Barghawata
برغواطة
Barghawata of the Masmuda; their homeland the Far Maghreb's Atlantic coast at Tamsna and its lands — in the late Jahiliyya their chief Yunus ibn Ilyas founded them a state on a self-made creed with claims of prophecy and scripture of their own, which they held for generations, warring the Zanata, Sanhaja and Marwanid kings until Buluggin ibn Ziri and the Umayyads ground their state down, their traces lasting among the coastal tribes to Almoravid days.
At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate · Abbasid Fragmentation · The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
- Region
- Maghreb
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
Barghawata are branches of the Masmuda. Their homelands were on the Atlantic coast of the far Maghrib, around Tamasna and its surroundings. 1
A state arose among them on a religion invented by their chief Yunus ibn Ilyas, who claimed prophethood and legislation in it, according to Ibn Khaldun's account. They followed it for generations, and fought the rulers around them, among them the Zanata, the Sanhaja and the Marinids. 1
Buluggin ibn Ziri and the Umayyad rulers pressed on them until their state perished, and their traces remained among the coastal tribes until the period of the Almoravids. 1
Note on the data: the summary places the founding of their state "in the late pre-Islamic period", which contradicts the rest of the entry's references to the Zanata, the Sanhaja and the Umayyads, so this phrase has been left out. A second source is needed to fix the date of its founding.
Sources
- Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Barghawata”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/group/barghawata/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.