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Algeria
One of the largest African countries, Algeria occupies a large tract of
territory between the Mediterranean and the Sahara, with modern
Tunisia and Libya bordering it
to the east, and Morocco to
the west. Inhabited by tribes of Berbers since at least twelve thousand
years ago, it was the Carthaginian settlements along the coast and a period
of hegemony over the Berbers that caused the natives to gravitate towards
the creation of their own kingdoms. Domination by
Rome
followed from 200 BC, something which lasted for seven hundred years.
North-eastern Algeria was temporarily a stronghold of the
Vandals
in the fifth and sixth centuries, until it was re-conquered by
Eastern Rome
in AD 534. A century and a half later, the Byzantines were in no
position to prevent the loss of North Africa to the Islamic
empire in 698. Algeria remained under their direct control until 776,
when the Rustamids took control. |
200 BC - AD 429 |
The
Berbers of North
Africa are conquered by
Rome
and remain within the republic and empire for the next seven hundred years. |
429 - 534 |
Under pressure from
the newly settled
Visigoths, the
Vandals and
Alans move south from Iberia and invade
Roman North Africa.
An
independent autocracy is formed in modern
Tunisia and
north-eastern Algeria. |
534 - 698 |
North
Africa is re-conquered by
Byzantium
from the
Vandals.
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The Roman ruins at Batna in Algeria would still have been
largely habitable during the Byzantine ownership of Algeria
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698 - 776 |
Western North
Africa is separated from
Byzantium by
the Islamic
empire. |
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Rustamid Imams
AD 776 - 909
The Rustamids (variously, Rustumids, or Rostemids) ruled the central Maghreb for a century and a half from their capital
at Tahert in present Algeria until it was destroyed. The state's extent is not entirely clear, but it stretched as far east as Jabal Nafusa in Libya. |
776 - 784 |
Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rustam ibn Bahram |
|
784 - 832 |
Abd al-Wahhab |
Son. |
800 -
812 |
The
Aghlabid Amirs of Tunisia
claim to rule Algeria. |
832 - 871 |
Aflah ibn Abd al-Wahhab |
Son. |
871 |
Abu Bakr ibn Aflah |
Son. |
871 - 894 |
Muhammad Abul-Yaqzan ibn Aflah |
Brother. |
894 - 897 |
Yusuf Abu Hatim |
Son. |
897 - 901 |
Yaqub ibn Aflah |
Son of Aflah ibn Abd al-Wahhab. |
901 - 906 |
Yusuf Abu Hatim |
Restored. |
906 - 909 |
Yaqzan ibn Muhammad Abil-Yaqzan |
Brother. |
909 - 1171 |
With
the Rustamids now militarily weak, they prove easy prey for conquest by the
Fatamid Amirs of
Tunisia. |
1171-
1229 |
The
Ayyubids of Egypt take
control in Algeria. |
1229 - 1518 |
Algeria becomes a battleground for
Hafsids of Tunisia,
the Merinids of
Morocco, and the Western Algerian Abdul-Wadids & Zayyanids,
with rule alternating between them for periods. |
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Abdul Wadids / Zayyanid Dynasty
AD 1236 - 1554
The Zayyanids (Zayyaniyyun) were a dynasty of Zanatah Berbers who ruled western
Algeria. They were based at the inland city of Tlemcen (Tilimsan - the former
Roman town of Pomaria) in western Algeria, and were at first loyal vassals to the
Almohad caliphs in Morocco.
The extent of Zayyanid territory fluctuated greatly throughout the dynasty's
history. The Zayyanids experienced two peaks: during the late thirteenth and
the early sixteenth centuries, they held most of Algeria, including large
sections of the coast. But throughout their history, they were vulnerable to
attacks from their
Merinid and Hafsid
neighbours, as well as to tribal unrest inside their own dominions.
In the 1230s another
group of Zanatah Berbers, the Banu 'Abd al-Wad ('Abd al-Wadid dynasty), took control of the region of Tlemcen. The state they founded there was
overrun several times in the thirteen and fourteenth centuries. |
|
1236 - 1283 |
Yaghmurasan |
|
1269 |
The
Zayyanids capture Marrakesh, ending
Almohad rule in
Algeria. |
|
1283 - 1304 |
Abu Sa'id Uthman I |
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1304 - 1308 |
Abu Zayyan I Muhammad |
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1308 - 1318 |
Abu Hammu Musa I |
|
1318 - 1337 |
Abu Tashufin 'Abd al-Rahman I |
|
1337 - 1348 |
The Moroccan Merinids
conquer Algeria. |
1348 - 1352 |
Abu Sa'id Uthman II |
|
1348 - 1352 |
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al-Zaim Abu Thabit I |
Joint
ruler. |
1352 - 1359 |
The Moroccan Merinids
again conquer Algeria. |
1359 - 1360 |
Abu Hammu Musa II |
d.1389. |
1360 |
Abu Zayyan Muhammad II ibn Uthman |
d.1387. |
1360 - 1370 |
Abu Hammu Musa II |
Restored. |
1370 - 1372 |
Abu Zayyan Muhammad II |
Restored. |
1372 - 1383 |
Abu Hammu Musa II |
Restored. |
1383 - 1384 |
Abu Zayyan Muhammad II |
Restored. |
1384 - 1387 |
Abu Hammu Musa II |
Restored. |
1387 |
Abu Zayyan Muhammad II |
Restored. |
1387 - 1389 |
Abu Hammu Musa II |
Restored. |
1389 - 1394 |
Abu Tashufin Abd al-Rahman II |
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1394 |
Abu Thabit Yusuf I |
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1394 - 1395 |
Abu'l-Hajjaj Yusuf II |
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1395 - 1400 |
Abu Zayyan Muhammad III |
|
1400 - 1402 |
Abu Muhammad Abdallah I |
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1402 - 1411 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad IV al-Wathiq |
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1411 |
Abu Tashufin Abd al-Rahman III |
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1411 |
Sa'id Ibn Musa |
|
1411 - 1424 |
Abu Malik Abd al-Wahid |
|
1424 - 1428 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad V |
|
1428 - 1430 |
Abu Malik Abd al-Wahid |
Restored. |
1430 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad V |
Restored. |
1430 - 1462 |
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad I al-Aqil |
|
1462 - 1469 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad VI al-Mutawakkil |
|
1469 |
Abu Tashufin III |
|
1469 - 1504 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad VII at-Thabiti |
|
1512 - 1517 |
Spain
conquers the country. |
1504 - 1517 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad VIII at-Thabiti |
|
c.1500 |
The Barbary corsairs come to prominence in Algeria. |
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Barbary Corsairs
By about 1500 BC, the Barbary corsairs were attempting to establish an independent Algiers
state - battling
Spanish and Zayyanids alike. Ultimately the Barbary kings of Algiers did
not succeed, but their efforts focussed regional affairs on the coastal city of
Algiers rather than the western inland city of Tlemcen. The Barbary corsairs
are shown here with a shaded backing.
|
? - 1516 |
Selim al-Toumi al-Tha'alibi |
First Barbary corsair 'King of Algiers'. |
1516 - 1518 |
Baba Aruj |
Barbary corsair King of Algiers. |
1517 - 1518 |
Abu Hammu Musa III |
|
1518 |
Aruj al-Din Barbarossa |
Captured larger part of the kingdom. Killed by
Spain. |
1518 - 1528 |
Abu Hammu Musa III |
Restored. |
1518/1520 |
Khayr al-Din Barbarossa |
Brother
of Aruj. King of Algiers. |
1518 - 1529 |
Abu al-Abbas Ahmed Belkadi |
King of Algiers. |
1520 |
Algiers is attacked by the Kuku tribal leader Ahmad ibn al-Qadi and the
Hafsids.
The leader of the Barbary corsairs,
Khayr al-Din, retreats to Jijelli and increases his privateering. He re-conquers Algiers
in 1525, massacring Arabs and Kabyles who resist him. |
1528 - 1540 |
Abu Muhammad Abdallah II |
|
1529 - 1546 |
Khayr al-Din Barbarossa |
Restored King of Algiers. Won
Ottoman
support. |
1540 - 1541 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad IX |
|
1541 - 1543 |
Ahmad II |
|
1543 |
Abu Abdallah Muhammad IX |
Restored. |
1543 - 1544 |
Spain
re-conquers the country. |
1544 - 1550 |
A combination of
Spanish encroachment along the coast and the intervention of the Ottoman
empire,
with the latter ostensibly taking up the Muslim cause against Christian
aggression, causes Algeria to be subsumed within the Ottoman empire, being
governed as an autonomous province. |
1544 - 1550 |
Ahmad II |
Restored. |
|
1550 - 1555 |
al-Hassan |
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1555 - 1834 |
A combination of
Spanish encroachment along the coast and the intervention of the Ottoman
empire,
with the latter ostensibly taking up the Muslim cause against Christian
aggression, causes Algeria to be subsumed within the Ottoman empire, being
governed as an autonomous province from the Barbary corsair capital at
Algiers. |
1834 |
Algiers is annexed by
France and created a colony. |
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Modern Algeria
AD 1834 - Present Day
Taking a minor insult to the
French consul as a pretext, France invaded Algeria in 1834, and a long
and bloody war of attrition followed in which French rule was slowly applied
over the whole country. The application of French rule saw an influx of tens
of thousands of French settlers, plus many others from southern Europe, with
modern, highly productive farms being created. French construction also
created European-style city centres, bringing Algeria fully into the modern
age. With independence in 1962, Algeria became a democratic republic in its
own right, electing a president to head the state. However, democracy was
often hard-line and dictatorial in nature.
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1896 |
The
French Parliament votes to annexe
Madagascar, and
exiles the royal family to Algeria. |
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1954 - 1962 |
Attempting to free the country from
French
rule, the long and bloody Algerian War of Liberation begins with the
National Liberation Army fighting using guerrilla tactics. |
1962 - 1963 |
Algeria wins independence from
France.
The following year, the Sand War is fought by
Morocco against Algeria
when the former claims portions of western Algerian territory. |
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1991 - 2002 |
During elections the Islamic Salvation Front wins the first round of voting.
This prompts the military to step in and cancel the elections, leading to
the long-running Algerian Civil War. Fresh elections are held in 1995, and
the war begins to run out of steam from 1998.
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A new threat to Algerians emerged in the early twenty-first
century in the form of extreme Islamic terrorist attacks,
ostensibly aimed at foreigners, but hurting ordinary Algerians
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