Maghrawa

   One of the largest historic Berber dynasties, a member of the Zanata group, which at the time of the first westward push of the Arabs around 650 occupied present-day Algeria. They were among the first North African peoples who embraced Islam, recognized the spiritual supremacy of the caliph, and fought in the ranks of the Arab army led by 'Uqba Ibn Nafi' into the Atlas region and on to Tangier (682-683). In 786, under the leadership of Mohammed Ibn Khazir, the Maghrawa conquered Tlemcen but were soon displaced by the Idrisids. From 825 to 829, the Maghrawa revolted against and killed a Fatimid ally, Massala of the Maknassa, and then were subsequently beaten by a Fatimid army under Abu Al Qassim, who took over Tlemcen. In 976, again as allies of the Ummayads in Spain and under the leadership of Khazrun Ibn Fulful, the Maghrawa conquered Sijilmassa with the oases in the surrounding area south of the Middle Atlas from the Banu Midrar, a Maknassa clan who had built the city in 757. Ibn Fulful established an Umayyad protectorate over his territory. In 973, when the Umayyad Ghalib invaded Morocco, the Fatimid influence was eliminated except for a brief period when the Sanhaja chieftain Buluggin Ibn Ziri inflicted a defeat on Maghrawa and pushed most of the Maghrawa people into central Morocco.

   In general, from 973, the Zanata tribes Maghrawa, Banu Ifran, and Maknassa governed Morocco for the Sunni Ummayads. In the middle of the 11th century, the Maghrawa controlled most the Sous and Drâa, Sijilmassa, and Aghmat as well as Fès, where they had established themselves since 987. The Maghrawa period was one of warfare and tension between Sunni rule in Morocco and Kharijite rule further east that led to the destruction of the Tlemcen-Tahart-Sijilmassa corridor, transforming it from a thriving commercial region to a less prosperous nomadic area. By mid-century, they were beaten by the advancing Almoravids. Sijilmassa was lost in 1056 and Fès in 1069. The Almoravid assault put an end to the Maghrawa dynasty.