Zawila (also spelled Zuila, Zweila, Zwila, Zawilah, Zuwayla or Zuweila) is a village in southwestern Libya. During the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Fezzan region. When Uqba ibn Nafi passed through the area in 46 A.H. (666/67 CE), there was no city there. Zawila was settled probably in the early 8th century. It very quickly became the chief town of the region. During its early history, it was dominated by the Hawwara

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

, who mostly followed Ibadism. The

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

under Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i captured the town in 762/63, and killed its Ibadi ruler, Abd Allah ibn Hayyan, but Ibadism persisted in Zuwila and the Fezzan in general. The town then became part of the

Rustamid The Rustamid dynasty () (or ''Rustumids'', ''Rostemids'') was a ruling house of Ibadi, Ibāḍī imam, imāms of Persian people, Persian descent centered in Algeria. The dynasty governed as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from its cap ...

domains, albeit lying on the extreme eastern periphery of their realm. After the demise of the Rustamid dynasty at the hands of the

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...

, in 918/19 Zawila became the capital of another independent Ibadi state, under the Berber

Banu Khattab Banu Khattab was a wealthy Ibadi Islam, Ibadi dynasty of Hawwara origin that thrived off of the Trans-Saharan slave trade. It ruled over Zawila and the surrounding oases in the Fezzan region from 918/919 until 1172-1177 when it was sacked and conq ...

dynasty, which lasted until 1176/77. During this period, Zawila enjoyed considerable prosperity, both from agriculture, with the aid of irrigation works, as well as from its privileged position on the trans-Saharan trade networks. As well as for its production of a leather variety named after the town. The Fatimids recruited soldiers from the area, whence the name of the

Bab Zuwayla Bab Zuweila or Bab Zuwayla ( ar, باب زويلة) is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the Old Cairo, Old City of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. It was also known as Bawabbat al-Mitwali during the Ottoman Egypt, Ottoman period. It i ...

gate in Cairo. Alongside the Berbers, the town was inhabited also by a free black settler population, likely of Toubou and Kanuri origin The Kanem Empire started raiding the region in the 11th century, but the Banu Khattab held power until they were conquered by an Armenian Mamluk,

Sharaf al-Din Qaraqush Sharaf al-Din Qaraqush al-Armani al-Muzaffari al-Nasiri al-Taqavi (died 1212) was a Circassian Mamluk in the service of the Ayyubid prince al-Muzaffar, who engaged in a series of campaigns of conquest in Tripolitania and Ifriqiya between 1172 an ...

, who, coming from Egypt, conquered the region in the 1170s. The instability created by Qaraqush was exploited by the Kanem, who by the end of the 12th century had seized control of the Fezzan, establishing a new capital at

Traghan Traghan or Traghen ( ar, تراغن) is a small town in the Murzuk Desert in Murzuq District in southwest Libya. It is located east of Murzuk and Zizau. A good high road is said to link Traghan to Zizau in the west, with frequent incrustations o ...

, a few miles west of Zawila. Kanemi rule seems to have been relatively intermittent after the conquest of Fezzan by the end of the 12th century. During this time period, Zawila became one of the many slave-colonies established by Kanem-Bornu throughout their lands and became known for the extraction of salt. Evebtually, the local Bornuan garrison began to exercise an increasing about of autonomy from Bornuan authority, ushering in a period of Semi-Independence as influence from the Hafsids began to grow. This period was brought to an abrupt end with the Ottoman conquest of Fezzan, but failure to integrate the economy of the Libyan countryside with the Mediterranean coast led to the disruption of the trans-Saharan trade routes which affected the town's prosperity and it lost its importance and rank of capital. When the

Awlad Muhammad Awlad Muhammad (or Ouled Muhammed) was a tribe that ruled over the Fezzan region from 1550 to 1812. At their height, their domain extended from Sokna in the north to Murzuq in the south. Starting in 1577, the sultanate had to fend off against vari ...

dynasty established Murzuk as their capital to the west of Zawila, the trade routes were diverted there, and Zawila fell into obscurity.

References

{{Murzuq Populated places in Murzuq District Oases of Libya History of Fezzan