The Maghrawa or Meghrawa () were a large Berber tribal confederation in North Africa. They are the largest branch of the Zenata confederation. Their traditional territories around the time of Muslim expansion into the Maghreb in the 7th century were around present-day northeastern Algeria. They ruled parts of the western Maghreb on behalf of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba at the end of the 10th century and during the first half of the 11th century.
Origins
The origins of the Maghrawa are uncertain. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, an 11th-century writer, claimed that they arrived to the Maghreb in ancient times.
The Maghrawa traditionally occupied the area between Algiers, Cherchell, Ténès, Chlef, Miliana and Médéa. Historical sources indicate that their homeland was centered on the Chélif, in a region probably between the Ouarsenis to the south, the Mediterranean Sea to the north and Tlemcen to the west. In antiquity, Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy each mention a tribe named Macurebi or Makkhourebi, which some scholars have equated to the Maghrawa.
French anthropologist Lucien Bertholon hypothesized in the 19th century that the Maghrawa were descended from the legendary Machlyes.
History
Early history
The Maghrawa occupied part of present-day Algeria at the time of the early Muslim conquests. Khazrun sent the head of the last Midrarid ruler to Córdoba, whose rulers subsequently appointed him and his descendants, the Banu Khazrun, governors of Sijilmasa on behalf of the Umayyads.
The Maghrawa reached their peak under Ziri ibn Atiyya (d. 1001), who achieved supremacy in Fez under Umayyad suzerainty, and expanded their territory at the expense of the Banu Ifran in the northern Maghreb – whose alliances had shifted often between the Fatimids and the Umayyads of Córdoba. Ziri ibn Atiyya conquered as much as he could of what is now northern Morocco and was able to achieve supremacy in Fez by 987. In 993, he was invited to Córdoba by Ibn Abi 'Amir al-Mansur. Meanwhile, his rival from the Banu Ifran, Yaddū ibn Ya'lā, had taken advantage of his absence and managed to capture Fez, which Ziri reconquered after a bloody struggle. He likely intended to expand his power to the central Maghreb and the position of Oujda, further west, was more appropriate for this goal than Fez. After this, the Maghrawa appointed one of Ziri ibn Atiyya's descendants, Mu'annaṣir (or Mu'anṣar), as ruler. The latter eventually overcame the Zenata rulers in the western Maghreb during the second half of the 11th century. Varying sources date their capture of Fez to 1069 or some time later in the 1070s. Atiya was a descendant of Muhammad Ibn Khazar via his son Falful. One branch descended from Ziri ibn Atiya and the other from his brother, Al-Mu'izz ibn Atiya. fought with his brother and was killed by him in 1061.
See also
- Trans-Saharan trade
- Awlad Mandil