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 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 ...

. Under his reign the Zayyanid

Kingdom of Tlemcen The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen ( ar, الزيانيون) was a Berber kingdom in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached Sijil ...

extended over present-day north-western

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Life

He was of the

Zenata The Zenata (Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Etymology ''Iznaten (ⵉ ...

Berber 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 The Banu Ma'qil ( ar, بنو معقل) was an Arab nomadic tribe that originated in South Arabia. The tribe emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa with the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes in the 11th century. They mainly settled in and ...

Arab tribe. The governor of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

, 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 Battle of Oujda occurred when the Almohad Caliph, supported by the Marinids, directed an offensive against the Zayyanids The Zayyanid dynasty ( ar, زيانيون, ''Ziyānyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids ( ar, بنو عبد الواد, ''Bānu ʿa ...

, 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 Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

. 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 A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

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 explains that ''Yaghmur'' in Berber 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