Sultanate of Tuggurt

The city of Tuggurt was subject to the authority of the Hafsid dynasty like all other cities in the east of present-day Algeria. During the periods of turmoil, Tuggurt would revolt and refrain from paying taxes. Like what Yusuf ibn Hasan, a chief of Tuggurt did in the era of the Hafsid Sultan Abu 'Amr Uthman, who was obliged to Subjugate the city two times, one in 1449 and another in 1465. The Sultanate of Tuggurt came to birth in a period that witnessed the weakness and fall of the Hafsid dynasty.[3]

The Sultanate was founded in the fifteenth century by the Banu Djellab, a dynasty whose exact origins remain obscure. They claimed to be the last descendants of the Marinid dynasty, and thus modelled their court and ruling system, such as the use of a praetorian guard of black slaves, on that of the Moroccan sultans.[4] According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the founder was a certain Sulayman ibn Djellab, a Moroccan prince, related to the Marinid family, who after his return from the hajj founded a mosque in the region, and with the help of the local nomads, became recognised there as a ruler.[5]

He felt secure enough to retain local political structures, including the djemaa (council) to which he could appoint members. He equipped at his own expense a deira of five hundred horsemen who became the nucleus of his army. He then patrolled the neighborhood chastising rebels, restoring peace and levying tax.[6] Sheikh Soliman came to terms with the Douaouda feudal family, who commanded the “Riah”—nomadic tribes controlling the plain from the Zibans to Ouargla, by marrying his daughter to the head of this family, Ben Sakheri, who bore the title of sheikh el Arab.[7]

As early as the sixteenth century, the Sultanate of Tuggurt had to face the hegemony of the regency of Algiers. Salah Raïs, beylerbey of Algiers, led an expedition against Tuggurt in 1552. The Ben Djellab surrendered in the face of enemy artillery; politically they became vassals of Algiers and paid it tribute.

The known Sultans (and one female ruler) were:[8]

• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
• History of Algeria