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Ifriqiya

Coordinates: 35°00′N 7°00′E / 35.000°N 7.000°E / 35.000; 7.000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Roman province Africa Proconsularis (in red), to which Ifriqiya corresponded and from which it derived its name.

Ifriqiya (Arabic: إفريقية, romanized: Ifrīqya, lit. 'Africa') was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya), particularly the region between the sea and the edges of the Sahara.[1][2][3][4] It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of Africa Proconsularis and extended beyond it,[5] but did not include the Mauretanias.[6]

Ifriqiya is bordered to the west by the Central Maghreb, with which the borders are fluid depending on the chroniclers and the era.[6] For most of its early history, the capital of Ifriqiya was Qayrawan (Kairouan),[4][6] but in some periods it moved to Mahdiya (Mahdia) and later it remained at Tunis.[6]

Etymology

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The name Ifriqiya was an Arabic derivation from Latin Africa.[4] Some historical Arabic sources attributed the name to more legendary etymologies, such as being derived from a king of Yemen named Ifriqis or Ifriqish, who purportedly conquered the Maghreb in ancient times, or to a son of Abraham named Ifriq.[6]

Definition

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The boundaries of what was known as Ifriqiya were not precise and changed between authors or historical periods.[6][4] The Mediterranean Sea and the border areas of the Sahara were normally the northern and southern boundaries, respectively.[6][4] The eastern boundary was typically between Tripolitania (western Libya) and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya), as the latter was attached administratively to Egypt in the early Islamic period. The western boundary was more variable, due mainly to the changing political borders over time. Some writers, like al-Bakri, considered Ifriqiya to be nearly equivalent to all of the Maghreb up to present-day Morocco, but most of them distinguished it from the central Maghreb and placed its boundary in northeastern Algeria, near places such as Béjaïa, Miliana, or Dellys.[6]

Map showing a typical tripartition of the Maghreb in medieval times. Al-Maghrib al-Adna overlaps with what is typically considered Ifriqiya.

Generally, Arabic writers came to split the wider Maghreb into three parts: the Maghrib al-Aqsa (the "Far West") corresponding roughly to present-day Morocco, the Maghrib al-Awsat (the "Middle West") corresponding generally to northern Algeria, and Ifriqiya.[6] The eastern Maghreb was also known as the Maghrib al-Adna (the "Near West"), which encompassed more generally present-day Tunisia and northern Libya.[7][8]

History

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The province of Ifriqiya was created in 703 CE when the Umayyads seized North Africa from the Byzantine 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 the Aghlabids, who acted as agents of the Abbasids in Baghdad.

They were then overthrown by the Fatimids in 909, when they lost their capital of Raqqada 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, the Zirids, became more and more autonomous until the mid-11th century when they fully separated.

Religious divisions paved the way for the Almohads 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 the Hafsids, an influential clan that boasted many of Ifriqiya's governors. The Hafsids in 1229 declared their independence from the Almohads and organised themselves under Abu Zakariya, who built the Hafsid empire around its new capital, Tunis.[9]

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 General Amr 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 of Sub-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 the Europeans, Muslims felt the brutal effects of the Black Death in the 14th century when it arrived in Western Africa (Maghreb) through Europe. Maghreb and Ifriqiya were largely under the rule of the Ottoman 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.[10]

List of rulers

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Main article: Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
Part of a series on the
History of Tunisia
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Prehistory
Ancient
Carthage12th C.–146 BC
1st Roman (Province)146 BC–435
Vandal435–534
2nd Roman (Byzantine) / Byzantine North Africa534–698
Prefecture534–590
Exarchate590–698
Early Islamic
Umayyad698–750
Abbasid750–800
Aghlabid800–909
Fatimid909–973
Medieval
Zirid973–1148
Norman1148–1160
Almohad1160–1229
Hafsid1229–1574
Early modern
Ottoman 1574–1705
Husainid 1705–1881
Modern
French rule 1881–1956
Kingdom of Tunisia 1956–1957
Bourguiba rule 1957–1987
Ben Ali coup 1987
Ben Ali rule 1987–2011
Tunisian revolution 2010–2011
Political crisis 2013–2014
COVID-19 pandemic 2020
Saied self-coup 2021
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2010s to present

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Ancient history 3200–146 BC
Roman era 146 BC – mid-7C
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Hospitaller Tripoli 1530–1551
Ottoman Tripolitania 1551–1911
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Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica		 1911–1934
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Conquest phase

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Umayyad Governors of Ifriqiya

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Fihrid Emirs of Ifriqiya

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Kharijite rulers

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Abbasid governors in Kairouan

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Appointed governors
Muhallabids
Appointed governors

Aghlabid Emirs of Ifriqiya

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[13]

Fatimid Caliphs in Ifriqiya

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[14]

Zirid dynasty rulers of Ifriqiya

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[15]

(Invasion of the Banu Hilal (1057) — Kairouan destroyed, Zirids reduced to the main coastal cities, rural areas fragments into petty Bedouin emirates)[16]

(Ifriqiyan coast annexed by Norman Sicily (1143–1160))

Norman kings of the Kingdom of Africa (Ifriqiya)

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[17]

See also: Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture

(All of Ifriqiya conquered and annexed by the Almohads (1160))[18]

Hafsid governors of Ifriqiya

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[19]

Hafsid caliphs of Ifriqiya

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Ifriqiya". Larousse (in French). Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  2. ^ Michael Brett (2013). Approaching African History. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-84701-063-6.
  3. ^ Youssef M. Choueiri (2008). A Companion to the History of the Middle East. John Wiley & Sons. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-4051-5204-4.
  4. ^ a b c d e Webb, Peter (2018). "Ifriqiya". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198662778.
  5. ^ Ramzi Rouighi (2019). Inventing the Berbers History and Ideology in the Maghrib. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-8122-9618-1.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Valérian, Dominique (2019). "Ifrīqiya". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. Brill. ISBN 9789004161658.
  7. ^ Naylor, Phillip (2015). North Africa, Revised Edition: A History from Antiquity to the Present. University of Texas Press. pp. 253 (see note 3). ISBN 978-0-292-76192-6.
  8. ^ Fage, J. D.; Oliver, Roland Anthony, eds. (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa. Vol. 4. Oliver: Cambridge University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-521-20413-2.
  9. ^ Amara, Allaoua (2016), "Ifriqiya, medieval empires of (Aghlabid to Hafsid)", The Encyclopedia of Empire, American Cancer Society, pp. 1–13, doi:10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe361, ISBN 9781118455074
  10. ^ "The Story of Africa| BBC World Service". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  11. ^ See chronicles of Ibn Abd al-Hakam and al-Nuwayri for accounts of the conquest.
  12. ^ This follows the tradition of al-Nuwayri, who says Mu'waiya ibn Hudaij was the first emir of Ifriqiya (ruling from Baqra) in 665. Ibn Khaldoun, however, dates the appointment of Mu'waiya ibn Hudaij as early as 651/52, when Abdallah ibn Sa'ad was governor in Egypt.
  13. ^ This is primarily covered in the chronicle of al-Nuwayri.
  14. ^ On the rise of the Fatimids, see Ibn Khaldoun (v.2 App. #2(pp.496–549))
  15. ^ See al-Nuwayri (v.2, App.1) and Ibn Khaldoun, v.2
  16. ^ On the Banu Hillal invasion, see Ibn Khaldoun (v.1).
  17. ^ Abulafia, "The Norman Kingdom of Africa"
  18. ^ For an account of the Almohad and Norman conquests of Ifriqiya, see Ibn al-Athir (p.578ff)
  19. ^ See Ibn Khaldoun (v.2 & 3)

Sources

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Chronicles

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  • Ibn Abd al-Hakam, English trans. by C.C. Torrey, 1901, "The Mohammedan Conquest of Egypt and North Africa", Historical and Critical Contributions to Biblical Science, pp. 277–330. online; French trans. in De la Salle Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique Septentrionale, 1852, v.1, App. 1 (pp. 301–308)
  • al-Nuwayri, French trans. in De La Salle, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique Septentrionale, 1852, v.1, App. 2 (pp. 314–444) (From 647 raid through end of Aghlabids) and 1854, v. 2 App.1 (pp. 483–89) (for Zirids). Italian transl. in M. Amari (1851) Nuova raccolta di scritture e documenti intorno alla dominazione degli arabi in Sicilia, (p.27-163) (Aghlabids only)
  • Ibn Khaldoun, French trans. in De La Salle (1852–56), Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique Septentrionale 4 vols, Algiers: Imprimerie du Gouvernment. v.1, v.2 v.3, vol. 4
  • Ibn al-Athir extracts from Kamel al-Tewarikh, French trans. in De La Salle, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique Septentrionale, 1854, v.2, App.#5, (pp. 573ff)

Secondary

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35°00′N 7°00′E / 35.000°N 7.000°E / 35.000; 7.000

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