Aghlabids

The Aghlabids (Arabic: الأغالبة‎) were an Arab dynasty of emirs, who ruled Ifriqiya, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a century, until overthrown by the new power of the Fatimids.

History

In 800, the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid appointed Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab, son of a Khurasanian Arab commander from the Banu Tamim tribe, as hereditary Emir of Ifriqiya as a response to the anarchy that had reigned in that province following the fall of the Muhallabids. At that time there were perhaps 100,000 Arabs living in Ifriqiya, although the Berbers still constituted the great majority.

Ibrahim was to control an area that encompassed eastern Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania. Although independent in all but name, his dynasty never ceased to recognise Abbasid overlordship. The Aghlabids was paying an annual tribute to the Abbasid and their suzerainty was referenced in the khubta at Friday prayers.

After the pacification of the country Ibrahim ibn al Aghlab established a residence at A new capital, al-Abbasiyya, which founded outside Kairouan, partly to distanced himself from the opposition of the Malikite jurists and theologians, who condemned what they saw as the luxurious life of the Aghlabids, and disliked the unequal treatment of the Muslim Berbers. Additionally, border defenses (Ribat) were set up in Sousse and Monastir. The Aghlabids also built up the irrigation of the area and enhanced the public buildings and mosques. al-Abbasiya and 5000 black Zanj slaves was set up which was supplied from Trans Sahara trade route