# Zayyanid dynasty

The Zayyanid dynasty or Ziyanids (Arabic: زيانيون, Ziyāniyyūn) or Abd al-Wadids (Arabic: بنو عبد الواد, Bānu ʿAbd āl-Wād) was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of Tlemcen in northwest Algeria. The Zayyanid dynasty's rule lasted from 1235 to 1557.

## History

On the collapse of the Almohad Caliphate's rule around 1236, the Kingdom of Tlemcen became independent under the rule of the Zayyanids, and Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan. Ibn Zyan was able to maintain control over the rival Berber groups, and when faced with the outside threat of the Marinids, he formed an alliance with the Sultan of Granada and the King of Castile, Alfonso X.
After an eight-year siege of Tlemcen by the Marinids that ended in 1307, the reigns of Abu Hammu I (r. 1308–1318) and Abu Tashufin I (r. 1318–1337) marked a second political apogee of the Zayyanids with a consolidated hold over the central Maghreb. This period of strength was followed by a Marinid occupation of Tlemcen between 1337 and 1359 (with an interruption from 1348 to 1352). There were occasional Marinid attempts to retake Tlemcen up to 1370, but they found that they were unable to hold the region against local resistance. Under the long reign of Abu Hammu II (r. 1359–1389), the Zayyanid state enjoyed a third period of political strength.
In the 15th century, Zayyanid expansion eastward was attempted, but proved disastrous, as consequences of these incursions they were so weakened that over the following two centuries, the Zayyanid kingdom was intermittently a vassal of Hafsid Ifriqiya, Marinid Morocco, or Aragon. During the first half of the 16th century, Spain and the Ottoman Regency of Algiers fought over control of Tlemcen, with the Zayyanid sultans often installed as puppets of one side or the other. By 1551, the Ottomans had occupied Tlemcen and the last Zayyanid ruler, Hasan al-Abdallah, fled to Oran under Spanish protection and died a few years later, thus ending Zayyanid rule.

## List of rulers

Dates and most alternate names taken from John Stewart's African States and Rulers (1989).
| No. | Name | Alternate Name | Reign Begin | Reign End | Notes |
| 1 | Yghomracen Ibn Zyan | Abu Yahya I bin Zayyan | 1236 | March 1283 | Founder |
| 2 | Abu Said Uthman I | Othmane Ibn Yaghmoracen | March 1283 | 6 June 1304 | Son of Abu Yahya I |
| 3 | Abu Zayyan I | Abu Zayyar I Muhammad | 6 June 1304 | 14 April 1308 | Son of Abu Said Uthman I |
| 4 | Abu Hammu I | Abu Hamma I Musa | 14 April 1308 | 22 July 1318 | Brother of Abu Zayyan I Assassinated by his son Abu Tashufin I |
| 5 | Abu Tashufin I | Abu Tashufin I Abdal Rahman | 22 July 1318 | May 1336 | Son of Abu Hammu I |
| First Marinid conquest (1337–1348) (Marinid ruler was Abu al-Hasan Ali) ||||||
| 6 | Abu Said Uthman II | Abu Sa'id Uthman II Abdal Rahman | 1348 | 1352 | Son of Abu Tashufin I Co-ruler with Abu Thabid I |
| 7 | Abu Thabid I | Abu Thabit | 1348 | 1352 | Son of Abu Tashufin I Co-ruler with Abu Said Uthman II |
| Second Marinid conquest (1352–1359) (Marinid ruler was Abu Inan) ||||||
| 8 | Abu Hammu II Musa | Abu Hammu II ibn Abi Yaqub | February 1359 | 20 May 1360 | First Reign Brother of Abu Said Uthman II |
| 9 | Abu Zayyan II | Abu Zayyan Muhammad II ibn Uthman | 20 May 1360 | 1360 | Ruled during times when Abu Hammu II was forced from power |
| - | Abu Hammu II | - | 1360 | 1370 | Second Reign Expedition to Bugia defeated, 1366 |
| - | Abu Zayyan II | - | 1370 | 1372 | Second Reign |
| - | Abu Hammu II | - | 1372 | 1383 | Third Reign |
| - | Abu Zayyan II | - | 1383 | 1384 | Third Reign |
| - | Abu Hammu II | - | 1384 | 1387 | Fourth Reign |
| - | Abu Zayyan II | - | 1387 | 1387 | Fourth and final Reign |
| - | Abu Hammu II | - | 1387 | 1389 | Fifth and final Reign |
| 10 | Abu Tashufin II | Abu Tashufin II Abdal Rahman | 1389 | 29 May 1393 | Son of Abu Hammu I |
| 11 | Abu Thabid II | Abu Thabit II Yusuf | 29 May 1393 | 8 July 1393 | Son of Abu Tashufin I |
| 12 | Abul Hadjdjadj I | Abu Hadjjaj Yusuf | 8 July 1393 | November 1393 | Brother of Abu Thabid II |
| 13 | Abu Zayyan II | Abu Zayyan II Muhammad | November 1393 | 1397 | Brother of Abul Hadjdjadj I |
| 14 | Abu Muhammad I | Abu Muhammad Abdallah I | 1397 | 1400 | Brother of Abu Zayyan II |
| 15 | Abu Abdallah I | Abu Abdallah Muhammad I | 1400 | 1411 | Brother of Abu Muhammad I |
| 16 | Abd al-Rahman I | Abd al-Rahman ibn Musa U | 1411 | 1411 | Son of Abu Muhammad I |
| 17 | Said I | Abu Sa'id ibn Musa | 1411 | November 1412 | Brother of Abu Muhammad I |
| 18 | Abu Malek I | Abu Malek Abd al-Wahid | November 1412 | May 1424 | First reign Brother of Said I |
| 19 | Abu Abdallah II | Abu Abdallah Muhammad II | May 1424 | 1427 | First reign Son of Abd al-Rahman I |
| Interregnum – Civil War (1427–1429) ||||||
| - | Abu Malek I | - | 1429 | 1430 | Second reign |
| - | Abu Abdallah II | - | 1430 | 1430 | Second reign |
| 20 | Abu Abbas Ahmad I | Abu al-Abbas Ahmad I | 1430 | January 1462 | Son of Abu Thabid II |
| 21 | Abu Abdallah III | Abu Abdallah Muhammad III | February 1462 | 1468 | Son of Abu Abbas Ahmad I |
| 22 | Abu Tashufin III | - | 1468 | 1468 | Son of Abu Abdallah III |
| 23 | Abu Abdallah IV | Abu Abdallah Muhammad IV | 1468 | 1504 | Brother of Abu Tashufin III |
| 24 | Abu Abdallah V | Abu Abdallah Muhammad V | 1504 | 1517 | Son of Abu Abdallah IV |
| 25 | Abu Hammu III | Abu Hammu III Musa | 1517 | 1527 | Son of Abu Abbas Ahmad I |
| 26 | Abu Muhammad II | Abu Muhammad Abdallah II | 1527 | January 1541 | Brother of Abu Hammu III |
| 27 | Abu Zayyan III | Abu Zayyan Ahmad | January 1541 | 7 March 1543 | First Reign Son of Abu Muhammad II |
| 28 | Abu Abdallah VI | Abu Abdallah Muhammad VI | 7 March 1543 | June 1543 | Brother of Abu Zayyan III |
| - | Abu Zayyan III | - | June 1543 | 1550 | Second Reign |
| 29 | Al Hassan ibn Abdallah | - | 1550 | 1557 | Brother of Abu Zayyan III |