The Zayyanid dynasty or Ziyanids (, Ziyāniyyūn) or Abd al-Wadids (, Bānu ʿAbd āl-Wād) 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.Phillip Chiviges Naylor, North Africa: a history from antiquity to the present, (University of Texas Press, 2009), 98.

History

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.Delfina S. Ruano (2006), Hafsids, in Josef W Meri (ed.), Medieval Islamic Civilization: an Encyclopedia. Routledge., p. 309. Ibn Zyan was able to maintain control over 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 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.I. Hrbek (1997), The disintegration of political unity in the Maghrib, in Joseph Ki-Zerbo & Djibril T Niane (eds.) (1997), General History of Africa, vol. IV: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century (abridged ed.) UNESCO, James Curry Ltd., and Univ. Calif. Press., pp. 34–43. Under the long reign of Abu Hammu II (r. 1359–1389), the Zayyanid state enjoyed a third period of political strength.

In 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 the Zayyanid sultans often installed as puppets of one side or the other. By 1551, the Ottomans had occupied Tlemcen and the last Zayyanid ruler, Hasan al-Abdallah, fled to Oran under Spanish protection and died a few years later, thus ending Zayyanid rule.

List of rulers Dates and most alternate names taken from John Stewart's African States and Rulers (1989).

No.NameAlternate NameReign BeginReign EndNotes1Yaghmurasen ibn ZyanAbu Yahya I bin Zayyan1236March 1283Founder2Abu Said Uthman IOthmane Ibn YaghmoracenMarch 12836 June 1304Son of Abu Yahya I3Abu Zayyan IAbu Zayyar I Muhammad6 June 130414 April 1308Son of Abu Said Uthman I4Abu Hammu IAbu Hamma I Musa14 April 130822 July 1318Brother of Abu Zayyan IAssassinated by his son Abu Tashufin I5Abu Tashufin IAbu Tashufin I Abdal Rahman22 July 1318May 1336Son of Abu Hammu IFirst Marinid conquest (1337–1348) (Marinid ruler was Abu al-Hasan Ali)6Abu Said Uthman IIAbu Sa'id Uthman II Abdal Rahman13481352Son of Abu Tashufin ICo-ruler with Abu Thabid I7Abu Thabit IAbu Thabit13481352Son of Abu Tashufin ICo-ruler with Abu Said Uthman IISecond Marinid conquest (1352–1359) (Marinid ruler was Abu Inan)8Abu Hammu II MusaAbu Hammu II ibn Abi YaqubFebruary 135920 May 1360First ReignBrother of Abu Said Uthman II9Abu Zayyan IIAbu Zayyan Muhammad II ibn Uthman20 May 13601360Ruled during times when Abu Hammu II was forced from power -Abu Hammu II -13601370Second ReignExpedition to Bugia defeated, 1366 -Abu Zayyan II -13701372Second Reign -Abu Hammu II -13721383Third Reign -Abu Zayyan II -13831384Third Reign -Abu Hammu II -13841387Fourth Reign -Abu Zayyan II -13871387Fourth and final Reign -Abu Hammu II -13871389Fifth and final Reign10Abu Tashufin IIAbu Tashufin II Abdal Rahman138929 May 1393Son of Abu Hammu I11Abu Thabid IIAbu Thabit II Yusuf29 May 13938 July 1393Son of Abu Tashufin I12Abul Hadjdjadj IAbu Hadjjaj Yusuf8 July 1393November 1393Brother of Abu Thabid II13Abu Zayyan IIAbu Zayyan II MuhammadNovember 13931397Brother of Abul Hadjdjadj I14Abu Muhammad IAbu Muhammad Abdallah I13971400Brother of Abu Zayyan II15Abu Abdallah IAbu Abdallah Muhammad I14001411Brother of Abu Muhammad I16Abd al-Rahman IAbd al-Rahman ibn Musa U14111411Son of Abu Muhammad I17Said IAbu Sa'id ibn Musa1411November 1412Brother of Abu Muhammad I18Abu Malek IAbu Malek Abd al-WahidNovember 1412May 1424First reignBrother of Said I19Abu Abdallah IIAbu Abdallah Muhammad IIMay 14241427First reignSon of Abd al-Rahman IInterregnum – Civil War (1427–1429) -Abu Malek I -14291430Second reign -Abu Abdallah II -14301430Second reign20Abu Abbas Ahmad IAbu al-Abbas Ahmad I1430January 1462Son of Abu Thabid II21Abu Abdallah IIIAbu Abdallah Muhammad IIIFebruary 14621468Son of Abu Abbas Ahmad I22Abu Tashufin III -14681468Son of Abu Abdallah III23Abu Abdallah IVAbu Abdallah Muhammad IV14681504Brother of Abu Tashufin III24Abu Abdallah VAbu Abdallah Muhammad V15041517Son of Abu Abdallah IV25Abu Hammu IIIAbu Hammu III Musa15171527Son of Abu Abbas Ahmad I26Abu Muhammad IIAbu Muhammad Abdallah II1527January 1541Brother of Abu Hammu III27Abu Zayyan IIIAbu Zayyan AhmadJanuary 15417 March 1543First ReignSon of Abu Muhammad II28Abu Abdallah VIAbu Abdallah Muhammad VI7 March 1543June 1543Brother of Abu Zayyan III -Abu Zayyan III -June 15431550Second Reign29Al Hassan ibn Abdallah -15501557Brother of Abu Zayyan III

See also Aftasid dynasty Wattasid dynasty List of Sunni Muslim dynasties History of Algeria

References

External links Britannica.com: The ʿAbd al-Wādid Dynasty Qantara-med.org: The Abdelwadids (1236–1554) – by Yassir Benhima.