Emirate of Shabiya
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Emirate of Shabiya إمارات الشعبية | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1535-1573 | |||||||||
 Maximum extension of the Shabiya | |||||||||
| Capital | Kairouan | ||||||||
| Official languages | Arabic Berber | ||||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||||
| Government | Emirate | ||||||||
| Emir | |||||||||
• 1535-1557 | Sidi Arafat Chebbi | ||||||||
• 1557-1560 | Muhammad ibn Abi al-Tayyib al-Shabi | ||||||||
• 1560-1573 | Abd es-Samed | ||||||||
| Historical era | High Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Revolt Aigainst Hafsid dynasty | 1535 | ||||||||
• Battle of Kairouan | 1538 | ||||||||
• Siege of Gafsa | 1551 | ||||||||
• Conflict with the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish Empire | 1536–1573 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Tunisia Algeria | ||||||||
The Shabiya Emirate (Arabic: إمارات الشعبية) was a Muslim Emirate that reigned from 1535 to 1560 and was an Arab dynasty descended from the tribe of Mohelhel[1]
History
[edit]The Shabiya wanted to become independent from the Hafsid state. They gathered all the Arab and Berber tribes of Ifriqiya including Nemencha, Dreid. The Sheikh Sidi Arafa rebelled and proclaimed a marabout named Yahia in Kairouan But one day, while entering Tunis in disguise, he was recognized and beheaded.[2]
It was Sidi Arafa's brother, Mohamed Ben Abi et-Tayeb, who took over and became the new governor of Kairouan. He reunited a large number of tribes to his cause such as: Ouled Said, Ouled Belill, Hanencha, Merdés, all the inhabitants who live in the plains of Tebessa in Constantine and Hawwara Berber tribe in Aurès.[3]
In 1536, the Shabiya repelled a Turkish invasion near Kairouan and pursued them to Sousse, The Turks were busy with the Spanish so they left only a few corsairs in Kairouan which facilitated the victory of the Chabbia.
The Sultan Hafsid, Abu Abdallah Muhammad V al-Hasan tried to gather his army and his Christian auxiliaries and attacked Kairouan but the Shabiya defeated their army which caused his flight.
The Shabiya were after this incident in the same camp as the Turks but subsequently, between 1540 and 1546 the Shabiya and the Turks Dragut fought over territory in the Sahel, Tunisia. Before 1550, The Shabiya attacked the Turks of Mahdia, a missive from Louis Perez des Vargas send on February 18, 1548 to King of Spain, testifies to the rivalry between Sheikh Shabiya and the Turkish governor of the Sahel, Hassen Chelbi.[4]
In 1551, the Turkish corsair Dragut led an expedition against the shabiya in the city of Gafsa, The Turkish army was defeated by the Shabiya army of Mohamed bin Abi et- Tayeb and the attempt to conquer the city failed.
Later, Dragut had concluded an alliance guaranteeing protection to Shabiya against the Spanish Empire and the Hafsid, but one day he betrayed the shabiya and killed their leader Mohamed Abi et-Tayeb, the new leader Shabiya Abd es-Samed then immigrated to the Dreid in the province of Constantine and with their help he subdued the tribes on his borders like the Ouled Rezeg, Hemmama and Ouled manâ. Then he reformed the league with the Nemencha, Henanecha and Harakta. Thanks to this league, he returned to the throne in Kairouan and could once again have control of Ifriqiya.[5]
at that time, in south of Constantine, it was the Douaouda tribe which was headed by the feudal tribe of Banu Okkaz who had possession of the plains of Constantine, The Shabiya had taken advantage of the immigration of the majority of this tribe towards the south to push back the Oulad Soula one of the tribes belonging to the Banu Okkaz who was in Constantine, which gave rise to a great battle between the Chabbia and the Douaouda south of Sétif in Ksar Teïr but the outcome of this battle was decided by a Status quo ante bellum and the two tribes join forces to fight the Turks. They defeated the Turks and pushed them back to the outskirts of Béja, The Shabiya continued to devastate the Tunisian countryside until the Pasha of Tunis was forced to sign peace with them by ceding part of its territory.[6]
Around 1573, the Turks tried to surprise the Shabiya at Aïn Charbou, but Abd es-Samed and his troops managed to resist the Turks.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Mercier, Ernest (1891). Histoire de l'Afrique septentrionale (Berbérie) depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'a la conquête français (1830) (in French). Leroux.
- ^ 1861. pp. 134–135.
- ^ 1861. p. 135.
- ^ المكتبة الوطنية (2022-11-01). les piscines romaines Gafsa. pp. 295–296.
- ^ Berberie Tome I. p. 107.
- ^ 1861. p. 143.
- ^ Castel, Pierre (1905). Tébessa : histoire et description d'un territoire algérien. Getty Research Institute. Paris: Henri Paulin et cie. p. 67.