page_title: Kingdom of Tlemcen
section_title: 14th century - political turmoil
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Tlemcen / 14th century - political turmoil
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Carte décrivant les étapes de l'extension de l'Empire mérinide au 14e siecle
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen was a Berber kingdom in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and reached at its zenith the Moulouya River to the west, Sijilmasa to the south and the Soummam to the east.
  The Tlemcen Kingdom was established after the demise of the Moroccan Almohad Caliphate in 1236, and later fell under Ottoman rule in 1554. It was ruled by sultans of the Zayyanid dynasty. The capital of the Tlemcen kingdom was centered at Tlemcen, which lay on the main east-west route between Morocco and Ifriqiya. The Kingdom of Fez was centered at Fez, to the west of Tlemcen.
  Tlemcen was also a hub on the north-south trade route from Oran on the Mediterranean coast to the Western Sudan. As a prosperous trading center, it attracted its more powerful neighbors. At different times the Moroccans from the west, denizens of Ifriqiya from the east, and Aragonese from the north, invaded and occupied the kingdom.
context_section_description: For most of its history the kingdom was on the defensive, threatened by stronger states to the east and the west.
  The nomadic Arabs to the south also took advantage of the frequent periods of weakness to raid the center and take control of pastures in the south.
  The city of Tlemcen was several times attacked or besieged by the Marinids of Morocco, and large parts of the kingdom were occupied by the Moroccans for several decades in the fourteenth century.
  The Marinid Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr besieged Tlemcen from 1299 to 1307. During the siege he built a new town, al-Mansura, diverting most of the trade to this town. The new city was fortified and had a mosque, baths and palaces.
  The siege was raised when Abu Yakub was murdered in his sleep by one of his eunuchs.
  Abu Yakub was succeeded by his sons Abu Thabit and Abu Rabi between 1307 and 1310, and then by his brother Abu Sa'id Uthman II, who came to the throne in 1310. Abu Sa'id was distracted by revolts of his son Abu Ali, the governor of Sijilmasa. Abu Sa'id died in 1331. His son Abu al-Hasan 'Ali (r. 1331–1351), the greatest Marinid Sultan, ended the internal quarrels and initiated an expansionary program.
  When the Marinids left in 1307, the Zayyanids promptly destroyed al-Mansura.
  Tlemcen recovered its trade and its population grew, reaching about 40,000 by around the 1330s.
  The Zayyanid king Abu Zayyan I died in 1308 and was succeeded by Abu Hammu I (r. 1308-1318).
  Abu Hammu was killed in a conspiracy instigated by his son and heir Ibn Tashufin (r. 1318-1337), who initiated hostilities against Ifriqiya while the Marinids were distracted by their internal struggles. Ibn Tashufin besieged Béjaïa, and sent an army into Tunisia that defeated the Hafsid king Abu Yahya Abu Bakr II, who fled to Constantine while the Zayyanids occupied Tunis.
  A Hafsid princess had married Sultan Abu'l Hasan of Fez, and the Hafsids appealed to him for help, providing a welcome excuse for invading his neighbor.
  Abu'l Hasan initiated a siege of Tlemcen in 1335, and the city fell in 1337.
  Ibn Tashufin died during the fighting.
  Abu'l Hasan received delegates from Egypt, Granada, Tunis and Mali congratulating him on his victory, by which he had gained complete control of the trans-Saharan trade.
  In 1346 the Hafsid Sultan, Abu Bakr, died and a dispute over the succession ensued.
  In 1347 Abu'l Hasan annexed Ifriqiya, briefly reuniting the Maghrib territories as they had been under the Almohads.
  However, Abu'l Hasan went too far in attempting to impose more authority over the Arab tribes, who revolted and in April 1348 defeated his army near Kairouan. His son, Abu Inan Faris, who had been serving as governor of Tlemcen, returned to Fez and declared that he was sultan.
  Tlemcen and the central Maghreb revolted.
  The Zayyanid Abu Sa'id Uthman II (1348-1352) was proclaimed king of Tlemcen.
  Abu'l Hasan had to return from Ifriqiya by sea. After failing to retake Tlemcen and being defeated by his son, Abu'l Hasan died in May 1351.
  In 1352 Abu Inan Faris recaptured Tlemcen. He also reconquered the central Maghreb. He took Béjaïa in 1353 and Tunis in 1357, becoming master of Ifrikiya. In 1358 he was forced to return to Fez due to Arab opposition, where he feel sick and was killed.
  The Zayyanid king Abu Hammu Musa II (r. 1359-1389) next took the throne of Tlemcen. He had a long reign punctuated by fighting against the Marinids or various rebel groups.
  The Marinids reoccupied Tlemcen in 1360 and in 1370.
  In both cases, the Marinids found they were unable to hold the region against local resistance.
  The historian Ibn Khaldun lived in Tlemcen for a period during the generally prosperous reign of Abu Hammu Musa II,
  and helped him in negotiations with the nomadic Arabs. He said of this period, "Here [in Tlemcen] science and arts developed with success; here were born scholars and outstanding men, whose glory penetrated into other countries."
  Abu Hammu was deposed by his son, Abu Tashfin II (1389–94), and the state went into decline.
caption: The Marinid empire at its greatest extent, around 1348. Tlemcen ruled by the Marinids from 1337 to 1358.
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