# Banu Ifran

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{{Short description|Berber tribe}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

The '''Banu Ifran''' ({{langx|ar|بنو يفرن}}, ''Banu Yafran'') or '''Ifranids''',<ref name=":052" /> were a [Zenata](/source/Zenata) [Berber](/source/Berber_people) tribe prominent in the history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic North Africa. In the 8th century, they established a [kingdom in the central Maghreb](/source/Emirate_of_Tlemcen), with [Tlemcen](/source/Tlemcen) as its capital.

Prior to the 8th century, the Banu Ifran resisted or revolted against foreign occupiers—[Romans](/source/Ancient_Rome), [Vandals](/source/Vandals), and [Byzantines](/source/Byzantine_Empire)—of their territory in [Africa](/source/Africa_Province). In the seventh century, they sided with [Kahina](/source/Kahina) in her resistance against the Muslim [Umayyad](/source/Umayyad) invaders. In the eighth century they mobilized around the [Sufri](/source/Sufri) dogma, [revolting](/source/Berber_Revolt) against the Arab Umayyads and [Abbasids](/source/Abbasids).

In the 10th century they founded a dynasty opposed to the [Fatimids](/source/Fatimids), the [Zirids](/source/Zirids), the Umayyads, the [Hammadid](/source/Hammadid_dynasty)s and the [Maghraoua](/source/Maghrawa). The Banu Ifran were defeated by the [Almoravids](/source/Almoravids) and the invading Arabs (the [Banu Hilal](/source/Banu_Hilal) and the [Banu Sulaym](/source/Banu_Sulaym))<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9IOAAAAQAAJ |title=Histoireg des BerbYres et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique ... – ʻAbd al-Raḥman b. Muḥammad Ibn Khaldчn – Google Livres |year=1856 |access-date=2013-06-16}}</ref> at the end of the 11th century.
The Ifranid dynasty<ref>Histoire politique du Maroc: pouvoir, légitimités, et institutions, ʻAbd al-Laṭīf Aknūsh, Abdelatif Agnouche, p.85, Afrique Orient, 1987 [https://books.google.com/books?id=vS6NAAAAMAAJ  book on line]</ref> was recognized as the only dynasty that defended the indigenous people of the Maghreb, by the Romans referred to as the [Afri](/source/Afri)cani.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08UUAAAAYAAJ |title=Compleḿent de l'Encycloped́ie moderne: dictionnaire abreǵe ́ des sciences, des ... – Noel̈ Desverges, Lжon Renier, Edouard Carteron, Firmin Didot (Firm). – Google Livres |year=1857 |access-date=2013-06-16}}</ref>
In 11th century [Iberia](/source/Iberian_Peninsula), the Ifranids founded a [Taifa of Ronda](/source/Taifa_of_Ronda) in 1039<ref>Histoire Des Musulmans D'espagne, Reinhart Pieter et Anne Dozy, p.238 [https://books.google.com/books?id=3iMVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA237 Book on line]</ref> at [Ronda](/source/Ronda) in Andalusia and governed from [Cordoba](/source/C%C3%B3rdoba%2C_Spain) for several centuries.<ref>{{cite book|title=Études sur la civilisation de l'Espagne musulmane |trans-title=Studies on the Civilization of Muslim Spain |author=Rachel Arié |publisher=Leiden: E.J. Brill |year=199O |isbn=90-04-09116-5 |page=154|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0-QUAAAAIAAJ |via=Google Books}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
According to [Ibn Khaldun](/source/Ibn_Khaldun), the Banu Ifran are named after an ancestor, Ifri, whose name in [Berber languages](/source/Berber_languages) meant "cavern".<ref name=":052" />

== History ==
[[File:Vue sur Tlemcen depuis les hauteurs de Lalla Setti.jpg|left|thumb|220x220px|[Tlemcen](/source/Tlemcen), a capital of the Banu Ifran]]

=== Early history ===
thumb|200px|The dynasty of the Ifrinids, Ibn Khaldoun, Histoire des Berbères, section Banou Ifran

The oldest mentions concerning the Banu Ifran situate the bulk of their people in the western region of [Mauretania Caesariensis](/source/Mauretania_Caesariensis).<ref>Agabi, C. [https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/pdf/1543 "Ifren (Beni)."] Encyclopédie berbère 24 (2001): 3657-3659.</ref> The Banu Ifran were one of the four major tribes of the [Zenata](/source/Zenata) or [Gaetulia](/source/Gaetulia)<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NpoEAAAAQAAJ&dq=g%C3%A9tule+aur%C3%A8s&pg=PA131 |title=Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société archélologique de la province de Constantine |date=1874 |publisher=Alessi et Arnolet |pages=131 |language=fr}}</ref> confederation in the [Aurès Mountains](/source/Aur%C3%A8s_Mountains), and were known as expert cavalrymen. According to Ibn Khaldun, "Ifrinides" or "Ait Ifren" successfully resisted Romans, Vandals and Byzantines who sought to occupy North Africa before the arrival of the Muslim armies. According to [Corippus](/source/Corippus) in his ''Iohannis'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Niebuhr |first=Barthold Georg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjoOAAAAYAAJ&dq=ifuraces&pg=PA90 |title=Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae |date=1836 |publisher=impensis E. Weberi |pages=90 |language=la}}</ref> during the reign of [Justinian I](/source/Justinian_I) between 547 and 550, the Banu Ifran challenged the Byzantine armies under [John Troglita](/source/John_Troglita) to war.<ref>Corripus, la Johannide</ref><ref>Monographie de l'aurès, Delartigue</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lipiński |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&pg=PA200 |title=Itineraria Phoenicia |date=2004 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1344-8 |pages=200 |language=en}}</ref>

At the time of the [Arab-Muslim conquests](/source/Early_Muslim_conquests), they were located in the region of [Yafran](/source/Yafran) in [Tripolitania](/source/Tripolitania) (present-day [Libya](/source/Libya)). The conquests most likely caused them to move from there to the [Aurès](/source/Aur%C3%A8s) region, and an Abbasid invasion of [Ifriqiya](/source/Ifriqiya) in 761 likely made them move further into what is now north-western [Algeria](/source/Algeria).<ref name=":15" /> Their chief [Abu Qurra](/source/Abu_Qurra) founded the city of [Tlemcen](/source/Tlemcen) in this region in 765 (over the site of the former Roman city of Pomaria) and established an [emirate](/source/Emirate_of_Tlemcen) based here.<ref name=":052">{{Cite book|last=Lewicki|first=T.|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|publisher=Brill|year=1960–2007|isbn=9789004161214|editor-last=Bearman|editor-first=P.|location=|pages=|chapter=Banu Ifran|editor-last2=Bianquis|editor-first2=Th.|editor-last3=Bosworth|editor-first3=C.E.|editor-last4=van Donzel|editor-first4=E.|editor-last5=Heinrichs|editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Abun-Nasr |first=Jamil |title=A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1987 |isbn=0521337674 |location=Cambridge |pages=42–43}}</ref>

In the 10th century the Ifranids were enemies with the [Fatimid Caliphate](/source/Fatimids), aligning themselves with the [Maghrawa](/source/Maghrawa) tribe and the [Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba](/source/Caliph_of_C%C3%B3rdoba), although they themselves became [Kharijites](/source/Kharijites). Led by [Abu Yazid](/source/Abu_Yazid), they surged east and attacked [Kairouan](/source/Kairouan) in 945. Another leader, [Yala ibn Mohammed](/source/Yala_ibn_Mohammed) captured [Oran](/source/Oran) and constructed a new capital, Ifgan, near [Mascara](/source/Mascara%2C_Algeria). Under the leadership of their able general [Jawhar](/source/Gawhar_Al-Siqilli), who killed Ya'la, in battle in 954,<ref>So says the ''[Rawd al-Qirtas](/source/Rawd_al-Qirtas)''. But according to [Ibn Khaldun](/source/Ibn_Khaldun), Ya'la died assassinated by a member of the [Fatimides](/source/Fatimides) in 958.</ref> the Fatimids struck back and destroyed Ifgan, and for some time afterward the Banu Ifran reverted to being scattered [nomad](/source/nomad)s in perpetual competition with their [Sanhaja](/source/Sanhaja) neighbours. Some settled in regions of Spain, such as [Málaga](/source/M%C3%A1laga). Others, led by Hammama, managed to gain control of the Moroccan province of [Tadla](/source/Tadla). Later, led by Abu al-Kamāl, they established a new capital at [Salé](/source/Sal%C3%A9) on the Atlantic coast, though this brought them into conflict with the [Barghawata](/source/Barghawata) tribes on the seaboard.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} The Banu Ifran had also founded Tadla and Sale where Tamim ibn Ziri built the [Great Mosque of Sale](/source/Great_Mosque_of_Sal%C3%A9).<ref>ʻAbd al-Laṭīf Aknūsh et Abdelatif Agnouche, Histoire politique du Maroc : pouvoir, légitimités, et institutions, Afrique Orient, 1987</ref><ref>"وزارة الأوقاف و الشؤون الإسلامية" (in Arabic). Islamic Morocco. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2014.</ref><ref>Aḥmad ibn Khālid al-Salāwī, Kitāb el-istiqça li akhbār doual el-Maghrib el-Aqça : Histoire du Maroc, vol. 30–31, Paris, Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1923, p. 156.</ref> the Ifrenid emirate fell in 1058, after a Hilalian invasion on western Algeria, in which the Banu Ifren led by [Abu Soda](/source/Abu_Soda) collaborated with the [Hammadids](/source/Hammadid_dynasty) but were defeated nevertheless, and Abu Soda was killed<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khaldūn |first=Ibn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mDw8AAAAMAAJ&dq=abu+soda&pg=PA411 |title=Les prolégomènes d'Ibn Khaldoun |date=1868 |publisher=Imprimerie impériale |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Constantine |first=Société Archéologique de la Province de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0eV2i8EOecC&dq=Abou+Soda&pg=PA99 |title=Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société Archéologique de la Province de Constantine |date=1865 |language=fr}}</ref> however, their capitulation was not caused by the Arab invasion, as after suffering defeat, Hammadid leader [Buluggin ibn Muhammad](/source/Buluggin_ibn_Muhammad) expediated to Tlemcen in the same year, sacking it and disperising the Banu Ifren into many different tribes<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lugan |first1=Bernard |title=Atlas historique de l'Afrique: des origines à nos jours |last2=Fournel |first2=Bernadette |last3=Fournel |first3=André |date=2018 |publisher=Éditions du Rocher |isbn=978-2-268-09644-5 |location=Monaco}}</ref> it was not until 1066 that the Almoravids led by Ibn Tashfin finished off the tribes by capturing Tlemcen and effectively ending the Banu Ifren.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naylor |first=Phillip C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftFbCQAAQBAJ&dq=when+did+the+almoravids+capture+tlemcen&pg=PA78 |title=Historical Dictionary of Algeria |date=2015-05-07 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-7919-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=indigènes |first=Morocco Direction des affaires |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pucKAAAAIAAJ&q=almoravide+ifren |title=Villes et tribus du Maroc: documents et renseignements |date=1920 |publisher=H. Champion |language=fr}}</ref>

=== Banu Ifran in the Maghreb al-Aqsa ===
During the 11th century, the Banu Ifran contested with the Maghrawa tribe for the control of the Maghreb al-Aqsa (present-day Morocco) after the fall of the [Idrisid dynasty](/source/Idrisid_dynasty). Ya'la's son Yaddū took [Fes](/source/Fes) by surprise in January 993 and held it for some months until the Maghrawa ruler [Ziri ibn Atiyya](/source/Ziri_ibn_Atiyya) returned from Spain and reconquered the region.

In 1029, the Banu Ifran led by [Temim](/source/Temim_ibn_Ziri) [conquered](/source/Ifrenid_Expedition_to_Tamesna_(1029)) [Tamesna](/source/Tamasna) from the [Barghawata](/source/Barghawata), Temim then expulsed half the population and putting the rest to slavery, he managed to then put his residence there.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bakrī |first=Abū ʻUbayd ʻAbd Allāh ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Mw4AQAAMAAJ&q=ifrenide+1029 |title=كتاب المغرب في ذكر بلاد افريقية والمغرب: وهو جزء من اجزاء الكتاب المعروف بالمسالك والممالك |date=1965 |publisher=Librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient Adrien-Maisonneuve |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yoVi7M5P9gEC&dq=ifrenide+1029&pg=PA387 |title=Journal asiatique |date=1859 |publisher=Société asiatique |language=fr}}</ref>

In May or June 1033, [Fes](/source/Fes) was recaptured by Ya'la's grandson Tamīm. Fanatically devoted to religion, he began a persecution of the Jews,<ref name="ReferenceA3">Relations judéo-musulmanes au Marocperceptions et réalités, Michel Abitbol [https://books.google.com/books?id=P5lIAAAAMAAJ&q=jews+kahina]</ref> and is said to have killed 6000 of their men while confiscating their wealth and women, but [Ibn Khaldun](/source/Ibn_Khaldun) says only persecution without killing.<ref>Ibn Khaldoun, Histoire des Berbères</ref> It was described to have been a bloodbath and the women were reduced to slavery while the men were massacred.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Uf8nAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA401 Histoire de l'Afrique septentrionale (Berbérie) depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'a la conquête français (1830), Volume 1] Ernest Mercier Ernest Leroux,</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vriCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 ISRAEL AGAINST ALL ODDS: Anti-Semitism From Its Beginnings to the Holocaust Years] Christopher H. K. Persaud Christian Publishing House,</ref> Sometime in the period 1038–1040 the Maghrawa tribe retook [Fes](/source/Fes), forcing Tamīm to flee to [Salé](/source/Sal%C3%A9).

Soon after that time, the [Almoravid](/source/Almoravid)s began their rise to power and effectively conquered both the Banu Ifran and their brother-rivals the Maghrawa.

=== Banu Ifran in Al-Andalus ===
{{See also|Taifa of Ronda}}[[File:Muraille de Ronda1.JPG|right|230px|thumb| [Ronda](/source/Ronda) was built by [Abu Nour](/source/Abu_Nour) in 1014 ]]

The Banu Ifran were influential in al-Andalus (present-day Spain) in the 11th century AD: the Ifran house of Corra ruled the Andalusian city of [Ronda](/source/Ronda). [Yeddas](/source/Yeddas) was the military leader of the Berber troops who were at war against the Christian king and El Mehdi. [Abu Nour](/source/Abu_Nour) or Nour of the house of Corra became lord of Ronda and then [Seville](/source/Seville) in Andalusia from 1023 to 1039 and from 1039 to 1054. The son of [Nour bin Badis Hallal](/source/Nour_bin_Badis_Hallal) ruled Ronda from 1054 to 1057, and [Abu Nacer](/source/Abu_Nacer) from 1057 to 1065.<ref name=":0">[http://www.hukam.net/family.php?fam=228#6] list of leaders in arabic</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([WP:NOTRS](/source/WP%3ANOTRS)).|date=April 2022}}

==Religion==

===Before Islam===
[[File:As-Hadrian-Africa-RIC 0841,As.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[As](/source/As_(Roman_coin)) of [Hadrian](/source/Hadrian) (136), representing [Africa](/source/Africa_(Roman_province))]]

Among the Ifran, [animism](/source/animism) was the principal spiritual philosophy. Ifri was also the name of a [Berber](/source/Berber_pantheon) deity, and their name may have an origin in their beliefs.<ref name="ReferenceB">Archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires, France Commission des missions scientifiques et littéraires, France, [https://books.google.com/books?id=G08PAAAAYAAJ&dq=africa+ifru&pg=PA481]</ref>
Ifru rites symbolized in caves were held to gain favor or protection for merchants and traders. The myth of this protection is befittingly depicted on Roman coins.<ref>Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société archéologique, historique, du département de Constantine, Arnolet, 1878</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r8E4AAAAMAAJ&q=gurzil+ifri&pg=PA461 |title=Recueil des notices et mщmoires de la Sociщtщ archщologique, historique, et ... – Google Livres |year=1878 |access-date=2013-06-16}}</ref>

[Ifru](/source/Ifru) was regarded as a sun goddess, cave goddess and protector of the home.<ref>Les cultes païens dans l'Empire romain, Jules Toutain, page 416, p635 and p636</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_foLAAAAIAAJ&q=ifru |title=Les cultes paяens dans l'Empire romain – Jules Toutain – Google Livres |access-date=2013-06-16|last1=Toutain |first1=Jules |year=1920 }}</ref> Ifru or Ifran was regarded as a Berber version of Vesta.

Dihya, usually referred to as the [Kahina](/source/Kahina), was the [Jarawa](/source/Jarawa_(Berber_tribe)) Berber queen, prophetess, and leader of the non-Muslim response to the advancing Arab armies. Some historians claim Kahina was Christian,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moderan |first=Y. |date=2005 |title=Kahena |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1306 |access-date=5 March 2024 |journal=Encyclopédie Berbère|issue=27 |pages=4102–4111 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1306 }}</ref> or a follower of the Judaic faith,<ref name="ReferenceA3"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xTU7aqSNzkoC&dq=jews+kahina&pg=PA81 The FalashasA Short History of the Ethiopian Jews, David Kessler]</ref><ref>Ibn Khaldoun, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique septentrionale, traduction de William McGuckin de Slane, éd. Paul Geuthner, Paris, 1978, tome 1, pp. 208–209 .</ref> though few of the Ifran were Christians, even after more than half a millennium of Christianity among the urban populations and the more sedentary tribes. Ibn Khaldun simply states that the Ifran were Berbers, and says nothing of their religion before the advent of Islam.

===During Islam===
The Banu Ifran were opposed to the Sunnis of the Arab armies. They eventually converted, but joined the Kharidjite movement within Islam.
[Ibn Khaldun](/source/Ibn_Khaldun) claimed that the "Zenata people say they are Muslims but they still oppose the Arab army".<ref>Ibn Khaldun, Histoire des berberes, Traduction Slane, édition Berti</ref><ref>La Berbérie et L'Islam et la France, Eugène Guernier, party 1, édition de l'union française, 1950</ref> After 711, the Berbers were systematically converted to Islam and many became devout members of the faith.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

{{History of Algeria}}

* [Ibn Abi Zar](/source/Ibn_Abi_Zar), ''[Rawd al-Qirtas](/source/Rawd_al-Qirtas)''. Annotated Spanish translation: A. Huici Miranda, ''Rawd el-Qirtas''. 2nd edition, Anubar Ediciones, Valencia, 1964. Vol. 1 {{ISBN|84-7013-007-2}}.
* C. Agabi (2001), article "Ifren" in ''Encyclopédie Berbère'' vol. 24, p.&nbsp;3657–3659 (Édisud, Aix-en-Provence, {{ISBN|2-85744-201-7}})
* [Ibn Khaldun](/source/Ibn_Khaldun), ''[Kitab el Ibar](/source/Kitab_el_Ibar)'', French translation ({{ISBN|2-7053-3638-9}})
* Le passé de l'Afrique du Nord. Écrit par E.F. Gautier. Édition Payot, Paris
* KITAB EL-ISTIQÇA. TRADUCTION A. GRAULLE. Auteur AHMED BEN KHALED EN-NACIRI ES-SLAOUI
* Ibn Khaldoun Les prolégomènes El Mokadima
* Gisèle Halimi. Title: La Kahina.

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = [Rustamid](/source/Rustamid) and [Umayyad Dynasty](/source/Umayyad_Dynasty)
| title = Ifrinid Dynasty
| years = 950- 1066
| after = [Almoravid dynasty](/source/Almoravid_dynasty)|
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Zenata topics}}
{{Berber}}
{{Muslim dynasties in Maghreb region}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banu Ifran}}
Category:Berber dynasties
*
Category:Medieval history of Algeria
Category:History of Seville
Category:History of Andalusia
Category:Dynasties in al-Andalus
Category:States and territories established in the 8th century
Category:States and territories disestablished in the 11th century
Category:8th-century establishments in Africa
Category:11th-century disestablishments in Africa
Category:1066 disestablishments
Category:11th century in al-Andalus
Category:Former countries in Africa
Category:Zenata
Category:Kharijites

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Banu Ifran](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Ifran) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Ifran?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.