The Aghlabids were an Arab family who governed Ifriqiya, roughly today's Tunisia with eastern Algeria and western Libya, from 800 to 909. Though they ruled as hereditary emirs and were independent in practice, they always acknowledged the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad. From their base around Kairouan they launched the Muslim conquest of Sicily and raids into southern Italy, and their mosques and fortresses are among the oldest Islamic monuments in North Africa.
A hereditary governorship
After years of turmoil in the province, the caliph Harun al-Rashid in 800 granted Ifriqiya as a hereditary emirate to Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab, the son of an Arab commander of the Banu Tamim tribe from Khurasan. In return the dynasty paid an annual tribute, reported at 800,000 dirhams, and named the caliph in Friday prayers. Arabs were still a minority among a mostly Berber population; perhaps 100,000 Arabs then lived in the province. Ibrahim built a new palace-capital, al-Abbasiyya, just outside Kairouan, partly to keep his distance from the city's critical religious scholars.
The army and its revolt
The emirs relied on two forces: the jund, descendants of the Arab conquerors, and regiments of slave soldiers recruited partly to balance them. Under Ziyadat Allah I, who ruled from 817 to 838, the jund rose in 824 and briefly held Tunis and Kairouan. The emir only crushed the revolt in 827, with help from Ibadi Berbers.
Sicily and Italy
In the same year an appeal from a rebel Byzantine commander, Euphemios, gave the Aghlabids a pretext to invade Sicily, led by the Kairouan judge Asad ibn al-Furat. The conquest advanced slowly from west to east: Palermo fell in 831 and became the Muslim capital of the island, Messina around 842–843, Syracuse in 878 and Taormina in 902. Muslim forces also seized towns on the Italian mainland, including Taranto and Bari, raided towards Rome and took Malta in 870, though many of the warbands in Italy had only loose ties to the emirs. Whether they ever occupied Sardinia is disputed among historians.
Prosperity and building
The Sicilian wars gave the restless jund an outlet and brought new revenue, and after 827 Ifriqiya enjoyed relative calm. Agriculture, irrigation and trans-Saharan trade grew. The emirs officially followed the Mu'tazilite doctrine of the Abbasid court, which put them at odds with the Maliki scholars who dominated local religious life, but they won them over with appointments, charity and lavish mosque building. Ziyadat Allah I rebuilt the Great Mosque of Kairouan in 836; its minaret is the oldest standing in North Africa and its teak pulpit the oldest surviving minbar. The ribats of Sousse and Monastir and the great reservoirs of Kairouan also date from this period. In 876 Ibrahim II moved the court to a new palace-city, Raqqada.
The Fatimid challenge
Decline began under Ibrahim II, who ruled from 875 to 902. From 893 the Ismaili missionary Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i won over the Kutama Berbers on behalf of the future Fatimid caliph. While Ibrahim II campaigned in Sicily and Italy, where he died besieging Cosenza in 902, Kutama forces began taking Aghlabid towns. Ziyadat Allah III's armies failed to stop them, and after a decisive defeat at al-Aribus in March 909 he fled to Egypt. Abu Abdallah entered Raqqada on 25 March 909, and within the year the Fatimid Caliphate was proclaimed in Ifriqiya.
On our maps
Our 800 and 900 maps show the Aghlabid Emirate in Ifriqiya, a vassal of the Abbasid Caliphate, with the rival Idrisid dynasty in Morocco and the Byzantine Empire across the sea. Its founder was appointed by Harun al-Rashid; its island conquest is covered under Muslim Sicily, and its successor was the Fatimid Caliphate. Its heartland is modern Tunisia.
Rulers of the Aghlabid dynasty
- 800–812Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab
- 812–817Abdallah I
- 817–838Ziyadat Allah I
- 838–841al-Aghlab Abu Iqal
- 841–856Muhammad I
- 856–863Ahmad
- 863–864Ziyadat Allah II
- 864–875Muhammad II
- 875–902Ibrahim II
- 902–903Abdallah II
- 903–909Ziyadat Allah III
Key dates
- 800 CEHarun al-Rashid names Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab hereditary emir of Ifriqiya.
- 824 CEThe Arab jund rebels and briefly occupies Tunis and Kairouan.
- 827 CEThe Kairouan judge Asad ibn al-Furat leads the invasion of Sicily.
- 831 CEPalermo falls and becomes the Muslim capital of Sicily.
- 836 CEZiyadat Allah I rebuilds the Great Mosque of Kairouan.
- 870 CEAghlabid forces conquer Malta.
- 876 CEIbrahim II moves the court to his new palace-city of Raqqada.
- 878 CESyracuse is captured after a long campaign.
- 893 CEAbu Abdallah al-Shi'i begins rallying the Kutama Berbers for the Fatimid cause.
- 902 CETaormina falls, and Ibrahim II dies besieging Cosenza in Italy.
- 909 CEDefeat at al-Aribus sends Ziyadat Allah III fleeing, and the Fatimids take Raqqada.
From the atlas
Aghlabid dynasty on our maps
Borders of Time draws the Aghlabid dynasty on 2 of its 54 world maps, from 800 CE to 900 CE. Its largest extent is on the 800 CE map, covering about 618,000 km² (239,000 sq mi), roughly the size of France today.
On that map it borders the Abbasid Caliphate and the Idrisid Caliphate.
On the map before it appears (700 CE), the same area belongs to the Umayyad Caliphate. On the map after its last appearance (1000 CE), it belongs to the Fatimid Caliphate.
- 800 CE618,000 km²
- 900 CE618,000 km²
Measured from the historical-basemaps snapshots this atlas uses. Borders in those maps are approximate, especially for early periods.
Quick answers
- When did the Aghlabid dynasty exist?
- From 800 CE to 909 CE, 109 years. The atlas draws it on its maps from 800 CE to 900 CE.
- Where was the Aghlabid dynasty?
- At its largest, on the 800 CE map, its land lies in today’s Algeria (47%), Libya (30%) and Tunisia (23%). On that map it borders the Abbasid Caliphate and the Idrisid Caliphate.
- What was the capital of the Aghlabid dynasty?
- Kairouan.
- How big was the Aghlabid dynasty?
- The Aghlabid dynasty was largest on the 800 CE map, at about 618,000 km² (239,000 sq mi).
- Who founded the Aghlabid dynasty?
- Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab, son of an Arab commander of the Banu Tamim from Khurasan. In 800 the caliph Harun al-Rashid made him hereditary emir of Ifriqiya to end years of disorder there, and his descendants ruled until 909 as nominal vassals of the Abbasids.
- What religion were the Aghlabids?
- They were Sunni Muslims who followed the rationalist Mu'tazilite doctrine within the Hanafi school, then the official creed of the Abbasid court, and made it the state doctrine. This set them against Ifriqiya's Maliki scholars, whom they courted with posts, charity and mosque building.
- What did the Aghlabids build?
- Their best-known work is the Great Mosque of Kairouan, rebuilt by Ziyadat Allah I in 836, whose minaret is the oldest surviving in North Africa. They also built the ribats of Sousse and Monastir, the great mosques of Sousse and Sfax, and Kairouan's large water reservoirs.
- How did the Aghlabid dynasty end?
- From 893 the Ismaili missionary Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i built a Kutama Berber army that took Aghlabid towns one by one. After his forces won at al-Aribus in March 909, Ziyadat Allah III fled to Egypt, Abu Abdallah entered Raqqada on 25 March, and the Fatimid Caliphate was proclaimed.