tribal confederation · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Laguatan

400 CE – 700 CE (approx.)

A great Berber confederation of the Libyan desert that fought Byzantine Africa and survived as the Lawata tribe of Arab writers.

Origins

The Laguatan (Leuathae in Procopius, Lawata in Arabic sources) were a confederation of camel-using Berber tribes that moved west from the Syrtic region and Cyrenaica in the 5th and 6th centuries, perhaps including the earlier Austuriani. They first appear as a serious power in the wars of Byzantine Africa.

Rule and society

The confederation was led by chiefs, and its leader Ierna was also priest of the god Gurzil, whose image was carried into battle, according to the Latin poet Corippus. In 543 the Byzantines killed Laguatan envoys at Leptis Magna, setting off a long war. The general John Troglita defeated them and their allies in 546 to 548, after which they paid tribute to the Byzantine Empire.

Decline and legacy

The Laguatan remained powerful in the desert. When the Arabs arrived in the 640s, the Lawata were among the first Berbers they met in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania; many converted to Islam, later often to Ibadism, and Lawata groups spread across North Africa.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻