Zawawa
زواوة
Zawawa of the Kutama, among the greatest Berber branches; their homeland the soaring peaks and forbidding highlands around Bijaya to Tidels — many clans, folk of the fray and mighty prowess in the Maghreb's fitnas, who contested the Hammadids of the Qal'a, the Zirids and the Abd al-Wadids, and kept their mountain ways to Ibn Khaldun's day.
At a glance
- Era
- The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
- Region
- Maghreb
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
Zawawa are among the branches of Kutama, and Kutama is one of the greatest branches of the Berbers. Ibn Khaldun says that their homelands were the towering mountains and the rough country around Bejaia as far as Tadlis. 1
Their history
They have many branches. Ibn Khaldun describes them as people of fervour and fierce might in the strife of the Maghrib. 1
They contended with the kings of Banu Hammad at al-Qal'a, with the Zirids, and with Banu Abd al-Wad. Their affairs were settled in their mountains in the manner of mountain peoples until Ibn Khaldun's time. 1
A second source is needed: the dates, and a second source other than Ibn Khaldun.
Sources
- Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Zawawa”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/group/zawawa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.