Fulful ibn Said

Fulful ibn Said was the first ruler of Tripoli from the Hhazrunid dynasty and the head of the Zenata confederation. His father, Said ibn Khazrun (d. 993), was a leader of the Maghrawa branch of the Zenata confederation. Fulful’s rule in Tripoli is considered the beginning of a new era characterized by strong will and independence of opinion. Fulful invaded Tripoli by force in 1001, taking control of the city from the Zirids. Wars broke out between Fulful and Badis ibn al-Mansur that lasted for about two years. Fulful wanted Tripoli to be subject to the Fatimids, so he sent a letter of obedience to Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in Egypt, which he accepted from him, but he did not officially appoint him over Tripoli.

Riegn over Tabnah

After al-Mansour gived him Tabnah after his father died, During the period of his rule, the Zirid civil war broke out between Badis Ibn al-Mansur and Ziri Ibn Atiyya, so Badis sent a group of his uncles and Muhammad ibn abi al-Arab to fight him, but they were defeated in the Battle of Amsar, So Badis went out on his own campaign and reached Tabna and asked Fulful to come. Fulful was afraid of him and apologized to him and asked him to appoint him as governor of Tabna. Badis agreed. Then when he left, Fulful attacked Badis lands and destroyed it,Fulful advanced greatly and defeated maxin and zawi ibn ziri until he reached Kairouan and besieged it for 45 days, and a large number of Berbers joined him, Badis came to him from Baghaia and they met in qasr ghaylan in a big battle that ended with Badis’s victory and killing of 9,000 Zenata and Fulful’s escape to Jabal al-Hanash, The Sanhaja and the slaves followed him to the mountain and there was another clash that led to the killing of 7,000 Zenata and peoples of Kairouan celbrated,After the Kairouan defeat badis uncle's started to contact fulful but In the year 1000 Badis went out to arrest Fulful and his allies but he found out they left him expect of maxin ibn ziri , but fulful escaped into the desert, so Badis returned to Ifriqiyah, after that fulful gatherd new forces and left to Tripoli.

Khazrunid invasion of Tripoli (1001)

There was a war between the Fatimid governor of Tripoli, Yanis al-Siqilli, and Badis bin al-Mansur, The Zirid army was led by Jaafar bin Habib, who tried to negotiate with Yanis but failed, so he confronted him and defeated him in the Battle of Zanzur (999), As for the rest of Yanus' army, they fled and appointed Futouh bin Ali over them. They tried to besiege Tripoli, but they failed. However, Youssef ibn Amer, the governor of Gabes, sent to Futouh telling him that Fulful ibn Said was coming and that he wanted to invade Tripoli, For this reason, Jaafar Ibn Habib was forced to flee to the mountains because he became trapped between two enemies. Then he decided to go to Gabes and fight everyone he met on his way. When Fulful heard about this, he opened the way for him, At the same time, Jaafar bin Habib withdrew from the road to Tripoli, and Fulful took control of it in the year 1001.

Reign over Tripoli

In the year 1001, Fulful sent his obedience to the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim, who accepted his obedience but did not appoint him as governor, Rather, he sent Yahya Ibn Hamdun Al-Andalusi, who arrived in the year 1002. Fulful received him and treated him well, and the city was ruled by a somewhat joint system of government, They went out in 1002 to fight Jaafar bin Habib in Gabes and invade it, but the campaign failed after Jaafar took refuge in the walls of Gabes. Yahya remained in Tripoli until the year 1003, when he could no longer tolerate Fulful’s actions, his imposition of orders, and his tyranny over power, even though he [yahya] was the governor. So he returned to Egypt, and Fulful took from him and his companions a large number of horses, This angered the Caliph greatly, so he severed relations with Tripoli and declared hostility. Thus, Tripoli became officially independent, but it gained the enmity of the Fatimids and their Zirid governors. Therefore, Fulful sent a pledge of allegiance and a request for help to Al-Mahdi Muhammad bin Hisham, the ruler of Cordoba, but he died in 1010 before he received a response (because of a ill). In 1006, a revolt occured in Cyrenaica, and in 1008 they killed governor Muhammed ibn abu al-Arab. His sons tried to escape to Tripoli in 1009, but they were captured by gabes governor. In his period the city of tripoli lived in safety expect the border hoods (The houses in the borders of tripoli) who were attacked by arab tribes.

Family

Marriage

After the death of Saeed Ibn Khazroun, his son was then in the year 993 in Al-Mansouriya with the Zirid ruler Al-Mansour, who married him to his daughter and gave him 30 camels loaded with money and presented him with horses saddled with gold and gilded items. When news of Saeed’s death arrived, he appointed Khazroun as governor of Tabna in place of his father.

Brothers

The brother of Fulful was Wurro Ibn Said, he was chosen as the leader after him, but he was weaker than him. Another brother, Khazrun ibn Said, had a problem with Wurro in 915.