ZIRID DYNASTY

also called Banu Ziri Muslim dynasty of Sanhajah Berbers whose various branches ruled in Ifriqiyah (Tunisia and eastern Algeria) and Granada (9721152). Rising to prominence in the mountains of Kabylie, Algeria, where they established their first capital, Ashir, the Zirids became allies of the Fatimids of al-Qayrawan. Their loyal support prompted the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz, when moving to his new capital of Cairo (972), to appoint Yusuf Buluggin I ibn Ziri governor of al-Qayrawan and any other territory the Zirids might reclaim from their enemies, the Zanatah tribesmen. The Zirid state under Buluggin accordingly expanded its boundaries westward as far as Sabtah (now Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in Morocco) on the Strait of Gibraltar; in the reign of Badis ibn al-Mansur (9951016) it was divided between the Zirids at al-Qayrawan in the east and their kinsmen, the Hammadids, at Qal'ah (in Algeria). In 1048, encouraged by economic prosperity, the Zirids under al-Mu'izz (101662) declared themselves independent of the Fatimids and their Shi'i doctrine. The Fatimids responded (1052) by sending the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym Bedouins into the Maghrib. Cut off from traditional routes to the east, North Africa fell into a state of anarchythe countryside was devastated, the peasant economy was ruined, and many settled communities reverted to nomadism. The Zirids, forced to abandon al-Qayrawan, retreated to Mahdiyah, but their shattered state was not long able to survive coastal attacks by Sicilian Normans and finally fell in 1148. In 1067 the Hammadids managed to relocate in Bejaa (Bougie), where they carried on a lively trade until conquered by the Almohads in 1152. Another group of Zirids, who had gone to Spain to serve in the Berber army of the Umayyad al-Muzaffar (100208), established themselves as an independent dynasty (101290) in Granada under Zawi ibn Ziri. At the beginning of the 11th century the Zirids were given the province of Ilbira by the Spanish Umayyad caliph Sulayman al-Musta'in and by 1038 had extended this kingdom to include Jan and Cabra. Mlaga was taken from the Hammudids c. 1058 by Badis ibn Habbus and became the second centre of Zirid rule in Spain. Despite their support of the Almohad Yusuf ibn Tashufin at the Battle of Zallaqah in 1086, these Zirids were overthrown by the Almohads in 1090.