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Zenata



 
 
The Zenata are one of the main divisions of the medieval Berbers
Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous ethnic groups of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River....
, along with Senhaja and Masmuda
Masmuda

The Masmuda were one of the largest Berber people tribal confederacies in the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and the Sanhaja....
. They were traditionally nomad
Nomad

Nomadic people, , also known as nomads, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than Settler in one location....
s whose main home was the Middle Maghreb
Maghreb

The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea....
 (mainly the western Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
), an area stretching, roughly speaking, from the Rif
Rif

The Rif is a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco, stretching from Cape Spartel and Tangier in the west to Ras Kebdana and the Moulouya River in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the river of Ouargha in the south....
 to Chlef
Chlef Province

Chlef is a provinces of Algeria in Algeria, and has about 1 million inhabitants. Its capital is Chlef. Another locality is T?n?s, on the Mediterranean Sea....
. They were a major political force in the area in the Middle Ages; the Marinid
Marinid

The Anglicised name used for this article derives from the Arabic Banu Marin .The Marinid dynasty was a Berber dynasty formed in 1244....
s in Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
 and the Zayyanids of Tlemcen
Tlemcen

Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the Tlemcen Province. Its population is 132,341 as of the 1998 census. Located inland, it is located in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards....
 in Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
 were of Zenati origin, and they were an important force in the Rustamid
Rustamid

The Rustamid dynasty of Ibadi Kharijite imam that ruled the central Maghreb as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from their capital Tahert in present Algeria until the Ismailite Fatimid Caliphs destroyed it....
 dynasty.






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The Zenata are one of the main divisions of the medieval Berbers
Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous ethnic groups of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River....
, along with Senhaja and Masmuda
Masmuda

The Masmuda were one of the largest Berber people tribal confederacies in the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and the Sanhaja....
. They were traditionally nomad
Nomad

Nomadic people, , also known as nomads, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than Settler in one location....
s whose main home was the Middle Maghreb
Maghreb

The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea....
 (mainly the western Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
), an area stretching, roughly speaking, from the Rif
Rif

The Rif is a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco, stretching from Cape Spartel and Tangier in the west to Ras Kebdana and the Moulouya River in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the river of Ouargha in the south....
 to Chlef
Chlef Province

Chlef is a provinces of Algeria in Algeria, and has about 1 million inhabitants. Its capital is Chlef. Another locality is T?n?s, on the Mediterranean Sea....
. They were a major political force in the area in the Middle Ages; the Marinid
Marinid

The Anglicised name used for this article derives from the Arabic Banu Marin .The Marinid dynasty was a Berber dynasty formed in 1244....
s in Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
 and the Zayyanids of Tlemcen
Tlemcen

Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the Tlemcen Province. Its population is 132,341 as of the 1998 census. Located inland, it is located in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards....
 in Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
 were of Zenati origin, and they were an important force in the Rustamid
Rustamid

The Rustamid dynasty of Ibadi Kharijite imam that ruled the central Maghreb as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from their capital Tahert in present Algeria until the Ismailite Fatimid Caliphs destroyed it....
 dynasty. They claimed an Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 (South Arabian, Yemen) origin, for what most historians regard as political reasons, but this claim is not widely accepted.

Zenata are from Gaetulia
Gaetulia

Gaetulia is the name of a Ancient Rome region in present-day southern Algeria. It is mostly desert. Parts of the Atlas mountains occupy its northwestern tip....
 (people from Africa) Some of Garamantes
Garamantes

The Garamantes were a Saharan Berber languages-speaking people who used an elaborate underground irrigation system, and founded a kingdom in the Fezzan area of modern-day Libya, in the Sahara desert....
 was Zenata

Madghacen
Madghacen

Madghacen or Medracen or Medghassen or Madghis also spelled Imadghassen, or Medghacen means mausoleum tomb of King Berber Imadghassen which stands near Batna city in Algeria....
 was the Patriarch of Zenata. The old mausoleum in Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
 is Madghacen
Madghacen

Madghacen or Medracen or Medghassen or Madghis also spelled Imadghassen, or Medghacen means mausoleum tomb of King Berber Imadghassen which stands near Batna city in Algeria....
 mausolun 12 at 4 century before J-C , It's near Batna
Batna

Batna or BATNA may refer to:*Batna City, Algeria*Batna Province, Algeria*Best alternative to a negotiated agreement...
 town.

Their varieties of Berber, collectively termed Zenati
Zenati languages

The Zenati languages include 12 languages and dialects spoken in North Africa; this language group is a part of the List of Northern Berber languages....
, are spread over a wide area; for this reason, several languages are termed "Zenati" or in some cases are spoken by people who call themselves Zenata. Among these are Beni Snassen (or Ait Iznassen in Tamazight), a tribe that lives in Northern Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
 and Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
, mostly in the mountains near Berkane
Berkane

Berkane is a city in the northeastern Morocco in the area of Thrifa, limited by the Mediterranean to its north, the Kiss Oued and the wilaya of Oujda in the east, the wilaya of Nador in the west and the wilaya of Taourirt in the south....
 called the Beni Snassen mountains; Sened
Sened language

Sened is an Extinct language Berber languages that was spoken in the nearby towns of Sened and Majoura in Southern Tunisia until the mid-twentieth century....
 (now extinct), and some Sahara
Sahara

The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometers , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe....
n oasis languages. The Zenata are also recalled in several placenames across the Maghreb, notably Oued Zenati in Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
.

History

The Zenata tribes entered Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
 from eastern Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
 and Tunisia
Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
 in pre-Islamic times and grouped themselves with the tribes of Maghrawa
Maghrawa

The Magrawa were a Berber people tribe in Morocco and central and western Algeria....
, Miknasa
Miknasa

The Miknasa were a Berber people tribe in Morocco and western Algeria.The Miknasa Berbers originated in Tripolitania and southern Tunisia, but migrated westwards into central Morocco and western Algeria in pre-Islamic times....
 and Banu Ifran
Banu Ifran

Banu Ifran or Ifren or Ifrenid , a Berber people tribe, prominent in the history of pre-islamic and early islamic North Africa.Tlemcen in present-day Algeria was a capital of the Kingdom of Banu Ifran ....
. Some of these tribes surrendered quickly to the Muslims in the 7th century, while others, like the Jarawa under al-Kahina, put up a successful resistance for a long time.

In the 8th century most Berber and Zenata were Kharijites
Kharijites

Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the caliphate of the fourth and final "Rightly Guided" caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, later rejected him....
 and took part in the Maysara revolt against Umayyad rule. The last Kharijite rebellion was in the 10th century under Abu Yazid
Abu Yazid

Ab? Yaz?d Mukhallad ibn Kayr?d , nicknamed S?hib al-Him?r or "Owner of the Donkey", was a menber of Banu Ifran Tribe , he was a Kharijite Berber people who led a rebellion against the Fatimids in Ifriqiya starting in 944....
, and was defeated by the Fatimids.

During the 10th century the Zenata were predominantly allied with the Caliphate
Caliphate

The caliphate represented the political leadership of the Muslim ummah in classical and medieval Islamic history and juristic theory. The head of state's position is based on the notion of a successor to the Prophets of Islam Muhammad's political authority....
 of Cordoba
Córdoba, Spain

viktor chucchuc he sucsuck my dick||-||-|File:Cordoba Water Wheel.jpg|}Cordova is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the C?rdoba ....
, which fought for control of Morocco with the Fatimids. In the process the Zenata were pushed out of Morocco by the Sanhaja
Sanhaja

The Sanhaja were one of the largest Berber people tribe confederations of the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and Masmuda....
 tribe, allies of the Fatimids.

However, in the 13th century the Zenata regained political importance with the Abdalwadid
Abdalwadid

Abdalwadid is the name of a Berber Zenata dynasty in North Africa. The Abdalwadid kingdom with capital at Tlemcen, in what is now western Algeria, existed from 1236 to 1550....
s in western Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
 and the Marinid
Marinid

The Anglicised name used for this article derives from the Arabic Banu Marin .The Marinid dynasty was a Berber dynasty formed in 1244....
s in Morocco. Finally they held sway over Morocco under the Wattasid
Wattasid

The Wattassids or Ban? Wat?s were an Amazigh dynasty of Kingdom of Fez. They followed the Amazigh Marinids and were followed by theSaadi Dynasty, also of Amazigh descent....
s in the 15th century.

External links

Zenata in Sahara

Zenata