Hafsid dynasty
Founded by last Hafsid dynasty emirs of Bejaia, the kingdom was for a long time a bastion of resistance to the Spaniards, then to the regency of Algiers. Strategically located on the road from Algiers to Constantine and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sahara, its capital Kalâa of Ait Abbas attracted Andalusians, Christians and Jews in the sixteenth century, fleeing Spain or Algiers. Their know-how enriched a local industrial fabric whose legacy is the handicraft of the Ait Abbas tribe. The surrounding tribes were also home to intense intellectual activity and a literary tradition that rivalled those of other Maghreb cities.