Abu Yahya

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Abu Yahya Yaghmurasan ibn Zayyan ( Arabic أبو يحيى يغمراسن بن زيان, DMG Abū Yaḥyā Yaġmurāsan b. Zaiyān ; † 1282 ) was the first sultan of the Abdalwadids in western Algeria from 1236 to 1282 .

During the dissolution of the Almohad Empire under Caliph Abd al-Wahid II. Ar-Rashid (1232-1242) Abu Yahya succeeded in western Algeria around Tlemcen as the leader of the Berber Banu Abd al-Wad (also Banu Zaiyan or Ziyan) and with the help of Bedouin tribes to achieve independence and to found the kingdom of the Abdalwadids. He was also able to assert himself against the Almohads and the Hafsids of Tunis . However, he had to recognize the suzerainty of the Hafsiden when he was temporarily expelled from Tlemcen by them in 1242. In the following years, too, Eastern Algeria was part of the Hafsid Empire.

Abu Yahya succeeded in building a resilient imperial administration with the help of Muslims from al-Andalus . In order to assert themselves against the mighty Merinids in Morocco , the Berber troops were reinforced with Christian and Turkish mercenaries . Good relations were also maintained with the Nasrids in Granada and Castile , the neighbors of the Merinids. Abu Yahya also promoted poets and legal scholars at his court in Tlemcen. Abu Yahya ibn Zayyan was succeeded by his son Abu Said Uthman I (1282-1308).

literature

  • Stephan Ronart, Nandy Ronart: Lexicon of the Arab World. A historical-political reference work. Artemis Verlag, Zurich et al. 1972, ISBN 3-7608-0138-2 .