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Ifriqiya (Arabic:إفريقية,lit. 'Africa'Ifrīqya), also known asal-Maghrib al-Adna (Arabic:المغرب الأدنى), was a medievalhistorical region comprising today'sTunisia, easternAlgeria, andTripolitania (roughly westernLibya).[1][2][3] It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province ofAfrica Proconsularis and extended beyond it,[4] but did not include theMauretanias.[5]
To the south, Ifriqiya was bounded by the semi-arid lands and salt marshes named el-Djerid. The northern boundary fluctuated from as far north asSicily to the North African coastline, and the western boundary usually reachedBéjaïa. Ifriqiya is bordered to the west by theCentral Maghreb, with which the borders are fluid depending on the chroniclers and the eras. The capital was brieflyCarthage, thenQayrawan (Kairouan), thenMahdia, thenTunis.[6] TheAghlabids, from their base inKairouan, initiated the invasion ofSouthern Italy beginning in 827, and established theEmirate of Sicily, which lasted until it was conquered by theNormans, and the short-livedEmirate of Bari.
The province of Ifriqiya was created in 703 CE when theUmayyads seized North Africa from theByzantine Empire. Although Islam existed throughout the province, there was still considerable religious tension and conflict between the invading Arabs and the native Berbers. The beliefs and perceptions of people also shifted from area to area. This contrast was at its greatest between coastal cities and villages. Muslim ownership of Ifriqiya changed hands numerous times in its history with the collapse of the Umayyads paving the way for theAghlabids, who acted as agents of theAbbasids in Baghdad.
They were then overthrown by theFatimids in 909, when they lost their capital ofRaqqada and the Fatimids went on to control all of Ifriqiya in 969, when they took control of Egypt. The Fatimids slowly lost control over Ifriqiya as their regents, theZirids, became more and more autonomous until the mid-11th century when they fully separated.
Religious divisions paved the way for theAlmohads to take over western Ifriqiya (Maghreb) in 1147 and all of Ifriqiya by 1160. This empire was to last until the early 13th century where it was then replaced by theHafsids, an influential clan that boasted many of Ifriqiya's governors. The Hafsids in 1229 declared their independence from the Almohads and organized themselves underAbu Zakariya, who built the Hafsid empire around its new capital,Tunis.[7]
Records of Arabic oral traditions imply that the Muslims first migrated to Africa feeling persecuted in their Arab homeland. However, Muslim military incursions into Africa began around seven years after the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in 632. This campaign into Africa was led by the GeneralAmr ibn al-As and Muslim control of Africa rapidly spread after the initial seizure of Alexandria.
Islam slowly took root in the East African coast due to cross-cultural links established between Muslim traders and the natives of the African coast. The political situation in Islamic Africa was like any other, filled with a chaotic and constant power struggle between movements and dynasties. A key factor in the success of any hopeful party was securing the wealth to fund a push for dominance. One source of great wealth was the lucrative gold-mining areas ofSub-Saharan Africa. The existence of these gold mines made expansion into Africa very worthwhile. The Muslim Empires pushed for influence and control of both the Northern and Southern parts of Africa. By the end of the 11th century, Islam had firmly established itself along the Mediterranean. Like theEuropeans, Muslims felt the brutal effects of theBlack Death in the 14th century when it arrived in Western Africa (Maghreb) through Europe. Maghreb and Ifriqiya were largely under the rule of theOttoman Empire between the 16th and 18th centuries. Around the end of the 19th century, Islam accounted for 1/3rd of the religious population of Africa.[8]
Constantine the African was a scholar who was born in Carthage and migrated to Sicily in the 11th century. Constantine traveled through places such as Cairo, India and Ethiopia, and his knowledge of numerous languages helped him interpret many academic texts.
His greatest work came when he joined theBenedictine monastery atMonte Cassino, where he translated over 30 books, including works byIsaac the Jew, one of the most accomplished physicians in the Western Caliphate. He translated Muslim books on medicine from Arabic to Latin, opening Europe up to a wave of medical knowledge they had had little access to before. His bookThe Total Art is based onThe Royal Book by Persian physicianAli ibn al Abbas.[9]
Ibn Khaldun, a historian born in Tunis, was one of the most prolific academics of the Middle Ages. Ibn Khaldun's bookMuqadimmah influenced waves of writers in Egypt, Turkey, and France from the 15th through 19th centuries. Ibn Khaldun served in numerous political positions in al Andalus and Al Maghreb. He fell in and out of favor with the many different powers that rose and fell in Ifriqiya. In the latter 14th century Ibn Khaldun took refuge with a tribe in Algeria and began his four-year endeavor to write an introduction to history,Muqadimmah. Volume I laid the groundwork for sociology, while the two volumes that followed explored the world of politics, subsequent books explored many different themes such as urban life, economics and the study of knowledge. He spent his later years as a judge of theMalikifiqh in Egypt where he took his work very seriously, evaluating each case on its merits and constantly trying to eradicate flaws that he discovered in the judicial system. His somewhat strict approach to Islamic laws made some Egyptians uneasy, so he eventually left his position and traveled through the eastern reaches of the Arab world. In 1400, he parleyed outside Damascus withTimur, who was in awe of his wisdom. He managed to secure safe passage for many of the inhabitants of Damascus but could not save the city or its mosque from being sacked. After this, he went to Cairo and spent the remainder of his years in relative peace and quiet. He died in 1406 and was buried outside Cairo.[10]
(invasion of theBanu Hilal (1057) — Kairouan destroyed,Zirids reduced to the main coastal cities, rural areas fragments into pettyBedouinemirates)[16]
(Ifriqiyan coast annexed byNorman Sicily (1143–1160))
(All of Ifriqiya conquered and annexed by theAlmohads (1160))[18]
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