The Miknasa Berbers historically populated the
Aurès and are part of the Dharisa tribe belonging to Botr who descended from Madghis, coming from the Aures mountains in Algeria.[2][3][4][5] The Aures and the regions north of it were traditionally the home of the Miknasa, they were also mentioned to have been situated there by Ibn Khaldun, Al Yaqubi and Al Bakri at the time of the foundation of
Tahert.[6] In antiquity Ptolomey referred to three groups whom had inhabited a certain mountain range which can now be identified as the
Ouarsenis, one of these three peoples were the Μυκίνοι whom were most likely the Miknasa, Edrisi had also mentioned the Miknasa as one of the tribes that inhabited the Ouarsenis.[7]
The modern Moroccan city of
Meknes, which took its name from them,[8] bears witness to their presence, as does the Spanish town of
Mequinenza.[9]
Another group of the Miknasa took part in the successful massive
Berber Revolt led by
Maysara al-Matghari in 739–742 against the Umayyad Arabs, and managed to wipe out the Umayyad Arab presence in Morocco and Algeria.[12] The Berber principality Banu Midrar is named after Abul-Qasim Samku ibn Wasul, nicknamed Midrar, a Miknasa Berber who was said to take part in the Berber Revolt.[12] The principality of the Banu Midrar was founded by Miknasa who came from the
Aures massif, and at the time were nomads south of
Tiaret.[13][14] The Miknasa adopted
Kharijism-Islam and established the
Emirate of
Sijilmasa, under the Midrarid dynasty, on the northern edge of the
Sahara in 757.[15][16] This became very wealthy as the western end-point of the
Trans-Saharan trade route with the
Sudan.[17] In alliance with the
Caliphate of Córdoba, it was able to fight off the attacks of the
Fatimids. However, when the Miknasa chief Al-Mutazz allied himself with the Fatimids, the Miknasa were driven out of Sijilmasa by the
Maghrawa, who were allies of the
Umayyads.[citation needed]
A further group of Miknasa were allied with the Fatimids against the Umayyads, and overthrew the
Rustamids of
Tahert in 912 and drove the
Salihids from northern Morocco in 917.[18][19][20] But they could not maintain their resistance to the Magrawa in northern Morocco permanently, and, weakened by the struggle, they were subdued by the
Almoravids in the 11th century.[21]
^Zerouki, Brahim.
L'Imamat de Tahart: Histoire politico-socio-religieuse. France: L'Harmattan, 1987.”Les Miknassa, traditionnellement, avaient pour demeure les Awras ainsi que la région située au nord de ces montagnes (228). Ils y sont en effet signalés par Ibn Haldun (229) qui situe son propos au moment des bouleversements qui provoquèrent la fondation de Tahart, ainsi que par Al Ya'qubi (230) ainsi que par Al Bakri (231)”