Zenata

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Zenata
Iznaten, Zenata, Zanata
Berber tribal confederation
EthnicityBerbers
LocationMaghreb
BranchesMaghrawa, Banu Ifran, Banu Wasin, Djarawa
LanguageZenati languages (Berber languages)
ReligionIslam (predominantly)

The Zenata (

Arabic: زناتة) are a group of Berber tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda.[1][2] Their lifestyle was either nomadic[3][4] or semi-nomadic.[5]

Society

Guanche collections: Stone of Zanata (El Tanque, Tenerife) with alphabetiform inscription.

The 14th-century historiographer

]

The Zenata adopted Islam early, in the 7th century. While other Berber tribes continued to resist the

Language

As Berbers, the Zenata spoke one of the

Riffian Berber in northeastern Morocco and Shawiya Berber in northeastern Algeria.[8]

Political history

Before the Arab conquests, the Zenata ranged between present-day

Marinids and Wattasids in Morocco, all from Zenata tribes.[7] Today, most of the Berbers of the Rif region are believed to be of Zenata ancestry.[1]

8th-10th centuries

In the early Islamic period of Morocco, Berber groups and tribes dominated the politics of the region well after the Arab conquests. The Zenata confederation did too. A Zenata chieftain, Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati, was a leading figure in the Berber revolt of 740 against the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, and led Berber rebels to major victories in the Battle of the Nobles and the Battle of Bagdoura.[9]: 38 [10]: 212  While the Umayyads managed to defeat the rebels eventually and reassert some of their authority, the westernmost parts of the Maghreb, including what is now Morocco, remained outside of Arab caliphal rule.[9][10]: 207  In this vacuum, various principalities arose in the region, such as the Midrarid Emirate in eastern Morocco, led by a Zenata Miknasa tribe,[11] to which the foundation of the city of Sijilmasa is attributed.[12][9]: 49 

In 868, under the leadership of the Abd al-Razzaq, the Berber

Hajar an-Nasr in northern Morocco, but soon afterwards civil war broke out among the Miknasa when Musa switched allegiance to the Umayyads of Cordoba in 931 in an attempt to gain more independence. The Fatimids sent Humayd ibn Yasal (or Hamid[9]), the nephew of Masala ibn Habus, to confront Musa, defeating him in 933 and forcing him to fall back into line.[13][9]: 63  Once the Fatimids were gone, however, Musa once again threw off their authority and recognized the Umayyad caliph. The Fatimids sent their general Maysur to confront him again, and this time he fled. He was pursued and killed by the Idrisids.[13] The latter preserved a part of their realm in northern Morocco until the Umayyads finally ended their rule definitively in 985.[13] The Umayyads in turn kept control over northern Morocco until their caliphate's collapse in the early 11th century. Following this, Morocco was dominated by various Zenata Berber tribes.[15]: 91 [9]: 82  Until the rise of the Sanhaja Almoravids later in the century, the Maghrawa controlled Fes, Sijilmasa and Aghmat while the Banu Ifran ruled over Tlemcen, Salé (Chellah), and the Tadla region.[15]
: 91 

13th-16th centuries

In the 13th century the Banu Marin (

Maliki Sunnism as the official religion and made Fez their capital.[19][17] Under their rule, Fez enjoyed a relative golden age.[20] The Marinids also pioneered the construction of madrasas across the country which promoted the education of Maliki ulama, although Sufi sheikhs increasingly predominated in the countryside.[17]

Starting in the early 15th century the

Meanwhile, around the same time as the Marinids, the Zenata

Moulouya river to the west, Sijilmasa to the south, and the Soummam river to the east.[25][26] The Zayyanid dynasty's rule lasted from 1235 until 1556, when their rule, under pressure from the Spanish in Oran and the Saadians in Morocco, was finally ended by the Ottomans.[27][11][9]
: 157 

Zanata tribesmen also played a role as light cavalry in the armies of the Emirate of Granada. This gave rise to the Spanish term jinete (derived from the name 'Zenata'), which denoted this type of light cavalry.[28][29] They formed the backbone of the Granadan army, serving both in crucial battles as well as in regular raids inside Christian territory.[30][28] They were highly mobile on the field, armed with lances, javelins, and small round shields known for their flexibility, and used their own characteristic set of tactics.[28][31][32] They were recruited and led by exiled members of the Marinid family and settled within the kingdom of Granada. Their Marinid commander was known as the shaykh al-ghuzāt ('chief of the ghazis'), but in 1374 Muhammad V suppressed this office due to their political interference, after which they were commanded by a Nasrid or Andalusi general.[28] They also served as mercenaries in the armies of Christian kingdoms such as Castile[31] or as auxiliaries sent by the Nasrid emirs of Granada to aid their Castilian allies.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Nelson, Harold D. (1985). Morocco, a country study. Area handbook series. Washington, D.C.: The American University. p. 14.
  3. .
  4. .
  5. ^ Romey, Alain (1998). Perception de la limite et de la frontière au Maghreb de l'Antiquité à la contemporanéité nomade (PDF) (in French). Cahiers de la Méditerranée. pp. 29–38.
  6. ^ "The disappearance of Zenata to the eighth century, them covering a quarter of North Africa, is one of the most extraordinary facts the Tamazgha has ever known." Les oasis du Gourara (Sahara algérien) Par Rachid Bellil, (1999), p.77
  7. ^ a b Hamès, C. (2012). "Zanāta". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill.
  8. ^ Edmond Destaing, "Essai de classification des dialectes berbères du Maroc Archived September 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine", Etudes et Documents Berbères 19-20, 2001-2002 (1915). Edmond Destaing, "Note sur la conjugaison des verbes de forme C1eC2", Mémoires de la Société Linguistique de Paris, 22 (1920/3), pp. 139-148
  9. ^ .
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ .
  12. .
  13. ^ .
  14. ^ Le Tourneau, Roger (1949). Fès avant le protectorat: étude économique et sociale d'une ville de l'occident musulman. Casablanca: Société Marocaine de Librairie et d'Édition.
  15. ^ a b Rivet, Daniel (2012). Histoire du Maroc: de Moulay Idrîs à Mohammed VI. Fayard.
  16. ^ "Marinid dynasty (Berber dynasty) - Encyclopædia Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  17. ^ .
  18. . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  19. ^ Ira M. Lapidus, Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History, (Cambridge University Press, 2012), 414.
  20. ^ Le Tourneau, Roger (1949). Fès avant le protectorat: étude économique et sociale d'une ville de l'occident musulman. Casablanca: Société Marocaine de Librairie et d'Édition.
  21. .
  22. ^ "Algeria - Zayanids". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  23. ^ "Abd al-Wadid Dynasty | Berber dynasty". Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  24. .
  25. ^ The Abdelwadids (1236–1554), on qantara-med.org
  26. – via Google Books.
  27. ^ Phillip Chiviges Naylor, North Africa: a history from antiquity to the present, (University of Texas Press, 2009), 98.
  28. ^ .
  29. .
  30. .
  31. ^ .
  32. .

External links

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