Zīrī ibn Manād

Berber chief

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July 15, 2026

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Zīrī ibn Manād was a Berber chief of the Sanhaja confederation in North Africa. He rose to prominence in the Kabylie mountains of Algeria, where he established his capital at Ashīr. Zīrī ibn Manād became a key ally of the Fatimids, a Muslim dynasty that ruled from Ifriqiyyah (modern Tunisia and eastern Algeria). When the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz moved his capital to Cairo in 972, he appointed Zīrī ibn Manād's son, Yusuf Buluggin I ibn Zīrī, as governor of Ifriqiyyah. This marked the beginning of the Zīrid dynasty, which ruled over various regions of North Africa and Spain for centuries.12

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North Africa
The Fāṭimids and Zīrids
…Fāṭimids were loyally supported by Zīrī ibn Manād, chief of the Takalata branch of the Ṣanhājah confederation, to which the Kutāma Berbers belonged. The parts of the Maghrib that the Fāṭimids controlled therefore consisted only of the former province of Ifrīqiyyah, ruled before them by the Aghlabids.
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…Fāṭimids were loyally supported by Zīrī ibn Manād, chief of the Takalata branch of the Ṣanhājah confederation, to which the Kutāma Berbers belonged. The parts of the Maghrib that the Fāṭimids controlled therefore consisted only of the former province of Ifrīqiyyah, ruled before them by the Aghlabids.
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