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The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids were from the tribe of Banu Tamim and adhered to the Mu'tazilite rationalist doctrine within Hanafi school Sunni Islam, which they imposed as the state doctrine of Ifriqiya. They ruled until 909 when they were conquered by the new power of the Fatimids.
Ibrahim was to control an area that encompassed what is now eastern Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania. The territory granted to Ibrahim was not demarcated, as it theoretically encompassed the entire Maghreb west of Cyrenaica, including any newly conquered territories. Although independent in all but name, his dynasty never ceased to recognise Abbasid overlordship. The Aghlabids paid an annual tribute of 800,000 dirhams to the Abbasid Caliph and their suzerainty was referenced in the Khutbah at Friday prayer.
After the pacification of the country Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab established a residence at a new capital, al-Abbasiyya, founded outside Kairouan in 800 (2025). 9789004355668, Brill. ISBN 9789004355668 and built between 801 and 810. This was done partly to distance himself from the opposition of the Malikite jurists and theologians, who condemned what they saw as the luxurious life of the Aghlabids (not to mention the fact that the Aghlabids were Mu'tazilites in theology, and in fiqh), and disliked the unequal treatment of the Muslim Berbers. Additionally, border defenses such as were set up, including in coastal cities like Sousse (Susa) and Monastir. The Aghlabids also built up the irrigation of the area and enhanced the public buildings and Mosque of Ifriqiya. Slaves were obtained through the trans-Saharan trade, through Mediterranean commerce, and from raids on other lands like Sicily and Italy.
The Aghlabid army was composed of two main elements. The first was the jund, or Arab troops descended from the Arab tribesmen who had participated in the early Muslim conquests of North Africa. The other component of the army was recruited from slaves, put in place partly to counterbalance to the power of the jund. It was recorded that 5,000 black Zanj slaves were stationed in Abbasiya as part of its garrison. Under Ziyadat Allah I (r. 817–838) came a revolt of Arab troops (the jund) in 824, the last but most serious episode of confrontation between them and the Aghlabid emirs. The rebellion was led by a commander named Mansur ibn Nasr al-Tunbudhi, who owned a fortress near Tunis. By September 824 the rebels had occupied Tunis and Kairouan, but the Aghlabids managed to repel them from Kairouan a month later and killed Mansur. Another chief, Amir ibn Nafi', took over leadership of the rebels and inflicted a severe defeat on Ziyadat Allah's forces. Eventually, the emir was able to gain the upper hand with the help of the Ibadi Islam Berbers of the Nefzaoua region and finally crushed the rebellion in 827. In 838/839 (224 Hijri year) the southwestern province of Qastiliya (the Djerid region), largely inhabited by Ibadi Islam Muslims, revolted, prompting the Aghlabids to recapture Tozeur, its main city, that year.
Despite the political differences and rivalry between the Aghlabids, who served under the Abbasid Caliphate, and the Umayyad Emirate of Cordoba, the Muslims of al-Andalus (in the Iberian Peninsula) also sent a fleet under Asba' ibn Wakil to aid the Aghlabid conquest of Sicily. Ibn Kathir recorded that a joint force of 300 Umayyad and Aghlabid ships were present. The Aghlabid garrison at Mineo managed to get into contact with the Andalusian Umayyads, who immediately agreed to the alliance, provided that Asba' was recognized as the overall commander, and, together with fresh troops from Ifriqiya, they marched on Mineo. Theodotus retreated to Enna and the siege of Mineo was broken in July or August 830.Bury (1912), p. 304Treadgold (1988), pp. 273–274Vasiliev (1935), pp. 127–128 The combined Ifriqiyan and Andalusian army then torched Mineo and laid siege to another town, possibly Calloniana (modern Barrafranca). However, a plague broke out in their camp, causing the death of Asba' and many others. The town fell later, in autumn, but the Arabs' numbers were depleted to the point where they were forced to abandon it and retreat west. Theodotus launched a pursuit and inflicted heavy casualties, and, thereafter, most of the Andalusians departed the island. However, Theodotus too was killed at this time, possibly in one of these skirmishes.Treadgold (1988), p. 274Vasiliev (1935), pp. 128–129
The conquest of Sicily proceeded slowly and at an uneven pace, progressing roughly from west to east through multiple campaigns over many years. Palermo was conquered in 831 and became the capital of Muslim rule on the island and the base for further conquests. Messina was besieged and captured in 842 or 843, possibly with the support of some Naples, and became a base for further campaigns into the Italian mainland. Syracuse was captured in 878. The conquest of the island was not fully completed until 902, when Taormina was conquered. Even after this, however, some patches of local Byzantine/Christian resistance continued until 967, long after the Aghlabid dynasty had ended.
Many of the Muslim forces that operated on the peninsula or occupied some of its cities seem to have had only tenuous allegiances to the Aghlabid dynasty. Some Muslim mercenaries even entered into the service of Naples or local Lombards rulers at various times. The early Muslim occupiers of Bari, for example, appear to have served as mercenaries of Radelchis I of Benevento. The Emirate of Bari, which existed from 847 to 871, had its own rulers whose relations to the Aghlabids are not clearly known.
The Aghlabid emirs sponsored building projects, notably the rebuilding of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, and the kingdom developed an architectural style which combined Abbasid and Byzantine architecture. In 876 Ibrahim II ibn Ahmad moved his residence from al-Abbasiya to a new palace-city that he founded, called Raqqada. The new city contained a mosque, Hammam, market, and several palaces. For the rest of his life, Ibrahim II resided in a palace called Qasr al-Fath (), which also remained the residence of his successors (except for some periods when they moved to Tunis).
In 902 Ibrahim II became the only Aghlabid emir to personally lead a military campaign in Sicily and the Italian mainland. While he was away in Sicily, Abu Abdallah struck the first significant blow against Aghlabid authority in North Africa by attacking and capturing the city of Mila (present-day eastern Algeria). This news triggered a serious response from the Aghlabids, who sent a punitive expedition of 12,000 men from Tunis in October of the same year. Abu Abdallah's forces were forced to flee their base at Tazrut and re-establish themselves at Ikjan.
Ibrahim II died in October 902 while besieging Cosenza in Italy and was succeeded by Abdallah II. On 27 July 903 Abdallah was assassinated and his son Ziyadat Allah III took power, basing himself in Tunis. These internal Aghlabid troubles gave Abu Abdallah the opportunity to recapture Mila and then go on to capture Setif by October or November 904. Further Aghlabid attempts to crush his movement had little success. In 907, in response to the growing threat, Ziyadat Allah III moved his court back to Raqqada, which he fortified. Later in 907 the heavily fortified city of Baghai, on the southern Roman road between Ifriqiya and the central Maghreb, fell to the Kutama. This opened a hole in the wider defensive system of Ifriqiya and created panic in Raqqada. Ziyadat Allah III stepped up anti-Fatimid propaganda, recruited volunteers, and took measures to defend the weakly-fortified city of Kairouan. In 908 he personally led his army in an indecisive battle against the Kutama army near Dar Madyan (probably a site between Sbeitla and Kasserine), with neither side gaining the upper hand. During the winter of 908-909 Abu Abdallah conquered the region around Chott el-Jerid. An Aghlabid counterattack against Baghaya failed.
On 25 February 909, Abu Abdallah set out from Ikjan with an army of 200,000 men for a final invasion of Kairouan. The remaining Aghlabid army, led by an Aghlabid prince named Ibrahim Ibn Abi al-Aghlab, met them near al-Aribus on 18 March. The battle lasted until the afternoon, when a contingent of Kutama horsemen outflanked the Aghlabid army and finally caused a rout. When news of the defeat reached Raqqada, Ziyadat Allah III packed his valuable treasures and fled towards Egypt. The population of Kairouan looted the abandoned palaces of Raqqada. When Ibn Abi al-Aghlab arrived on the scene after his defeat, he called on the population to mount a last-ditch resistance, but they refused. On 25 March 909 (Saturday, 1 Rajab 296), Abu Abdallah entered Raqqada and took up residence here. That same year his forces retrieved the Fatimid caliph, Abdallah al-Mahdi, from Sijilmasa (in the western Maghreb) and brought him to Ifriqiya, thus establishing the Fatimid Caliphate.
Nonetheless, the Aghlabids were able to bolster their religious standing and counter criticisms directed against them. Some Malikis were persecuted for rejecting Mu'tazilite beliefs, such as Sahsun, who suffered persecution during the reign of Muhammad I ibn al-Aghlab (841–856) for rejecting the Mu'tazilite concept that the Qur'an was created. The Aghlabids also displayed great generosity in their spending on religious buildings, such Al-Zaytuna Mosque, which they had reconstructed by 864.
As Sunni Muslims, the Aghlabids were vassals of the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad, representing the influence and presence of the Abbasids throughout Ifriqiya. The Aghlabids maintained strained relations with the Rustamid dynasty of Tiaret, who adhered to the Kharijites Ibadi Islam sect. Their relations with the Idrisid dynasty of Fez were always tense, as the Idrisids were Zaydism Shia Islam who had expansionist ambitions on the relatively weak Rustamid state. Furthermore, the Aghlabids held a hostile stance towards the Umayyad dynasty in the Emirate of Cordoba.
The Mosque of Ibn Khayrun (also known as the "Mosque of the Three Doors") possesses an external façade featuring carved Kufic inscriptions and Arabesque, which some scholars have called the oldest decorated external façade in Islamic architecture and which may contain the oldest foundation inscription crediting a private individual (rather than a ruler) for a mosque's construction. (2025). 9789004355668, Brill. ISBN 9789004355668 The al-Zaytuna Mosque in Tunis, which was founded earlier around 698, also owes its overall current form to the Aghlabid emir Abu Ibrahim Ahmad (r. 856–863). (2025). 9783902782199, Museum With No Frontiers, MWNF. ISBN 9783902782199
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