From 8th century
Maghrib
The Sufrite kingdoms were a group of Berber-ruled polities that emerged in the Maghrib after the eighth-century revolt against Umayyad authority. They represented the political consequences of Kharidjite ideas of self-rule and religious egalitarianism. The passage identifies Tamasna, Tlemcen, and the Banu Wasul, or Banu Midrar, kingdom of Sidjilmasa as the principal Sufrite states. Their territories and lifespans varied, but together they marked the retreat of centralized eastern Arab authority from much of the western and central Maghrib.
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The Story
The Sufrite revolt transformed the political map of the Maghrib. After victories over Umayyad forces, much of the western and central Maghrib moved beyond the effective reach of eastern authority, while Kayrawan remained a significant stronghold. Kharidjite ideas of self-rule, combined with tribal loyalties and divisions, encouraged the formation of numerous states with shifting boundaries and uncertain durations.
The first major kingdom was Tamasna, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast between Salé and Azemmour. Founded by Tarif of the Zanata, it became associated with the Barghawata and carried Berber political and cultural autonomy to an extreme. Under Yunus b. Ilyas, the ruling dynasty developed a national religion based on Islam, attributing prophetic authority to his grandfather Salih b. Tarif and assigning religious practices to the Berber community.
A second Sufrite kingdom was established at Tlemcen in the central Maghrib by Abu Kurra, who had participated in the unsuccessful attack on Kayrawan. The kingdom lasted from 742 to 789 and ended when Tlemcen submitted to the Idrisids. The Banu Wasul, better known as the Banu Midrar, founded another Sufrite state at Sidjilmasa in 757, controlling the Tafilalet oasis and extending toward the Draa.
Sidjilmasa occupied a particularly important position because it was a major Saharan commercial centre. It served as a resting place on the gold route and connected lands south of the Sahara with the Maghrib and the East. Although the Banu Wasul later shifted from Sufrism to Ibadism and finally Sunnism, their political presence at Sidjilmasa endured until the Zanata Banu Khazrun, supported by the Umayyads of Spain, expelled them.
From 8th century
Maghrib
The Sufrite kingdoms were a group of Berber-ruled polities that emerged in the Maghrib after the eighth-century revolt against Umayyad authority. They represented the political consequences of Kharidjite ideas of self-rule and religious egalitarianism. The passage identifies Tamasna, Tlemcen, and the Banu Wasul, or Banu Midrar, kingdom of Sidjilmasa as the principal Sufrite states. Their territories and lifespans varied, but together they marked the retreat of centralized eastern Arab authority from much of the western and central Maghrib.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Sufrite revolt transformed the political map of the Maghrib. After victories over Umayyad forces, much of the western and central Maghrib moved beyond the effective reach of eastern authority, while Kayrawan remained a significant stronghold. Kharidjite ideas of self-rule, combined with tribal loyalties and divisions, encouraged the formation of numerous states with shifting boundaries and uncertain durations.
The first major kingdom was Tamasna, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast between Salé and Azemmour. Founded by Tarif of the Zanata, it became associated with the Barghawata and carried Berber political and cultural autonomy to an extreme. Under Yunus b. Ilyas, the ruling dynasty developed a national religion based on Islam, attributing prophetic authority to his grandfather Salih b. Tarif and assigning religious practices to the Berber community.
A second Sufrite kingdom was established at Tlemcen in the central Maghrib by Abu Kurra, who had participated in the unsuccessful attack on Kayrawan. The kingdom lasted from 742 to 789 and ended when Tlemcen submitted to the Idrisids. The Banu Wasul, better known as the Banu Midrar, founded another Sufrite state at Sidjilmasa in 757, controlling the Tafilalet oasis and extending toward the Draa.
Sidjilmasa occupied a particularly important position because it was a major Saharan commercial centre. It served as a resting place on the gold route and connected lands south of the Sahara with the Maghrib and the East. Although the Banu Wasul later shifted from Sufrism to Ibadism and finally Sunnism, their political presence at Sidjilmasa endured until the Zanata Banu Khazrun, supported by the Umayyads of Spain, expelled them.