Hafsid dynasty

Hafsid Kingdom Sultanate of Tunis
1229–1574
Left: Reconstructed flag of the Hafsid dynasty of the 15th century Abu Zakariya
• 1574	Muhammad VI
History
• Established	1229
• Conquest of Tunis	1535
• Disestablished	1574
Preceded by Succeeded by Almohad Caliphate Ottoman Tunisia Regency of Algiers Spanish Tripoli Kingdom of Kuku Ottoman Tripolitania
Today part of	Tunisia Algeria Libya

The Hafsids (

The son of Abu Hafs, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid ibn Abi Hafs, was appointed by the Almohad caliph Muhammad al-Nasir as governor of Ifriqiya (generally present-day Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and western Libya) where he ruled from 1207 to 1221.^[7] He was established in Tunis, which the Almohads had chosen as the province's administrative capital.^[8]: 133 His appointment came in the wake of the defeat of Yahya Ibn Ghaniya, who had launched a serious attack against Almohad authority in the region. Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid was ultimately quite effective in keeping order. The caliph had granted him a significant degree of autonomy in governing, partly to help persuade him to accept this difficult position in the first place. This laid the groundwork for a future Hafsid state.^{[9]: 101, 119}

When Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid died in 1221, the Almohad chiefs in Ifriqiya initially elected his son, Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman, as the next governor. However, the Almohad caliph in Marrakesh, Yusuf II al-Mustansir, had not consented to this and was able to overrule this and appoint his own relative to the position.^[9]: 119 As Almohad authority weakened over the following years, local opposition to the Almohad governor compelled the Almohad caliph Abdallah al-Adil to appoint another Hafsid family member to the post in 1226. He chose Abu Muhammad Abdallah, a grandson of Abu Hafs. Abu Muhammad Abdallah's brother, Abu Zakariya Yahya, arrived in Tunis before him and began to reestablish order.^[9]: 119 When al-Ma'mun, the brother of Abdallah al-Adil, rebelled against the latter's authority from al-Andalus, Abu Zakariya sided with him, whereas Abu Muhammad Abdallah remained loyal to the caliph in Marrakesh. Al-Ma'mun's eventual victory resulted in Abu Zakariya being placed in charge of Ifriqiya in 1228.^[9]: 119

Rise to power

A year later, in 1229, al-Ma'mun officially renounced Almohad doctrine. Abu Zakariya used this as a pretext to repudiate his authority and to declare himself independent. By this point, Al-Ma'mun did not have the means to stop him or to reassert control over Ifriqiya.^[9]: 119 Initially, Abu Zakariya had his name mentioned in the khutba (the sermon during Friday prayer) with the title of amir, but in 1236 or 1237 he began to adopt the caliphal title of Amir al-Mu'minin, in direct challenge to the Almohad caliph in Marrakesh.^[9]: 119

Abu Zakariya annexed Constantine (Qusantina) and Béjaïa (Bijaya) in 1230.^[7] In 1234, he chased Yahya Ibn Ghaniya out of the countryside south of Constantine in 1234, ending this lingering threat.^[7] In 1235 he captured Algiers and then established his authority as far as the Chelif River to the west.^[7] In the following years he subdued various rural tribes, such as the Hawwara, but allowed some of the Banu Tujin tribes in the central Maghreb to govern themselves as small vassal states that secured his eastern borders.^[7] He welcomed many refugees and immigrants from al-Andalus who were fleeing the advance of the Reconquista. He appointed some of them to important political positions and recruited Andalusi military regiments as a way of counteracting the power and influence of traditional Almohad elites.^[10]

For a time, the

His successor,

It was during his reign that the failed Eighth Crusade took place, led by Louis IX of France. After landing at Carthage, Louis died of dysentery in the middle of his army decimated by disease in 1270.

After al-Mustansir's death in 1277, the Hafsids were riven by internal conflict, aggravated by interference from Aragon.^[9]: 123 This resulted in a split in the dynasty: one branch ruled from Tunis in the east and another branch ruled from Béjaïa (Bijaya) and Constantine (Qusantina) in the west. This division continued to characterize Hafsid politics for much of its history, with the balance of power sometimes shifting from one side to another and with intermittent successes at unifying both branches under one rule.^[10] After the initial split, the first successful reunification took place under Abu Yahya Abu Bakr II (r. 1318–1346), the ruler of the western branch who managed to take control of Tunis.^[10]

Marinid invasions and internal crisis

Abu Yahya Abu Bakr's rule remained unstable and he resorted to making alliances with the Zayyanids and Marinids to the west.^[10] His agreement with the Marinid ruler, Abu al-Hasan (r. 1331–1348), included a marriage to his sister, who subsequently died during a failed Marinid expedition in Spain, followed by another marriage to his daughter.^[9]: 110 When Abu Yahya Abu Bakr died in 1346, his intended heir, Abu'l Abbas, was killed in Tunis by his brother, Umar, who seized power. Abu'l Abbas's chamberlain, Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Tafrajin, sent a letter to Abu al-Hasan urging him to intervene and invade Ifriqiya. Abu al-Hasan, having already conquered Tlemcen in 1337, seized the opportunity to further expand. He conquered Tunis in 1347 and the Hafsid governors in the region accepted his authority.^[9]: 110

The invasion, however, disturbed the balance of power in favour of the Bedouin Arab tribes, whom the Marinids were unable to sway.^{[9]: 111, 128} Ibn Tafrajin, who had hoped to be placed in power by the Marinids, fled to Egypt. The situation in Ifriqiya devolved into further disorder and internal rivalries, and Abu al-Hasan was forced to return west in 1349, partly to deal with a coup d'état by his son, Abu Inan. Ibn Tafrajin returned to Ifriqiya and, with Bedouin support, installed another young son of Abu Yahya Abu Bakr, Abu Ishaq, as ruler.^{[9]: 111, 128} Abu Inan, having successfully taken the throne from his father, invaded Ifriqiya again and captured Tunis in August 1357, but he was soon forced by his own troops to abandon the region. He returned west, retaining control only of Constantine and the cities of the central Maghreb for a time.^[9]: 111

During the mid-14th century, plague epidemics brought to Ifriqiya from Sicily caused a considerable fall in population, further weakening the Hafsid realm. To stop raids from southern tribes during plague epidemics, the Hafsids turned to the Banu Hilal to protect their rural population.^[12]: 37

Apogee

After the Marinid threat ended, attempts to reunify the Hafsids failed until Abu al-Abbas Ahmad II (r. 1370–1394), the emir of Béjaïa and Constantine, conquered Tunis in 1370.^[10] A capable ruler and military leader, he reestablished Hafsid authority on stronger terms, centralizing power to a greater extent than ever before. Meanwhile, the Zayyanids and Marinids were occupied by internal matters.^[10]

The beginning of his reign was not easy since the cities of the south revolted against him. However, the new sultan quickly regained control: he reoccupied Tozeur (1404), Gafsa (1401), and Biskra (1402), subdued tribal power in the regions of Constantine and Béjaïa (1397–1402), and appointed governors of these regions to be elected officers.^{[clarification needed]} He also intervened against his western and eastern neighbors. He annexed Tripoli (1401) and Algiers (1410–1411).^[14] In 1424, he defeated the Zayyanid sultan, Abu Malik Abd al-Wahid, and placed another Zayyanid, Abu Abdallah Muhammad IV, on the throne of Tlemcen as his vassal.^[15][16] In 1428, the latter became embroiled in another war with Abu Malik Abd al-Wahid – who had now won his own support from the Hafsids – and was eventually replaced by yet another Zayyanid relative with Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz's help in 1431.^[16] Around the same time (probably in 1426), Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz also helped to install Abd al-Haqq II on the Marinid throne in Fez – under the regency of Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi – and thus obtained from him a recognition of Hafsid suzerainty.^[17]

In 1429, the Hafsids attacked the island of Malta and took 3000 slaves, although they did not conquer the island.^[18] Kaid Ridavan was the military leader during the attack.^[19] The profits were used for a great building programme and to support art and culture. However, piracy also provoked retaliation from the Christians, which several times launched attacks and crusades against Hafsid coastal cities such as the Barbary crusade (1390), the Bona crusade (1399) and the capture of Djerba in 1423.^{[citation needed]}

Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II died in 1434 during another expedition against Tlemcen.^[10] His successor, Abu 'Amr 'Uthman, had the longest reign of any Hafsid (r. 1435–1488). He largely continued the strong rule of his predecessors but he had to contend with greater challenges, including internal politics, restive Bedouin tribes in the south, and the Wattasids in the west.^[10]

Uthman conquered Tripolitania in 1458 and appointed a governor in Ouargla in 1463.^[20] He led two expeditions to Tlemcen in 1462 and 1466 and made the Zayyanids his vassals, while the Wattasid state in Morocco also formally accepted his authority. The entire Maghreb was thus briefly under Hafsid suzerainty.^{[21][9]: 132}

Fall

In the 16th century the Hafsids became increasingly caught up in the power struggle between Spain and the

The Hafsids, with their location in Ifriqiya, was rich in agriculture and trade. Instead of placing the capital at inland cities such as Kairouan, Tunis was chosen as the capital due to its position on the coast as a port linking the Western and Eastern Mediterranean. Christian merchants from Europe were given their own enclaves in various cities on the Mediterranean coast, promoting trans-Mediterranean trade. Under the Hafsids, commerce and diplomatic relations with Christian Europe grew significantly,^[23] however piracy against Christian shipping grew as well, particularly during the rule of Abd al-Aziz II (1394–1434). By the mid-14th century, the population of Tunis had grown to 100,000. The Hafsids also had a large stake in trans-Saharan trade through the caravan routes from Tunis to Timbuktu and from Tripoli to sub-Saharan Africa.^{[12]: 34–36}

Culture

Intellectual activity

The Hafsids were effective patrons of culture and education.