emirate · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Awlad Mbarak emirate

1600 CE – 1860 CE (approx.)

A Hassani Arab emirate of the Hodh in south-eastern Mauritania, a desert-edge power that raided and traded with the Bambara kingdoms of the Sahel.

Origins

The Awlad Mbarak were a Hassani warrior group, part of the Arab Bani Hassan who had spread across the western Sahara. By the 17th century they dominated the Hodh region, in present-day south-eastern Mauritania and western Mali.

Rule and society

Little is documented in detail. The emirs led warrior lineages that took tribute from Berber scholarly tribes, Fulani herders and Soninke and Bambara farmers. They traded salt, gum and livestock, and fought or allied with the Kingdom of Kaarta and other Sahelian states.

Decline and legacy

The emirate declined in the 19th century under pressure from rival Hassani groups and Kaarta. By around 1860 it had lost its power, and the Hodh later passed under French Sudan and French Mauritania.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Awlad Mbarak emirate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/awlad-mbarak-emirate
MLA
“Awlad Mbarak emirate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/awlad-mbarak-emirate. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Awlad Mbarak emirate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/awlad-mbarak-emirate.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Awlad Mbarak emirate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/awlad-mbarak-emirate (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻