Abu Ishaq Ibrahim II or Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Abu-Bakr ( ar, أبو إسحاق إبراهيم بن أبي بكر) was the

Hafsid The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (western ...

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

from 1350 to 1369. He was the son of

Abu Yahya Abu Bakr II Abu Yahya Abu Bakr II ( ar, أبو يحيى أبو بكر المتوكل) (died 19 October 1346) was the Hafsid caliph of Ifriqiya from 1318 to 1346. He was the son of Abu-Zakariyya Yahya III, emir of Bejaia and grandson of Abu Ishaq Ibrahim I ...

Ibn Tafragin

In 1350 the Almohad sheikh Ibn Tafragin overthrew Abu Ishaq's brother al-Fadl and had him proclaimed caliph instead. As Abu Ishaq was only thirteen years old, effective power remained with Ibn Tafragin for another 14 years. It was shortly after Abu Ishaq's reign began that the famous philosopher Ibn Khaldun was appointed to his first post in public service as chief clerk (sahib al-alameh) in Ibn Tafragin's administration.

Wars and Marinid invasion

Abu Ishaq's reign was characterised by constant strife and rebellion. His cousins, the Hafsid rulers of

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

and Bejaia waged war on Tunis. Meanwhile, the powerful Banu Makki family in Gabes ruled the south and was effectively independent. Against this backdrop the

Marinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...

ruler Abu Inan Faris of

Fez, Morocco Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès, Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the List of cities in Morocco, second largest city i ...

decided to make a fresh attempt to revive his father's expansionist plans. He took Algiers,

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the p ...

and

Médéa Médéa ( ber, Lemdiyyet, ar, المدية ''al-Madiya''), population 123,535 (1998 census) is the capital city of Médéa Province, Algeria. It is located roughly 68 km south of Algiers. The present-day city is situated on the site o ...

before turning his attention to the Hafsid domains. In 1352 he occupied Bejaïa and in 1356–1357, Constantine,

Annaba Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...

and Tunis. Gabes submitted to him without a siege. However, as with the previous Marinid conquest, the Arab tribes of the interior of Ifriqiya soon rebelled and in 1357 the Dawadid Arabs were forbidden to collect a tax which they charged the sedentary, and the Arabs revolted; in 1357 Abu Inan Faris was compelled to retreat to Fez. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim had been forced to flee Tunis and hide in the interior. With the departure of Abu Inan Faris, he and Ibn Tafragin returned to Tunis. The Marinid ruler died in 1358, after which his empire broke up. The

Zayyanid dynasty The Zayyanid dynasty ( ar, زيانيون, ''Ziyānyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids ( ar, بنو عبد الواد, ''Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād'') was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of ...

recovered Tlemcen and the Hafsid rulers of Bejaia and Constantine were restored. Under Abu Ishaq the work of rebuilding the walls of the

medina of Tunis The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from ...

and extending it to include the medieval suburbs was undertaken. The gates of Bab Alioua and Bab El Allouj were also built during his reign.

Later rule and succession

In October 1364, shortly after Abu Ishaq married his daughter, Ibn Tafragin died. For the first time, Abu-Ishaq was able to exercise power on his own. Meanwhile, the Hafsid ruler of Constantine

Abu al-Abbas Ahmad II Abu al-Abbas Ahmad II () (reigned 1370–1394) was a Hafsid Caliph of Ifriqiya. He restored the Hafsid kingdom to full power after a period of disarray which followed the invasion of Ifriqiya led by Abu Inan Faris of the Marinids. Biography ...

seized Bejaia from his cousin Abu-Abd-Allah in 1366, thereby reunifying the Western Hafsid domain. Abu-Ishaq died in 1369 at the age of thirty two and was succeeded by his son Abu-l-Baqa Khalid II who was a young boy of no more than ten or twelve. Factional struggles quickly broke out and it was easy for Abu al-Abbas Ahmad II to occupy Tunis in 1370. Abu-l-Baqa escaped by sea but died in a shipwreck.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Ishaq Ibrahim 02 1369 deaths Year of birth unknown 14th-century Hafsid caliphs