emirate · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Banu Ghaniya of Ifriqiya

1184 CE – 1233 CE

The last Almoravid family, which crossed from Majorca to wage a fifty-year war against the Almohads across Ifriqiya and the central Maghreb.

Origins

The Banu Ghaniya, descendants of an Almoravid princess, held the Balearic Islands as Banu Ghaniya Majorca after the fall of the Almoravid Empire. In 1184 Ali ibn Ghaniya landed at Bejaia, seized the city from the Almohad Caliphate and opened a war to restore Almoravid rule, recognising the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad.

Rule and society

There was no fixed capital. The Banu Ghaniya fought as a roaming power, allied with Arab tribes such as the Banu Sulaym and, for a time, with Qaraqush. Under Ali's brother Yahya ibn Ghaniya they took Tunis and Mahdia around 1203, devastating towns and countryside across Ifriqiya and Tripolitania.

Decline and legacy

The Almohad caliph al-Nasir retook Mahdia and Tunis in 1205 to 1206 and installed a Hafsid governor, whose successors kept up the fight. Yahya was driven into the desert and died in the 1230s, ending the movement. The chaos helped the Hafsid Sultanate emerge.

Lineage

Banu Ghaniya Majorca 1146 CE – 1203 CEBanu Ghaniya of Ifriqiya

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Banu Ghaniya of Ifriqiya. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/banu-ghaniya-of-ifriqiya
MLA
“Banu Ghaniya of Ifriqiya.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/banu-ghaniya-of-ifriqiya. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Banu Ghaniya of Ifriqiya.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/banu-ghaniya-of-ifriqiya.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Banu Ghaniya of Ifriqiya’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/banu-ghaniya-of-ifriqiya (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻