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51-727: During the Zayyanid period, the Draa region which surrounds the Tindouf province was governed by a sheikh of the Zayyanids. The town of Tindouf was rebuilt near an isolated Saharan oasis in 1852 by members of the Tajakant tribe , but sacked and destroyed by the Reguibat tribe in 1895. It remained deserted until French troops led by colonel Trinquet arrived in the area in 1934 and attached

102-742: A Marinid prince, as a Zayyanid vassal in Fez. The Wattasids , a family related to the Marinids, continued to govern from Salé , where they proclaimed Abd al-Haqq II , an infant, as the successor to the Marinid throne, with Abu Zakariyya al-Wattasi as regent . 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,

153-652: A blue field. The kingdom covered the less fertile regions of the Tell Atlas . Its people included a minority of settled farmers and villagers, and a majority of nomadic herders. Yaghmurasen was able to maintain control over the rival Berber groups, and when faced with the outside threat of the Marinid dynasty , he formed an alliance with the Emir of Granada and the King of Castile, Alfonso X . According to Ibn Khaldun , "he

204-587: A fortified palatial complex known as the Meshouar (or Mechouar; Arabic : قلعة المشور , romanized :  Qal'at al-Mashwār ) to which his successors added. Few remains from the Zayyanid period have survived today, but historical sources and archeological excavations have demonstrated the existence of several palaces and residences during that time. Abu Tashfin I built at least three of them, named Dar al-Surur , Dar Abi Fihr , and Dar al-Mulk . Most of

255-694: A mosque and a madrasa, but nearly all of it was in ruins by the 19th century and has since been rebuilt. It remained the site of an important cemetery throughout the later Ottoman period . Excavations have revealed the existence of more rich zellij decoration, of the same style as that of the Tashfiniya Madrasa, which covered some of the tombs. Zayyanid dynasty French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present The Zayyanid dynasty ( Arabic : زيانيون , Ziyānyūn ) or Abd al-Wadids ( Arabic : بنو عبد الواد , Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād )

306-563: A nationalist Sahrawi movement, to use the area as its main base. Sahrawi refugee camps were established in Tindouf in 1975-6, such as Smara refugee camp and El Aaiun refugee camp . The Polisario remains in the province, running the large refugee camps located south of Tindouf city . The European Commission refers to the Sahrawi refugees as the "forgotten refugees". The province was created from Béchar Province in 1984. The province contains one daïra ( district ), Tindouf , which

357-401: A new town, al-Mansura, diverting most of the trade to this town. 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. When the Marinids left in 1307, the Zayyanids promptly destroyed al-Mansura. The Zayyanid king Abu Zayyan I died in 1308 and was succeeded by Abu Hammu I (r. 1308–1318). Abu Hammu

408-544: A new wall around the town in 1161. Ibn Zayyan was governor of Tlemcen under the Almohads. He inherited leadership of the family from his brother in 1235. When the Almohad empire began to fall apart, in 1235, Yaghmurasen declared his independence. The city of Tlemcen became the capital of one of three successor states, ruled for centuries by successive Ziyyanid sultans. Its flag was a white crescent pointing upwards on

459-518: 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. In the late 14th and

510-470: A siege of Tlemcen in 1335 and the city fell in 1337. Abu Tashufin died during the fighting. 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. In 1346 the Hafsid Sultan, Abu Bakr, died and a dispute over the succession ensued. In 1347 Abu al-Hasan annexed Ifriqiya, briefly reuniting

561-630: Is coextensive with the province. The province and daïra has a population of 58,193 inhabitants. The daira is further divided into two communes or municipalities: Tindouf and Oum El Assel . It is one of only 3 provinces in the country which has only one daïra and along with Bordj Baji Mokhtar Province , Djanet Province , In Guezzam Province also has the fewest communes with just 2. Kingdom of Tlemcen French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen ( Arabic : الزيانيون )

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612-584: The Great Mosque of Tlemcen , previously built under the Almoravids in late 11th and early 12th centuries. Both minarets are made of brick and stone and feature sebka relief decoration similar to the earlier Almohad-built Kasbah Mosque of Marrakesh . Yaghmurasan is also credited with rebuilding or expanding the mosque's courtyard and adding another ornamental ribbed dome to its prayer hall. His successor, Abu Sa'id 'Uthman (r. 1283–1304), founded

663-616: The Mosque of Sidi Bel Hasan in 1296 in Tlemcen. The Zayyanids built other religious foundations in and around the city, but many have not survived to the present day or have preserved little of their original appearance. Madrasas were a new institution which was introduced to the Maghreb in the 13th century and first proliferated under the Zayyanids and their contemporaries. The Madrasa Tashfiniya , founded by Abu Tashfin I (r. 1318–1337) and later demolished by French colonial authorities in

714-461: The Qasr al-Qadim was the first royal necropolis (or rawda ) of the Zayyanids, which remained the burial site of Zayyanid rulers up until the mid-14th century at least. After this, the royal necropolis was moved by Abu Hammu II to a new religious complex which he erected in 1361–1362 next to the qubba (mausoleum) of a Muslim saint known as Sidi Brahim. Along with the necropolis, the complex included

765-681: The Tuat , Tamentit , and Draa regions which was governed by Abdallah Ibn Moslem ez Zerdali, a sheikh of the Zayyanids. The Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād , also called the Bānu Ziyān or Zayyanids after Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan , the founder of the dynasty, were a Berber clan who had long been settled in the Central Maghreb . Although contemporary chroniclers asserted that they had a noble Arab origin, Ibn Zayyan reportedly spoke in Zenati dialect and denied

816-627: The 15th centuries, the state was increasingly weak and became intermittently a vassal of Hafsid Tunisia , Marinid Morocco , or the Crown of Aragon . 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

867-475: The 15th century, Zayyanid expansion eastward was attempted, but proved disastrous, as consequences of these incursions they were so weakened that over the following two centuries, the Zayyanid kingdom was intermittently a vassal of Hafsid Ifriqiya , Marinid Morocco , or Aragon . During the first half of the 16th century, Spain and the Ottoman Regency of Algiers fought over control of Tlemcen, with

918-406: The 19th century, was celebrated for its rich decoration, especially zellij tile decoration with advanced arabesque and geometric motifs whose style was repeated in some subsequent Marinid monuments. The Zayyanids installed their government in a citadel or kasbah which was previously founded by the Almoravids in what was then Tagrart (now part of Tlemcen). Yaghmurasan developed this into

969-604: The East, slaves and gold from across the Sahara, local earthenware and leather goods, and a variety of Mediterranean maritime goods "redirected" to Tlemcen by corsairs —in addition to the intentional European imports available at the funduk. Merchant houses based in Tlemcen, such as the al-Maqqari maintained regular branch offices in Mali and the Sudan . Architecture under the Zayyanids

1020-587: The Maghrib territories as they had been under the Almohads. However, Abu al-Hasan went too far in attempting to impose more authority over the Arab tribes, who revolted and in April 1348 defeated his army near Kairouan . His son, Abu Inan Faris , who had been serving as governor of Tlemcen, returned to Fez and declared that he was sultan. Tlemcen and the central Maghreb revolted. The Zayyanid Abu Thabit I (1348–1352)

1071-637: The Marinids were distracted by their internal struggles. He besieged Béjaïa and sent an army into Tunisia that defeated the Hafsid king Abu Yahya Abu Bakr II , who fled to Constantine while the Zayyanids occupied Tunis in 1325. The Marinid sultan Abu al-Hasan (r. 1331–1348) cemented an alliance with Hafsids by marrying a Hafsid princess. Upon being attacked by the Zayyanids again, the Hafsids appealed to Abu al-Hasan for help, providing him with an excuse to invade his neighbour. The Marinid sultan initiated

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1122-534: The Moroccan parliament has still not ratified the border recognition. From 1974, refugees from the contested Spanish Sahara started arriving to the Tindouf area, following an earlier wave from the 1958 unrest . This turned into a major exodus from 1975 onwards, when Morocco and Mauritania seized control of what was then called Western Sahara , and Algeria retaliated by allowing the Polisario Front ,

1173-494: The Ottoman Empire Tlemcen quickly lost its former importance, becoming a sleepy provincial town. The failure of the kingdom to become a powerful state can be explained by the lack of geographical or cultural unity, the constant internal disputes and the reliance on irregular Arab nomads for the military. The city of Tlemcen displaced Tahert ( Tiaret ) as the main trading hub in the central Maghreb , lying on

1224-582: 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. During the reign of the Marinid sultan Abu Sa'id , the Zayyanids rebelled on several occasions and Abu Sa'id had to reassert his authority. After Abu Sa'id's death in 1420 the Marinids were plunged into political turmoil. The Zayyanid emir, Abu Malek, used this opportunity to throw off Marinid authority and captured Fez in 1423. Abu Malek installed Muhammad,

1275-527: The amirs of Tlemcen, whose authority had shrunk to the town and its immediate neighbourship. Tlemcen was captured in 1551 by the Ottomans of the Regency of Algiers , led by Hassan Pasha . The last Zayyanid sultan, Hasan al-Abdallah, escaped to Oran under Spanish protection. He was baptized and lived under the name of Carlos until his death a few years later. Zayyanid rule thus came to an end. Under

1326-499: The area as its own following Algerian independence. In a process beginning in 1969 and finalized during the OAU summit in Rabat in 1972, Morocco recognized the border with Algeria, in exchange for joint exploitation of the iron ore in Tindouf. However, parts of Moroccan society and some nationalist political parties still refer to the Tindouf area as historically Moroccan territory, and

1377-440: The central Maghreb. This period of strength was followed by a Marinid occupation of Tlemcen between 1337 and 1359 (with an interruption from 1348 to 1352). There were occasional Marinid attempts to retake Tlemcen up to 1370, but they found that they were unable to hold the region against local resistance. Under the long reign of Abu Hammu II (r. 1359–1389), the Zayyanid state enjoyed a third period of political strength. In

1428-688: The kingdom was Tlemcen , which lay on the primary east–west route between Morocco and Ifriqiya . The kingdom was situated between the realm of the Marinids to the west, centred on Fez , and the Hafsids to the east, centred on Tunis . Tlemcen was a hub for the north–south trade route from Oran on the Mediterranean coast to the Western Sudan . As a prosperous trading centre, it attracted its more powerful neighbours. At different times

1479-413: The kingdom was invaded and occupied by the Marinids from the west, by the Hafsids from the east, and by Aragonese from the north. At other times, they were able to take advantage of turmoil among their neighbours: during the reign of Abu Tashfin I (r. 1318–1337) the Zayyanids occupied Tunis and in 1423, under the reign of Abu Malek, they briefly captured Fez. In the south the Zayyanid realm included

1530-633: The lineage that genealogists had attributed to him. Yaghmurasen would in fact have responded yessen rabi , which means in Berber "god only knows", to this claim. The town of Tlemcen, called Pomaria by the Romans, is about 806m above sea level in fertile, well-watered country. Tlemcen was an important centre under the Almoravid dynasty and its successors the Almohad Caliphate , who began

1581-485: The palaces took the form of courtyard buildings, often with a fountain or water basin at their center, gardens, and rich decoration including zellij and carved stucco . Some regional characteristics are also attested in their design, such as the placement of a central alcove at the back of a large audience chamber, which has precedents in the Zirid palace of 'Ashir and earlier Fatimid palaces further east. One of

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1632-561: The region against local resistance. 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. The historian Ibn Khaldun lived in Tlemcen for

1683-660: The region to the French Algeria territory. The province houses army and airforce bases for the Algerian military , and is strategically important due to its proximity to the Moroccan border, and its location at a four-country border crossing. From independence in 1956, the Kingdom of Morocco claimed the Tindouf area and western Algeria as part of Morocco. These claims are based on the allegations that until 1952, Tindouf

1734-514: The rival Berber groups, and when faced with the outside threat of the Marinids , he formed an alliance with the Sultan of Granada and the King of Castile , Alfonso X . After an eight-year siege of Tlemcen by the Marinids that ended in 1307, the reigns of Abu Hammu I (r. 1308–1318) and Abu Tashufin I (r. 1318–1337) marked a second political apogee of the Zayyanids with a consolidated hold over

1785-529: The royal palaces was reconstructed in 2010–2011 on top of the former ruins, but fragments of original zellij paving have been documented and preserved. In 1317 Abu Hammu Musa I built the Mechouar Mosque as the official mosque of the palace, though only the minaret and the overall floor plan from the original mosque remain today. Another palace, stood next to the Great Mosque of Tlemcen and

1836-410: The south also took advantage of the frequent periods of weakness to raid the centre and take control of pastures in the south. The city of Tlemcen was several times attacked or besieged by the Marinids , and large parts of the kingdom were occupied by them for several decades in the fourteenth century. The Marinid Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr besieged Tlemcen from 1299 to 1307. During the siege he built

1887-467: The tenth century to handle the trade with Tahert, came to serve Tlemcen in its trade with Europe. Fez was nearer to Sijilmasa than Tlemcen, but the route to Fez led over the Atlas mountains , while the route to Tlemcen was easier for the caravans. Yaghmurasan made an attempt to capture Sijilmasa in 1257, and succeeded in 1264, holding the town for almost ten years. The Marinids then took Sijilmasa, but most of

1938-482: The trade continued to flow through Tlemcen. The city of Tlemcen became an important centre, with many schools, mosques and palaces. Tlemcen also housed a European trading centre (funduk) which connected African and European merchants. In particular, Tlemcen was one of the points through which African gold (arriving from south of the Sahara via Sijilmasa or Taghaza ) entered the European hands. Consequently, Tlemcen

1989-428: The two most important outlets for trans-Saharan trade under one authority. Sijilmasa remained under his control for 11 years. Before his death he instructed his son and heir Uthman to remain on the defensive with the Marinid kingdom , but to expand into Hafsid territory if possible. 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

2040-530: The west–east route between Fez and Ifriqiya . Another major route from Oran ran south through Tlemcen to the oases of the Sahara, and onward to the Western Sudan region to the south. The city was directly linked to Sijilmasa , which served as the main northern hub for the trade routes that crossed the desert to the Western Sudanese markets. Oran, a port that the Andalusians had founded in

2091-425: Was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen , mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of Tlemcen in northwest Algeria. The Zayyanid dynasty's rule lasted from 1235 to 1557. On the collapse of the Almohad Caliphate 's rule around 1236, the Kingdom of Tlemcen became independent under the rule of the Zayyanids, and Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan . Ibn Zyan was able to maintain control over

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2142-688: Was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria . Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers , and at its zenith reached Sijilmasa and the Moulouya River in the west, Tuat to the south and the Soummam in the east. The Tlemcen Kingdom was established after the demise of the Almohad Caliphate in 1236, and later fell under Ottoman rule in 1554. The capital of

2193-563: Was deposed and the Wattasids returned with Abd al-Haqq II to Fez, acknowledging Hafsid suzerainty. 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. By the end of the 15th century the Crown of Aragon had gained effective political control, intervening in the dynastic disputes of

2244-424: Was killed. The Zayyanid king Abu Hammu Musa II (r. 1359–1389) next took the throne of Tlemcen. He pursued an expansionist policy, pushing towards Fez in the west and into the Chelif valley and Béjaïa in the east. He had a long reign punctuated by fighting against the Marinids or various rebel groups. The Marinids reoccupied Tlemcen in 1360 and in 1370. In both cases, the Marinids found they were unable to hold

2295-519: Was known as the Qasr al-Qadim ("Old Palace"), most likely the former residence of Almoravid governors in Tagrart. Yaghmurasan used it as royal residence before his move to the Meshouar in the mid-13th-century, but it appears to have been remained in use under subsequent Zayyanid rulers. It too was partly demolished and replaced by other structures during the 19th century and afterwards. Attached to

2346-420: Was later killed in a conspiracy instigated by his son and heir Abu Tashufin I (r. 1318–1337). The reigns of Abu Hammu I and Abu Tashufin I marked the second apogee of the Zayyanids, a period during which they consolidated their hegemony in the central Maghreb. Tlemcen recovered its trade and its population grew, reaching about 100,000 by around the 1330s. Abu Tashufin initiated hostilities against Ifriqiya while

2397-592: Was part of French Morocco and was administratively attached to Agadir , and promises made by parts of the Algerian underground during that country's war for independence. After Algeria's independence in 1962, Morocco's claim to Tindouf was not accepted by the new Algerian republic. This led to the 1963 Sand war , fought along the Moroccan-Algerian border in the Tindouf region, and also involving Béchar Province and Tlemcen Province , after Morocco claimed

2448-448: Was partially integrated into the European financial system. So, for example, Genoese bills of exchange circulated there, at least among merchants not subject to (or not deterred by) religious prohibitions. Tlemcen housed several well-known madrasas and numerous wealthy religious foundations, becoming the principal intellectual centre of the central Maghreb. At the souq around the Great Mosque, merchants sold woolen fabrics and rugs from

2499-470: Was proclaimed king of Tlemcen. 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. In 1352 Abu Inan Faris recaptured Tlemcen. He also reconquered the central Maghreb. He took Béjaïa in 1353 and Tunis in 1357, becoming master of Ifriqiya. In 1358 he was forced to return to Fez due to Arab opposition, where he fell sick and

2550-508: Was similar to that found under contemporary dynasties to the west, the Marinids and the Nasrids , continuing western Islamic architectural traditions (also referred to as the "Hispano-Moresque style") and further developing them into the distinctive styles that continued for centuries afterwards. In 1236 Yaghmurasan added minarets to the Great Mosque of Agadir (an older settlement in the area of Tlemcen), previously founded circa 790, and to

2601-531: 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." In 1248 he defeated the Almohad Caliph in the Battle of Oujda during which the Almohad Caliph was killed. In 1264 he managed to conquer Sijilmasa, therefore bringing Sijilmasa and Tlemcen,

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