Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan (1206 – February/March 1283, ar, يغمراسن إبن زيان, long name: ''Yaghmurasan ben Ziyan ben Thabet ben Mohamed ben Zegraz ben Tiddugues ben Taaullah ben Ali ben Abd al-Qasem ben Abd al-Wad'') was the founder of the Zayyanid dynasty. Under his reign the Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen extended over present-day north-western Algeria.

Life

He was of the Zenata

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

tribe. He founded the Zayyanid state in 1235, and warred with the

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...

until 1248. He was successful in his military campaigns against the

Merinid 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) ...

s and the Maqil Arab tribe. The governor of Ceuta, Abou'l-Hassan ben-Khelas, had revolted against the Almohads and recognised the sovereignty of Yaghmurasen, after this the Almohad ruler decided to march against Tlemcen but was defeated by Yaghmurasen.Histoire des Beni Zeiyan, rois de Tlemcen, par Abou-Abd'Allah-Mohammed ibn-Abd'el-Djelyl et Tenessy, ouvrage trad. par ...'
Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn 'Abd-al-jalil al-Tanasi Duprat. When the Almohad Caliph marched against him, Yaghmurasen defeated him in the Battle of Oujda, the Almohad Caliphs head was taken and ordered to be shown to his mother.

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...

mentions anecdotes about him. Thus Yaghomracen heard genealogists who traced his descent from Muhammad. He commented about this claim in his local Berber language and said this: When an architect wanted to write his name on a minaret that he had built, Yaghmurasen replied in his Zenati dialect "God knows" (Issen Rebbi).

Name

In his commentary on the hagiographic book of

Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili Abu Yaqub Yusuf Ibn Yahya ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili () (born in Beni Mellal, died 1229/30) was a sufi mystic, influential jurist and hagiographer from Morocco. He is the biographer of many sufi saints. His best known publication is the ''at-Tashaw ...

(''Attashawof''),

Ahmed Toufiq Ahmed Toufiq (born 22 June 1943) is a Moroccan historian and novelist who is serving as Minister for Islamic Affairs in the government of Morocco since 2002. Biography Toufiq was born on 22 June 1943 in the Marigha Village in the High Atlas. Aft ...

explains that ''Yaghmur'' in

means "the virile/Stallion" whereas the prefix ''asen'' means "to them". Thereby giving "Yaghmurasen" a meaning close to "To prevail over them"

References

Zyan 01 Zyan 01 Zenata 1206 births 1283 deaths People from Tlemcen 13th-century Berber people 13th-century monarchs in Africa {{Algeria-bio-stub

Life

Name

See also

References