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Zawila (Banu Khattab Ibadi state)

918 – 1177
EmirateAfrica

An independent Ibadi Berber statelet centered on the trans-Saharan trade town of Zawila in the Fezzan (southwestern Libya), founded by the Banu Khattab dynasty after the Fatimid conquest ended the Rustamid Imamate in 909. Zawila grew wealthy as the northern terminus of a slave, salt and leather trade route running south to Lake Chad (Kanem) — prosperous enough that the Bab Zuwayla gate in Fatimid Cairo was named for soldiers recruited from the town.

Conquered in 1176/77 by the Armenian Mamluk warlord Sharaf al-Din Qaraqush, whose instability let the Kanem Empire seize the Fezzan by the end of the 12th century and shift the regional capital to Traghan.

Borders in 918 · drawn from 1 sourced border frame
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Further reading

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