When did Barghawata exist?

Barghawata existed 744 – 1058. On this map it is drawn AD 793–1065.

How large was Barghawata?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Barghawata covered about 38,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Africa · Islam and the Maghreb

Barghawata

Confederation · 744 – 1058

The Barghawata (Buṛɣwaṭa) were a Berber tribal confederation — 29 tribes of the Masmuda family — that maintained an independent state along the Atlantic coast of present-day Morocco, in the Tamesna region between Safi and Salé, for over three centuries (744–1058). Their roots may reach back to the Baquates tribe known to the Romans near Volubilis.

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Type: Confederation
Existed: 744 – 1058
Shown on the map: AD 793–1065
Peak area: 38k km²
Region: Africa

Overview

History

The confederacy emerged from the Great Berber Revolt of 740–743 against the Umayyad Caliphate. Fired up by egalitarian Sufri Kharijite preaching, the Barghawata, Ghomara, and Miknasa tribes seized nearly all of Morocco and annihilated a Syrian Umayyad army at the Battle of Bagdoura (741). But the Barghawata soon fell out with the revolt's Zenata leadership and, having achieved their goal of freedom from Damascus, withdrew in 742–743 to Tamesna to found their own state under Tarif al-Matghari — abandoning Kharijism for something stranger.

Under Tarif's son Salih ibn Tarif, who declared himself a prophet, the Barghawata developed their own syncretic monotheistic religion: centered on the ancient Berber sky-god Yakush, it blended indigenous beliefs with Islam (acknowledging Muhammad among the prophets), featured a revealed scripture of 80 chapters recited in Berber, Berber-language prayer formulas, and distinctive laws — unlimited polygamy and divorce, prohibitions on eating eggs, animal heads, and unslaughtered fish, a blood-price of one hundred cows, and death for thieves and adulterers. Of the confederation's 29 tribes, 12 adopted this new faith while 17 remained Kharijite Muslims. Kings Ilyas (792–842), Yunus (842–888) — who made the new religion official by force — and their successors consolidated the kingdom, sent missions to neighboring tribes, and repelled incursions by both the Umayyads of Córdoba and the Fatimids.

Decline and legacy

From the 11th century, guerrilla war with the Banu Ifran weakened the confederacy, yet the Barghawata still fended off the rising Almoravids, killing their spiritual founder Abdallah ibn Yasin in battle in 1058. The state nonetheless collapsed around that time, and the Almohads eliminated the Barghawata as a religious and political group by 1149. They remain one of history's most curious experiments — a Berber "national religion" with its own prophet and scripture — and are cited by modern scholars as an early expression of Amazigh identity distinct from Arab-Islamic orthodoxy.

Common questions

What was Barghawata?: The Barghawata (Buṛɣwaṭa) were a Berber tribal confederation — 29 tribes of the Masmuda family — that maintained an independent state along the Atlantic coast of present-day Morocco, in the Tamesna region between Safi and Salé, for over three centuries (744–1058). Their roots may reach back to the Baquates tribe known to the Romans near Volubilis.
When did Barghawata exist?: Barghawata existed 744 – 1058. On this map it is drawn AD 793–1065.
How large was Barghawata?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Barghawata covered about 38,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled Barghawata?: The confederacy emerged from the Great Berber Revolt of 740–743 against the Umayyad Caliphate. Fired up by egalitarian Sufri Kharijite preaching, the Barghawata, Ghomara, and Miknasa tribes seized nearly all of Morocco and annihilated a Syrian Umayyad army at the Battle of Bagdoura (741).
How did Barghawata end?: From the 11th century, guerrilla war with the Banu Ifran weakened the confederacy, yet the Barghawata still fended off the rising Almoravids, killing their spiritual founder Abdallah ibn Yasin in battle in 1058. The state nonetheless collapsed around that time, and the Almohads eliminated the Barghawata as a religious and political group by 1149.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia – Barghawata en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barghawata

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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