theocracy · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Barghawata

744 CE – 1058 CE (approx.) · capital Tamesna

A Berber confederation on Morocco's Atlantic coast that followed its own prophet and scripture for over three centuries.

Origins

The Barghawata emerged in the Tamesna plain between Salé and Safi after the Berber revolt of 740 against the Umayyad Caliphate. Their first leader, Tarif, took part in the revolt, and around 744 his son Salih ibn Tarif proclaimed himself a prophet, founding a new religion for his people.

Rule and society

Salih gave the Barghawata a Berber-language scripture of eighty suras and distinct laws, including fasting in the month of Rajab, prayers at different times and food taboos, according to the 11th-century geographer al-Bakri. His successors, such as Yunus ibn Ilyas, spread the faith by force. The confederation of farming and herding tribes fought the Idrisid dynasty, the Banu Ifran emirate and the Caliphate of Córdoba.

Decline and legacy

The Almoravid Empire attacked them from 1058; their spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin was killed fighting them in 1059, but the Barghawata were broken. Remnants were finally wiped out by the Almohads in the mid-12th century.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻