.)Hayreddin Barbarossa is credited with tearing down the Peñón of Algiers and using the stone to build the inner harbor.[203]
A contemporary letter states:
"The infinity of goods, merchandise jewels and treasure taken by our English pirates daily from Christians and carried toAlgire andTunis to the great enriching of Mores and Turks and impoverishing of Christians"
— Contemporary letter sent from Portugal to England.[204]
Privateers and slavery of Christians originating from Algiers were a major problem throughout the centuries, leading to regular punitive expeditions by European powers. Spain (1567, 1775, 1783), Denmark (1770), France (1661, 1665, 1682, 1683, 1688), England (1622, 1655, 1672), all led naval bombardments against Algiers.[201]Abraham Duquesne fought theBarbary pirates in 1681 and bombarded Algiers between 1682 and 1683, to help Christian captives.[205]
In 1659 the Janissaries of theOdjak of Algiers took over the country, and removed the local Pasha with the blessing of the Ottoman Sultan. From there on a system of dual leaders was in place. There was first and foremost the Agha, elected by the Odjak, and the Pasha appointed by the OttomanSublime Porte, whom was a major cause of unrest.[206] Of course, this duality was not stable. All of the Aghas were assassinated, without an exception. Even the first Agha was killed after only 1 year of rule. Thanks to this the Pashas from Constantinople were able to increase the power, and reaffirm Turkish control over the region. In 1671, the Rais, the pirate captains, elected a new leader,Mohamed Trik. The Janissaries also supported him, and started calling him the Dey, which means Uncle in Turkish.[207]
In the early Dey period the country worked similarly to before, with the Pasha still holding considerable powers, but instead of the Janissaries electing their own leaders freely, other factions such as the Taifa of Rais also wanted to elect the deys. Mohammed Trik, taking over during a time instability was faced with heavy issues. Not only were the Janissaries on a rampage, removing any leaders for even the smallest mistakes (even if those leaders were elected by them), but the native populace was also restless. The conflicts with European powers didn't help this either. In 1677, following anexplosion in Algiers and several attempts at his life, Mohammed escaped toTripoli leaving Algiers toBaba Hassan.[208] Just 4 years into his rulehe was already at war with one of the most powerful countries in Europe, theKingdom of France. In 1682 Francebombarded Algiers for the first time.[209] The Bombardment was inconclusive, and the leader of the fleetAbraham Duquesne failed to secure the submission of Algiers. The next year,Algiers was bombarded again, this time liberating a few slaves. Before a peace treaty could be signed though, Baba Hassan was deposed and killed by a Rais calledMezzo Morto Hüseyin.[210] Continuing the war against Francehe was defeated in a naval battle in 1685, nearCherchell, and at last aFrench Bombardment in 1688 brought an end to his reign, and the war. His successor,Hadj Chabane was elected by the Raïs. He defeated Morocco in theBattle of Moulouya and defeatedTunis as well.[211] He went back to Algiers, but he was assassinated in 1695 by the Janissaries whom once again took over the country. From there on Algiers was in turmoil once again. Leaders were assassinated, despite not even ruling for a year, and the Pasha was still a cause of unrest. The only notable event during this time of unrest was therecapture of Oran and Mers-el-Kébir from the Spanish.
Baba Ali Chaouche, also written as Chaouch, took over the country, ending the rule of the Janissaries. The Pasha attempted to resist him, but instead he was sent home, and told to never come back, and if he did he will be executed. He also sent a letter to the Ottoman sultan declaring that Algiers will from then on act as an independent state, and will not be an Ottoman vassal, but an ally at best.[212] TheSublime Porte, enraged, tried to send another Pasha to Algiers, whom was then sent back to Constantinople by the Algerians. This marked thede facto independence of Algiers from the Ottoman Empire.[213]
In the mid-1700s Dano-Norwegian trade in the Mediterranean expanded. In order to protect the lucrative business against piracy,Denmark–Norway had secured a peace deal with the states ofBarbary Coast. It involved paying an annual tribute to the individual rulers and additionally to the States.
In 1766, Algiers had a new ruler,deyBaba Mohammed ben-Osman. He demanded that the annual payment made by Denmark-Norway should be increased, and he should receive new gifts.Denmark–Norway refused the demands. Shortly after, Algerian pirates hijacked three Dano-Norwegian ships and allowed the crew to be sold as slaves.
They threatened to bombard the Algerian capital if the Algerians did not agree to a new peace deal on Danish terms. Algiers was not intimidated by the fleet, the fleet was of 2frigates, 2 bomb galiot and 4ship of the line.
In the west, the Algerian-Cherifian conflicts shaped the western border of Algeria.[214]
There were numerous battles between the Regency of Algiers and the Sharifian Empires for example: the campaign of Tlemcen in 1551, thecampaign of Tlemcen in 1557, the Battle of Moulouya and theBattle of Chelif. The independent Kabyle Kingdoms also had some involvement, the Kingdom of Beni Abbes participated in the campaign of Tlemcen in 1551 and the Kingdom of Kuku provided Zwawa troops for thecapture of Fez in 1576 in which Abd al-Malik was installed as an Ottoman vassal ruler over the Saadi Dynasty.[215][216] The Kingdom of Kuku also participated in thecapture of Fez in 1554 in which Salih Rais defeated the Moroccan army and conquered Morocco up until Fez, adding these territories to the Ottoman crown and placing Ali Abu Hassun as the ruler and vassal to the Ottoman sultan.[217][218][219] In 1792 the Regency of Algiers managed to take possession of the Moroccan Rif and Oujda, which they then abandoned in 1795 for unknown reasons.[220]
During the early 19th century, Algiers again resorted to widespreadpiracy against shipping from Europe and the youngUnited States of America, mainly due to internal fiscal difficulties, and the damage caused by theNapoleonic Wars.[201] This in turn led to theFirst Barbary War andSecond Barbary War, which culminated in August 1816 whenLord Exmouth executed a navalbombardment of Algiers, the biggest, and most successful one.[221] The Barbary Wars resulted in a major victory for the American, British, and Dutch Navy.
In between 1516 and 1567, the rulers of the Regency were chosen by the Ottoman sultan. During the first few decades, Algiers was completely aligned with the Ottoman Empire, although it later gained a certain level of autonomy as it was the westernmost province of the Ottoman Empire, and administering it directly would have been problematic.[222]
During this period a form of dual leadership was in place, with the Aghas sharing power and influence with a Pasha appointed by the Ottoman sultan from Constantinople.[223] After 1567, the Deys became the main leaders of the country, although the Pashas still retained some power.[224]
After a coup byBaba Ali Chaouch, the political situation of Algiers became complicated.
Some sources describe it as completely independent from the Ottomans,[225][226][227] albeit the state was still nominally part of the Ottoman Empire.[228]
Cur Abdy, dey of Algiers shouted at an Ottoman envoy for claiming that the Ottoman Padishah was the king of Algiers ("King of Algiers? King of Algiers? If he is the King of Algiers then who am I?").[229][230]
Despite the Ottomans having no influence in Algiers, and the Algerians often ignoring orders from the Ottoman sultan, such as in 1784.[191] In some cases Algiers also participated in the Ottoman Empire's wars, such as theRusso-Turkish War (1787–1792),[231] albeit this was not common, and in 1798 for example Algiers sold wheat to theFrench Empirecampaigning in Egypt against the Ottomans through two Jewish traders.
In some cases, Algiers was declared to be a country rebelling against the holy law of Islam by the Ottoman Caliph.[232] This usually meant a declaration of war by the Ottomans against the Deylik of Algiers.[232] This could happen due to many reasons. For example, under the rule ofHaji Ali Dey, Algerian pirates regularly attacked Ottoman shipments, and Algiers waged war against the Beylik of Tunis,[233] despite several protests by the Ottoman Porte, which resulted in a declaration of war.
It can be thus said that the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Algiers mainly depended on what the Dey at the time wanted. While in some cases, if the relationship between the two was favorable, Algiers did participate in Ottoman wars,[231] Algiers otherwise remained completely autonomous from the rest of the Empire similar to the other Barbary States.
| French conquest of Algeria | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
| France | Ottoman Empire Arabs andBerbers | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 3,336 killed in action[234] 92,329 dead from disease | 825,000 killed | ||||
North African boundaries have shifted during various stages of the conquests. The borders of modern Algeria were expanded by the French, whosecolonization began in 1830 (French invasion began on July 5), though it was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. To benefit French colonists (many of whom were not in fact of French origin but Italian, Maltese, and Spanish) and nearly the entirety of whom lived in urban areas, northern Algeria was eventually organized into overseas departments of France, with representatives in theFrench National Assembly. France controlled the entire country, but the traditional Muslim population in the rural areas remained separated from the modern economic infrastructure of the European community.
As a result of what the French considered an insult to the French consul in Algiers by the Day in 1827, France blockaded Algiers for three years. In 1830, France invaded and occupied the coastal areas of Algeria, citing a diplomatic incident ascasus belli.Hussein Dey went into exile. Frenchcolonization then gradually penetrated southwards, and came to have a profound impact on the area and its populations. The European conquest, initially accepted in the Algiers region, was soon met by a rebellion, led byAbdel Kadir, which took roughly a decade for the French troops to put down. By 1848 nearly all of northern Algeria was under French control, and the new government of theFrench Second Republic declared the occupied lands an integral part of France. Three "civil territories"—Algiers, Oran, and Constantine—were organized as French départements (local administrative units) under a civilian government. During the "Pacification of Algeria", which lasted until 1903, the French perpetratedatrocities which included mass executions of civilians and prisoners and the use of concentration camps;[235] many estimates indicates that the native Algerian population fell by one-third in the years between the French invasion and the end of fighting in the mid-1870s due to warfare, disease and starvation.[236] Various governments and scholars consider France's actions in Algeria as constituting agenocide.[237][238]
Napoleon III set up aProject of Arab kingdom in Algeria between 1860 and 1870. His goal was to take Algeria out of legal limbo and make it a kingdom associated with France before his project was abandoned by theThird Republic.[239]
In addition to enduring the affront of being ruled by a foreign, non-Muslim power, many Algerians lost their lands to the new government or to colonists. Traditional leaders were eliminated, coopted, or made irrelevant, and the traditional educational system was largely dismantled; social structures were stressed to the breaking point. From 1856, native Muslims andJews were viewed as French subjects not citizens.
However, in 1865,Napoleon III allowed them to apply for full French citizenship, a measure that few took, since it involved renouncing the right to be governed bysharia law in personal matters, and was considered a kind ofapostasy; in 1870, theCrémieux Decree made French citizenship automatic for Jewish natives, a move which largely angered many Muslims, which resulted in the Jews being seen as the accomplices of the colonial power by anti-colonial Algerians. Nonetheless, this period saw progress in health, some infrastructures, and the overall expansion of theeconomy of Algeria, as well as the formation of new social classes, which, after exposure to ideas of equality and political liberty, would help propel the country to independence.
During the colonization France focused on eradicating the local culture by destroying hundreds years old palaces and important buildings. It is estimated that around half of Algiers, a city founded in the 10th century, was destroyed. Many segregatory laws were levied against the Algerians and their culture.
A new generation ofIslamic leadership emerged in Algeria at the time ofWorld War I and grew to maturity during the 1920s and 1930s. Various groups were formed in opposition to French rule, most notable theNational Liberation Front (FLN) and theNational Algerian Movement.
Colons (colonists), or, more popularly,pieds noirs (literally, black feet) dominated the government and controlled the bulk of Algeria's wealth. Throughout the colonial era, they continued to block or delay all attempts to implement even the most modest reforms. But from 1933 to 1936, mounting social, political, and economic crises in Algeria induced the indigenous population to engage in numerous acts of political protest. The government responded with more restrictive laws governing public order and security. Algerian Muslims rallied to the French side at the start ofWorld War II as they had done inWorld War I. But the colons were generally sympathetic to the collaborationistVichy regime established following France's defeat byNazi Germany. After the fall of the Vichy regime in Algeria (November 11, 1942) as a result ofOperation Torch, theFree French commander in chief in North Africa slowly rescinded repressive Vichy laws, despite opposition by colon extremists.
In March 1943, Muslim leaderFerhat Abbas presented the French administration with the Manifesto of the Algerian People, signed by 56 Algerian nationalist and international leaders. The manifesto demanded an Algerian constitution that would guarantee immediate and effective political participation and legal equality for Muslims. Instead, the French administration in 1944 instituted a reform package, based on the 1936 Viollette Plan, that granted full French citizenship only to certain categories of "meritorious" Algerian Muslims, who numbered about 60,000. In April 1945 the French had arrested the Algerian nationalist leaderMessali Hadj. On May 1 the followers of hisParti du Peuple Algérien (PPA) participated indemonstrations which were violently put down by the police. Several Algerians were killed. The tensions between the Muslim and colon communities exploded on May 8, 1945,V-E Day, causing theSétif and Guelma massacre. When a Muslim march was met with violence, marchers rampaged. The army and police responded by conducting a prolonged and systematic ratissage (literally, raking over) of suspected centers of dissidence. According to official French figures, 1,500 Muslims died as a result of these countermeasures. Other estimates vary from 6,000 to as high as 45,000 killed. Many nationalists drew the conclusion that independence could not be won by peaceful means, and so started organizing for violent rebellion.
In August 1947, theFrench National Assembly approved the government-proposedOrganic Statute of Algeria. This law called for the creation of an Algerian Assembly with one house representing Europeans and "meritorious" Muslims and the other representing the remaining 8 million or more Muslims. Muslim and colon deputies alike abstained or voted against the statute but for diametrically opposed reasons: the Muslims because it fell short of their expectations and the colons because it went too far.
TheAlgerian War of Independence (1954–1962), brutal and long, was the most recent major turning point in the country's history. Although often fratricidal, it ultimately united Algerians and seared the value of independence and the philosophy ofanticolonialism into the national consciousness.
In the early morning hours of November 1, 1954, the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale—FLN) launched attacks throughout Algeria in the opening salvo of awar of independence. An important watershed in this war was the massacre of Pieds-Noirs civilians by the FLN near the town of Philippeville in August 1955. Which promptedJacques Soustelle into calling for more repressive measures against the rebels. The French authorities claimed that 1,273 "guerrillas" died in what Soustelle admitted were "severe" reprisals. The FLN subsequently, giving names and addresses, claimed that 12,000 Muslims were killed. After Philippeville, all-out war began in Algeria. The FLN fought largely using guerrilla tactics whilst the French counter-insurgency tactics often included severe reprisals and repression.
Eventually, protracted negotiations led to a cease-fire signed by France and the FLN on March 18, 1962, atEvian, France. TheEvian accords also provided for continuing economic, financial, technical, and cultural relations, along with interim administrative arrangements until areferendum on self-determination could be held. The Evian accords guaranteed the religious and property rights of French settlers, but the perception that they would not be respected led to the exodus of one millionpieds-noirs andharkis.
Abusive tactics of theFrench Army remains a controversial subject in France to this day. Deliberateillegal methods were used, such as beatings, mutilations, hanging by the feet or hands, torture by electroshock,waterboarding, sleep deprivation and sexual assaults, among others.[240][241][242][243] French war crimes against Algerian civilians were also committed, including indiscriminate shootings of civilians, bombings of villages suspected of helping the ALN,[244] rape,[245]disembowelment of pregnant women,[246] imprisonmentwithout food in small cells (some of which were small enough to impede lying down),[247] throwing prisonersout of helicopters to their death or into the sea with concrete on their feet, andburying people alive.[240][248][249][250]
The FLN also committed many atrocities, both against Frenchpieds-noirs and against fellow Algerians whom they deemed as supporting the French.[251] These crimes included killing unarmed men, women and children, rape and disembowelment or decapitation of women and murdering children by slitting their throats or banging their heads against walls.[252]
Between 350,000 and 1 million Algerians are estimated to have died during the war, and more than 2 million, out of a totalMuslim population of 9 or 10 million, were made into refugees or forcibly relocated into government-controlled camps. Much of the countryside andagriculture was devastated, along with the moderneconomy, which had been dominated by urban Europeansettlers (thepied-noirs). French sources estimated that at least 70,000 Muslim civilians were killed or abducted and presumed killed, by the FLN during theAlgerian War. Nearly one million people of mostly French, Spanish and Italian descent left the country at independence due to the privileges that they lost as settlers and their unwillingness to be on equal footing with indigenous Algerians[253] along with them left most Algerians ofJewish descent and those Muslim Algerians who had supported a French Algeria (harkis). 30–150,000 pro-French Muslims were also killed in Algeria by FLN in post-war reprisals.[254]
TheAlgerian independence referendum was held inFrench Algeria on 1 July 1962, passing with 99.72% of the vote. As a result, France declared Algeria independent on 3 July. On 8 September 1963, the firstAlgerian constitution was adopted bynationwide referendum under close supervision by theNational Liberation Front (FLN). Later that month,Ahmed Ben Bella was formally elected the firstpresident of Algeria for a five-year term after receiving support from the FLN and the military, led by ColonelHouari Boumédiène.
However, thewar for independence and its aftermath had severely disrupted Algeria's society and economy. In addition to the destruction of much of Algeria's infrastructure, an exodus of the upper-class French and Europeancolons from Algeria deprived the country of most of its managers, civil servants, engineers, teachers, physicians, and skilled workers. The homeless and displaced numbered in the hundreds of thousands, many suffering from illness, and some 70 percent of the workforce was unemployed.[255] The months immediately following independence witnessed the pell-mell rush of Algerians and government officials to claim the property and jobs left behind by the Europeancolons. For example in the 1963 March Decrees, President Ben Bella declared all agricultural, industrial, and commercial properties previously owned and operated by Europeans vacant, thereby legalizing confiscation by the state.
The military played an important role in Ben Bella's administration. Since the president recognized the role that the military played in bringing him to power, he appointed senior military officers as ministers and other important positions within the new state, including naming Colonel Boumédiène as defence minister.[256] These military officials played a core role into implementing the country's security and foreign policy.
Under the new constitution, Ben Bella's presidency combined the functions ofchief of state andhead of government with those of supreme commander of the armed forces. He formed his government without needing legislative approval and was responsible for the definition and direction of its policies. There was no effective institutional check on the president's powers. As a result, opposition leaderHocine Aït-Ahmed quit theNational Assembly in 1963 to protest the increasingly dictatorial tendencies of the regime and formed a clandestine resistance movement, theSocialist Forces Front (Front des Forces Socialistes—FFS), dedicated to overthrowing the Ben Bella regime by force.
Late summer 1963 saw sporadic incidents attributed to the FFS, but more serious fighting broke out a year later, and the army moved quickly and in force to crush a rebellion. Minister of Defense Boumédiène had no qualms about sending the army to put down regional uprisings because he felt they posed a threat to the state. However, President Ben Bella attempted to co-opt allies from among these regional leaders in order to undermine the ability of military commanders to influence foreign and security policy. Tensions consequently built between Boumédiène and Ben Bella, and in 1965 the military removed Ben Bella in acoup d'état, replacing him with Boumédiène as head of state.
On 19 June 1965,Houari Boumédiène deposed Ahmed Ben Bella in a militarycoup d'état that was both swift and bloodless. Ben Bella "disappeared", and would not be seen again until he was released from house arrest in 1980 by Boumédiène's successor, ColonelChadli Bendjedid. Boumédiène immediately dissolved theNational Assembly and suspended the 1963 constitution. Political power resided in the Nation Council of the Algerian Revolution (Conseil National de la Révolution Algérienne—CNRA), a predominantly military body intended to foster cooperation among various factions in the army and the party.
Houari Boumédiène's position as head of government and of state was initially insecure, partly because of his lack of a significant power base outside of the armed forces. He relied strongly on a network of former associates known as theOujda group, named after Boumédiène's posting asNational Liberation Army (Armée de Libération Nationale—ALN) leader in theMoroccan border town ofOujda during the war years, but he could not fully dominate his fractious regime. This situation may have accounted for his deference to collegial rule.
Over Boumédiène's 11-year reign as Chairman of the CNRA, the council introduced two formal mechanisms: thePeople's Municipal Assembly (Assemblée Populaires Communales) and thePeople's Provincial Assembly (Assemblée Populaires de Wilaya) for popular participation in politics. Under Boumédiène's rule, leftist and socialist concepts were merged withIslam.
Boumédiène also used Islam to opportunistically consolidate his power.[257] On one hand, he made token concessions and cosmetic changes to the government to appear more Islamic, such as putting IslamistAhmed Taleb Ibrahimi in charge of national education in 1965 and adopting policies criminalizing gambling, establishing Friday as the national holiday, and dropping plans to introduce birth control to paint an Islamic image of the new government. But on the other hand, Boumédiène's government also progressively repressed Islamic groups, such as by ordering the dissolution of Al Qiyam.
Following attempted coups—most notably that of chief-of-staff Col.Tahar Zbiri in December 1967—and a failedassassination attempt on 25 April 1968, Boumédiène consolidated power and forced military and political factions to submit. He took a systematic, authoritarian approach to state building, arguing that Algeria needed stability and an economic base before building any political institutions.
Eleven years after Boumédiène took power, after much public debate, a long-promised new constitution was promulgated in November 1976. The constitution restored the National Assembly and gave it legislative, consent, and oversight functions.[258] Boumédiène was later elected president with 95 percent of the cast votes.
Boumédiène's death on 27 December 1978 set off a struggle within theFLN to choose a successor. A deadlock occurred between two candidates was broken when ColonelChadli Bendjedid, a moderate who had collaborated with Boumédiène in deposingAhmed Ben Bella, was sworn in on February 9, 1979. He was re-elected in 1984 and 1988. After the violent1988 October Riots, a new constitution was adopted in 1989 that eradicated the Algerian one-party state by allowing the formation of political associations in addition to the FLN. It also removed thearmed forces, which had run the government since the days of Boumédiène, from a role in the operation of the government.
Among the scores of parties that sprang up under the new constitution, the militantIslamic Salvation Front (Front Islamique du Salut—FIS) was the most successful, winning a majority of votes in the June 1990 municipal elections, as well as the first stage of the December national legislative elections.
The surprising first round of success for the fundamentalist FIS party in the December 1991 balloting caused the army to discuss options to intervene in the election. Officers feared that an Islamist government would interfere with their positions and core interests in economic, national security, and foreign policy, since the FIS has promised to make a fundamental re-haul of the social, political, and economic structure to achieve a radical Islamist agenda. Senior military figures, such as Defence MinisterKhaled Nezzar, Chief of the General StaffAbdelmalek Guenaizia, and other leaders of thenavy,Gendarmerie, and security services, all agreed that the FIS should be stopped from gaining power at the polling box. They also agreed that Bendjedid would need to be removed from office due to his determination to uphold the country's new constitution by continuing with the second round of ballots.[259]
On 11 January 1992, Bendjedid announced his resignation on national television, saying it was necessary to "protect the unity of the people and the security of the country".[260] Later that same day, theHigh Council of State (Haut Comité d'Etat—HCE), which was composed of five people (including Khaled Nezzar,Tedjini Haddam,Ali Kafi,Mohamed Boudiaf andAli Haroun), was appointed to carry out the duties of the president.
The new government, led bySid Ahmed Ghozali, banned all political activity at mosques and began stopping people from attending prayers at popular mosques. The FIS was legally dissolved by Interior MinisterLarbi Belkheir on 9 February for attempting "insurrections against the state".[259] A state of emergency was also declared and extraordinary powers, such as curtailing the right to associate, were granted to the regime.
Between January and March, a growing number of FIS militants were arrested by the military, includingAbdelkader Hachani and his successors,Othman Aissani andRabah Kebir.[259] Following the announcement to dissolve the FIS and implement a state of emergency on 9 February, the Algerian security forces used their new emergency powers to conduct large scale arrests of FIS members and housed them in 5 "detention centers" in the Sahara. Between 5,000 (official number) and 30,000 (FIS number) people were detained.[259]
This crackdown led to a fundamental Islamic insurgency, resulting in the continuous and brutal 10 year-longAlgerian Civil War. During the civil war, the secular state apparatus nonetheless allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties. The civil war lasted from 1991 to 2002.
AfterChadli Bendjedid resigned from the presidency in the military coup of 1992, a series of figureheads were selected by the military to assume the presidency, as officers were reluctant to assume public political power even though they had manifested control over the government. Additionally, the military's senior leaders felt a need to give a civilian face to the new political regime they had hastily constructed in the aftermath of Benjedid's ousting and the termination of elections, preferring a friendlier non-military face to front the regime.[261]
The first such head of state wasMohamed Boudiaf, who was appointed president of theHigh Council of State (HCE) in February 1992 after a 27-year exile in Morocco. However, Boudiaf quickly came to odds with the military when attempts by Boudiaf to appoint his own staff or form a political party were viewed with suspicion by officers. Boudiaf also launched political initiatives, such as a rigorous anti-corruption campaign in April 1992 and the sacking ofKhaled Nezzar from his post as Defence Minister, which were seen by the military as an attempt to remove their influence in the government. The former of these initiatives was especially hazardous to the many senior military officials who had benefited massively and illegally from the political system for years.[261] In the end, Boudiaf was assassinated in June 1992 by one of his bodyguards with Islamist sympathies.
Ali Kafi briefly assumed the HCE presidency after Boudiaf's death, beforeLiamine Zéroual was appointed as a long-term replacement in 1994. However, Zéroual only remained in office for four years before he announced his retirement, as he quickly became embroiled in a clan warfare within the upper classes of the military and fell out with groups of the more senior generals.[261] After thisAbdelaziz Bouteflika, Boumédiène's foreign minister, succeeded as the president.
As theAlgerian civil war wound to a close, presidential elections were held again in April 1999. Although seven candidates qualified for election, all butAbdelaziz Bouteflika, who had the support of the military as well as theNational Liberation Front (FLN), withdrew on the eve of the election amid charges of electoral fraud and interference from the military. Bouteflika went on to win with 70 percent of the cast votes.
Despite the purportedly democratic elections, the civilian government immediately after the 1999 elections only acted as a sort of 'hijab' over the true government, mostly running day-to-day businesses, while the military still largely ran the country behind the scenes. For example, ministerial mandates to individuals were only granted with the military's approval, and different factions of the military invested in various political parties and the press, using them as pawns to gain influence.[261]
However, the military's influence over politics decreased gradually, leaving Bouteflika with more authority on deciding policy. One reason for this was that the senior commanders who had dominated the political scene during the 1960s and 1970s started to retire. Bouteflika's former experience as Boumédiène's foreign minister earned him connections that rejuvenated Algeria's international reputation, which had been tarnished in the early 1990s due to the civil war. On the domestic front, Bouteflika's policy of "national reconciliation" to bring a close to civilian violence earned him a popular mandate that helped him to win further presidential terms in 2004, 2009 and 2014.[262]
In 2010, journalists gathered to demonstrate for press freedom and against Bouteflika's self-appointed role as editor-in-chief of Algeria's state television station.[263] In February 2011, the government rescinded the state of emergency that had been in place since 1992 but still banned all protest gatherings and demonstrations. However,in April 2011, over 2,000 protesters defied the official ban and took to the streets of Algiers, clashing with police forces. These protests can be seen as a part of theArab Spring, with protesters noting that they were inspired by the recentEgyptian revolution, and that Algeria was apolice state that was "corrupt to the bone".[264]
In 2019, after 20 years in office, Bouteflika announced in February that he would seek a fifth term of office. This sparked widespread discontent around Algeria andprotests in Algiers. Despite later attempts at saying he would resign after his term finished in late April, Bouteflika resigned on 2 April, after the chief of the army,Ahmed Gaid Salah, made a declaration that he was "unfit for office".[265] Despite Gaid Salah being loyal to Bouteflika, many in the military identified with civilians, as nearly 70 percent of the army are civilian conscripts who are required to serve for 18 months.[266] Also, since demonstrators demanded a change to the whole governmental system, many army officers aligned themselves with demonstrators in the hopes of surviving an anticipated revolution and retaining their positions.
After the resignation ofAbdelaziz Bouteflika on 9 April 2019, thePresident of theCouncil of the NationAbdelkader Bensalah became acting president of Algeria.[267]
Followingthe presidential election on 12 December 2019,Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected president after taking 58% of the votes, beating the candidates from both main parties, theNational Liberation Front and theDemocratic National Rally.[268]
On the eve of the first anniversary of theHirak Movement, which led to the resignation of former president Bouteflika, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced in a statement to theAlgerian national media that 22 February would be declared the Algerian "National Day of Fraternity and Cohesion between the People and Its Army for Democracy."[269] In the same statement, Tebboune spoke in favor of the Hirak Movement, saying that "the blessed Hirak has preserved the country from a total collapse", and that he had "made a personal commitment to carry out all of the [movement's] demands."[269] On 21 and 22 February 2020, masses of demonstrators (with turnout comparable to well-established Algerian holidays like theAlgerian Day of Independence) gathered to honor the anniversary of the Hirak Movement and the newly established national day.[270][271]
In an effort to contain theCOVID-19 pandemic, Tebboune announced on 17 March 2020 that "marches and rallies, whatever their motives" would be prohibited.[272] But after protesters and journalists were arrested for participating in such marches, Tebboune faced accusations of attempting to "silence Algerians."[273] Notably, the government's actions were condemned byAmnesty International, which said in a statement that "when all eyes [...] are on themanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Algerian authorities are devoting time to speeding up the prosecution and trial of activists, journalists, and supporters of the Hirak movement."[274] TheNational Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (Comité national pour la libération des détenus—CNLD) estimated that around 70 prisoners of conscience were imprisoned by 2 July 2020 and that several of the imprisoned were arrested forFacebook posts.[275]
On 28 December 2019, the then-recently inaugurated President Tebboune met withAhmed Benbitour, the formerAlgerian Head of Government, with whom he discussed the "foundations of the new Republic."[276] On 8 January 2020, Tebboune established a "commission of experts" composed of 17 members (a majority of which were professors ofconstitutional law) responsible for examining the previous constitution and making any necessary revisions.[277] Led by Ahmed Laraba, the commission was required to submit its proposals to Tebboune directly within the following two months.[277][278] In a letter to Laraba on the same day, Tebboune outlined seven axes around which the commission should focus its discussion.[279] These areas of focus included strengthening citizens' rights, combatingcorruption, consolidating thebalance of powers in the Algerian government, increasing theoversight powers ofparliament, promoting the independence of thejudiciary, furthering citizens' equality under the law, and constitutionalizingelections.[279] Tebboune's letter also included a call for an "immutable and intangible" two-term limit to anyone serving as president — a major point of contention in the initial Hirak Movement protests, which were spurred by former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's announcement to run for a fifth term.[279]
The preliminary draft revision of the constitution was publicly published on 7 May 2020, but the Laraba Commission (as the "commission of experts" came to be known) was open to additional proposals from the public until 20 June.[280] By 3 June, the commission had received an estimated 1,200 additional public proposals.[280] After all revisions were considered by the Laraba Commission, the draft was introduced to theCabinet of Algeria (Council of Ministers).[280]
The revised constitution was adopted in theCouncil of Ministers on 6 September,[281] in thePeople's National Assembly on 10 September, and in theCouncil of the Nation on 12 September.[282][283] The constitutional changes were approved in the1 November 2020 referendum, with 66.68% of voters participating in favour of the changes.[284]
On 16 February 2021,mass protests and a wave of nationwide rallies and peaceful demonstrations against the government of Abdelmadjid Tebboune began.[285] In May 2021, Algeria prohibited any protests that do not have prior approval by authorities.[286]
In September 2024, President Tebbounewon a second term with a landslide 84.3 percent of the vote, although his opponents called the results fraud.[287]
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