Al-Qayrawan (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Founded by the Umayyad caliph Mu’awiya around 670 AD, Kairouan – located on the north coast of Africa – would become one of Sunni Islam’s most important centers of scholarship and education, its university attracting scholars from across the Arabic world. Thus, its fame spread even to Northern Europe – although tales of its wealth were greatly overblown. Following the mass conversion of the Berbers by the Prophet’s words, they captured Kairouan with its luxurious gardens and expansive olive groves in 745. Power struggles saw various rulers, some benevolent and some less so. In the reign of Imam Sahnun and Asad ibn al-Furat, palaces, fortifications and waterworks were built, making the town ever more famous. Envoys from the courts of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire returned with fabulous tales of Kairouan’s great gardens and libraries. With the rise of the Fatimid dynasty c. 909, however, the town lost its importance and influence as the new rulers transferred their capital elsewhere more defensible.