9th century – 12th century
Northern Sahara, southeastern Algeria
Wadi Righ was a chain of Saharan oases containing cities and fortified villages, inhabited mainly by Ibadi Maghrawa groups related to the Zanata. Its settlements included Adjlū, Tidjit, Kasr Bani Nuba, Tuggurt, and Waghlana. The oasis zone became an important centre of North African Ibadi life in the tenth and eleventh centuries, before civil war in 1078–1079 and another conflict in 1108–1109 disrupted its communities.
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The Story
Wadi Righ lay roughly a hundred kilometres west of Suf in a broad gully about twenty kilometres wide. During the period under consideration, it consisted of numerous oases, cities, and fortified villages known in Arabic as ksūr. Later descriptions attributed roughly three hundred such settlements to the region, while the excerpt lists several major centres and identifies others only tentatively.
Among the named settlements were western and eastern Adjlu, Tidjit, Kasr Bani Nuba, Tuggurt, and Waghlana. Ibadi sources also mentioned smaller places such as Tin Tamerna, probably corresponding to Tamerna, Tin Islaman, perhaps Sidi Sliman north of Tuggurt, and the oasis of Akuk, identified with Gug. These names reveal a dense settlement landscape organized around oasis agriculture and fortified communities.
Wadi Righ derived its name from the Righa Berbers, a Maghrawa group belonging to the wider Zanata family. Other Zanata-related groups also lived in or near the oases, including Banu Wartizalen, Banu Wilil, Banu Zalghin, Banu Itufa, Maghrawa, Banu Yandjasen, and Banu Lant. Several additional groups lived as nomads in the surrounding area, showing the interaction of settled and mobile populations.
The written history of Wadi Righ before the twelfth century is sparse. The first reference cited concerns the Berber nomad chief Yabib ibn Zalghin, who lived during the reign of the Rustumid imam Aflah ibn Abd al-Wahhab. By the latter half of the tenth century, the population was mainly composed of Ibadi Maghrawa. A civil war beginning in 1078–1079 caused the decline of the oasis group, followed by another war in 1108–1109.
9th century – 12th century
Northern Sahara, southeastern Algeria
Wadi Righ was a chain of Saharan oases containing cities and fortified villages, inhabited mainly by Ibadi Maghrawa groups related to the Zanata. Its settlements included Adjlū, Tidjit, Kasr Bani Nuba, Tuggurt, and Waghlana. The oasis zone became an important centre of North African Ibadi life in the tenth and eleventh centuries, before civil war in 1078–1079 and another conflict in 1108–1109 disrupted its communities.
Continue exploring
The Story
Wadi Righ lay roughly a hundred kilometres west of Suf in a broad gully about twenty kilometres wide. During the period under consideration, it consisted of numerous oases, cities, and fortified villages known in Arabic as ksūr. Later descriptions attributed roughly three hundred such settlements to the region, while the excerpt lists several major centres and identifies others only tentatively.
Among the named settlements were western and eastern Adjlu, Tidjit, Kasr Bani Nuba, Tuggurt, and Waghlana. Ibadi sources also mentioned smaller places such as Tin Tamerna, probably corresponding to Tamerna, Tin Islaman, perhaps Sidi Sliman north of Tuggurt, and the oasis of Akuk, identified with Gug. These names reveal a dense settlement landscape organized around oasis agriculture and fortified communities.
Wadi Righ derived its name from the Righa Berbers, a Maghrawa group belonging to the wider Zanata family. Other Zanata-related groups also lived in or near the oases, including Banu Wartizalen, Banu Wilil, Banu Zalghin, Banu Itufa, Maghrawa, Banu Yandjasen, and Banu Lant. Several additional groups lived as nomads in the surrounding area, showing the interaction of settled and mobile populations.
The written history of Wadi Righ before the twelfth century is sparse. The first reference cited concerns the Berber nomad chief Yabib ibn Zalghin, who lived during the reign of the Rustumid imam Aflah ibn Abd al-Wahhab. By the latter half of the tenth century, the population was mainly composed of Ibadi Maghrawa. A civil war beginning in 1078–1079 caused the decline of the oasis group, followed by another war in 1108–1109.
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