emirate · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan
Hammadid emirate
Origins
Hammad ibn Buluggin, a son of the Zirid founder, governed the western lands of the Zirid emirate and founded the fortified city of Qal'at Beni Hammad in the Hodna mountains around 1007 to 1008. In 1015 he broke with his nephew, the Zirid emir Badis, and founded an independent dynasty.
Rule and society
The Hammadid capital grew into a city of palaces, mosques and workshops, with a great minaret and fine glazed ceramics. The emirs ruled the central Maghreb, drawing on Sanhaja Berber tribes. Pressure from the Banu Hilal led al-Nasir ibn Alnas to build a new capital at Béjaïa (Bougie) on the coast in the 1060s, which became a busy port trading with Italian cities.
Decline and legacy
In 1152 the Almohad Caliphate under Abd al-Mu'min took Béjaïa and the Qal'a, and the last emir, Yahya ibn al-Aziz, surrendered. Béjaïa remained a centre of learning and trade, and the ruins of the Qal'a were listed as a World Heritage site in 1980.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Banu Khurasan was a vassal of Hammadid emirate1063 CE – 1100 CE
- Hammadid emirate was conquered by Almohad Caliphate1152 CE
More states of Egypt, North Africa and Sudan →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hammadid emirate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hammadid-emirate
- MLA
- “Hammadid emirate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hammadid-emirate. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Hammadid emirate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hammadid-emirate.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hammadid emirate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hammadid-emirate (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻