Barghawata Totally Explained

Everything about Berghwata totally explained

The Barghawata (also Barghwata or Berghouata) were a medieval Berber tribe confederation of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, belonging to the Masmuda group of tribes. After allying with a failed Sufri Kharijite rebellion in Morocco against the Abbasids, they established a kingdom (744 - 1058) in the area of Tamesna on the Atlantic coast between Safi and Salé under the leadership of Tarif al-Matghari.

Etymology

Some historians believe that the term Barghawata is a phonetic deformation of the term Barbati, a nickname which Tarif carried. It is thought that he was born in the area of Barbate, near Cádiz in Spain. However, Jérôme Carcopino and other historians think the name is much older and the tribe is the same as that which the Romans called Baquates, who up until the 7th century lived near Volubilis.

Religion

After the conversion to Islam at the beginning of the 8th century and the Maysara uprising (739-742), the Barghawata Berbers formed their own state on the Atlantic coast between Safi and Salé.
The Barghawata kingdom followed a syncretic religion inspired by Islam (perhaps influenced by Judaism) with elements of Sunni, Shi'a and Kharijite Islam, mixed with astrological and heathen traditions. Supposedly, they'd their own Qur'an in the Berber language comprising 80 suras under the leadership of the second ruler of the dynasty Salih ibn Tarif who had taken part in the Maysara uprising. He proclaimed himself a prophet. He also claimed to be the final Mahdi, and that Isa (Jesus) would be his companion and pray behind him.

History

Little details are known about Barghawata. Most of the historical sources are largely posterior to their rule and often present a contradictory and confused historical context. However, one tradition appears more interesting. It comes from Córdoba in Spain and its author is the Large Prior of Barghawata and the Barghawata ambassador to Córdoba Abu Salih Zammur, around the middle of the 10th century. This tradition is regarded as most detailed concerning Barghwata. It was reported by Al Bakri, Ibn Hazm and Ibn Khaldun, although their interpretations comprise some divergent points of view. The Barghawatas allied with the Kharijite Muslim sect who embraced a doctrine representing total egalitarianism in opposition to the aristocracy of the Quraysh which had grown more pronounced under the Umayyad Caliphate. After the defeat of the Kharijites in Kairouan, Tunisia in 741, the Barghawatas in Morocco retreated to the Tamesna region where they founded their kingdom.
The Barghawatas ruled in the Tamesna region for more than three centuries (744 - 1058). Under the successors of Salih ibn Tarif, Ilyas ibn Salih (?792-842); Yunus (842-888) and Abu Ghufail (888-913) the tribal kingdom was consolidated, and missions sent to neighbouring tribes. After initially good relations with the Caliphate of Cordoba there was a break at the end of the 10th century with the ruling Umayyads. Two Umayyad incursions, as well as attacks by the Fatimids were fought off by the Barghawata. From the 11th century there was an intensive guerilla war with the Banu Ifran. Even though the Barghawata were subsequently much weakened, they were still able to fend off Almoravid attacks - the spiritual leader of the Almoravids, Ibn Yasin, fell in battle against them (1058). Only in 1149 were the Barghawata eliminated by the Almohads as a political and religious group.

Barghawata kings

Tarif al-Matghari
Ṣāliḥ ibn Tarīf, who declared himself prophet, who is said to have professed Islām publicly but Ṣāliḥ's religion secretly, and died in the 50th year of his reign.
Yunus ibn Ilyas (?842-888), who made Ṣāliḥ's religion official and killed all those who wouldn't convert (killing 7770 people, according to Ibn Khaldun's sources, some at a place called Tamlukeft). Curiously enough, he's also said to have performed the Hajj. He died in the 44th year of his reign.
Abu Ghafir Muhammad (?888-917), who may also have been called a prophet (according to a poem Ibn-Khaldun cites) and who had 44 wives and more sons. He died in the 29th year of his reign.
Abu al-Ansar Abdullah (?917-961), buried at Ameslakht. He died in the 44th year of his reign.
Abu Mansur Isa (?961-?), who was 22 when he became king.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Berghwata'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://barghawata.totallyexplained.com">Barghawata Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.