7th century – 10th century
Western Sahara, between southern Morocco, Sidjilmäsa, the Senegal River, and Ghana
Anbiya was a major Sanhādja Berber federation occupying much of the western Sahara between southern Morocco and the Senegal River. Arab geographical accounts place its territory between Sidjilmäsa and Ghana and describe it as extending across broad plains and deserts. The federation included or was associated with the Lamtūna, Massūfa, and Djuddāla. Its political unity is said to have ended in 306/919, after which the Sanhādja groups later reunited under leaders associated with the Almoravid movement.
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The Story
Anbiya appears in early Arabic geographical writing as the name of a broad Saharan region between as-Sūs al-Aqsā and the Senegal River. Later accounts place it between Sidjilmäsa and the kingdom of Ghana, making it roughly coextensive with much of the western Sahara. One description gives the region a scale of seventy nights’ travel across plains and deserts, emphasizing the vast distances involved in its geography.
The name also designated a Berber people belonging to the Sanhādja, or Zenaga, group. The federation is associated especially with the Lamtūna, Massūfa, and Djuddāla, whose territories lay along the southern margins of the Islamic world and near the lands of the Sudan. Their political organization connected nomadic populations, desert routes, and settled trading centres.
According to the account preserved through Ibn Khaldūn, the federation fell in 306/919, producing a breach among the Sanhādja tribes. About 120 years later, the groups were reunited under Tärsina and subsequently under Yahyä al-Djuddālī. This reunification created the political and religious setting in which ʿAbd Allah ibn Yasīn promoted Sunnism among Sanhādja communities and the Almoravid state emerged.
7th century – 10th century
Western Sahara, between southern Morocco, Sidjilmäsa, the Senegal River, and Ghana
Anbiya was a major Sanhādja Berber federation occupying much of the western Sahara between southern Morocco and the Senegal River. Arab geographical accounts place its territory between Sidjilmäsa and Ghana and describe it as extending across broad plains and deserts. The federation included or was associated with the Lamtūna, Massūfa, and Djuddāla. Its political unity is said to have ended in 306/919, after which the Sanhādja groups later reunited under leaders associated with the Almoravid movement.
Continue exploring
The Story
Anbiya appears in early Arabic geographical writing as the name of a broad Saharan region between as-Sūs al-Aqsā and the Senegal River. Later accounts place it between Sidjilmäsa and the kingdom of Ghana, making it roughly coextensive with much of the western Sahara. One description gives the region a scale of seventy nights’ travel across plains and deserts, emphasizing the vast distances involved in its geography.
The name also designated a Berber people belonging to the Sanhādja, or Zenaga, group. The federation is associated especially with the Lamtūna, Massūfa, and Djuddāla, whose territories lay along the southern margins of the Islamic world and near the lands of the Sudan. Their political organization connected nomadic populations, desert routes, and settled trading centres.
According to the account preserved through Ibn Khaldūn, the federation fell in 306/919, producing a breach among the Sanhādja tribes. About 120 years later, the groups were reunited under Tärsina and subsequently under Yahyä al-Djuddālī. This reunification created the political and religious setting in which ʿAbd Allah ibn Yasīn promoted Sunnism among Sanhādja communities and the Almoravid state emerged.