The Sulaymanid dynasty () was an Arab Muslim dynasty in present-day western Algeria, ruling from 814 to 922. The dynasty is named after the founder, Sulyaman I, who was the brother of Idris I, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty based in Fez (present-day Morocco). Both Sulayman and Idris, as great-grandchildren of Hasan ibn Ali, were sharifs descended from Muhammad.
The history of the SulaymÃÂnid dynasty is poorly understood and historians have few chronological benchmarks. It begins according to Ibn Khaldà «n with the flight of SulaymÃÂn Ibn ÿAbd AllÃÂh al-KÃÂmil towards the Maghreb after the Battle of Fakhkh in 786, then its takeover of Tlemcen then in the hand of the Zenata, (in the northwest of present-day Algeria). But not all Arab chroniclers agree that this brother of Idrës I survived the massacre or that he does not owe him the governorate of the city.
According to Ibn Khaldun, Sulayman I reached Tlemcen after the assassination of his brother Idris I in 791 and took control of it. But according to Ibn Idhari and Al-Bakri, he settled in Tlemcen while his brother was alive and probably with his approval.
It seems better supported that Idrës II, the son of Idrës I, conquered around 814 Tlemcen, a city then probably with a strong Christian population, a meeting point of the Berber populations and a meeting place of the markets, by putting on the run its Maghrawa ruler, Muḥammad Ibn Hñazar. He would then have handed the city over to his cousin Muḥammad, the son of SulaymÃÂn, who thereby founded the SulaymÃÂnid dynasty. In 828, Muḥammad Ibn Idrës II erected the government of Muḥammad Ibn SulaymÃÂn as a viceroyalty.
According to historian Gilbert Meynier, Mà «á¸¥ÃÂmmÃÂd Ibn Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn created in the region of Tlemcen the "Sulaymanid kingdom", a state which seemed to control only the cities, coexisting with the neighboring tribes which preserved their Kharidjite heterodoxy. Tlemcen (then called Agadir) became a distinguished city, in growing connection with the Arab culture of Al-Andalus. In 931, the Fatimids took the city and put an end to the power of the Sulaymanids, who took refuge in Al-Andalus.
According to Ibn Khaldà «n in his appendix IV, Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn I (Sëd Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn Ibn âÂÂAbd Allah al-KÃÂmël) escaped towards the Maghreb during the early Abbasid period, arriving at Tiaret after the death of his brother Idris I, and wanted to take power. However, the Berbers resisted threats from Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn and the Banu Tamim of the Arab Aghlabid dynasty ordered his arrest. Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn went to Tlemcen and became master of all the Zeneta tribes of this locality. His son Mà «hÃÂmmÃÂd Ibn Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn succeeded him and his children shared all of the central Maghreb after the death of Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn.
The sons of Mà «hÃÂmmÃÂd Ibn Sà «laymÃÂn shared all of the central Maghreb (present-day Algeria) after the death of their father. The government of Tlemcen was under the responsibility of AḥmÃÂd, son of Mà «á¸¥ÃÂmmÃÂd, then of Mà «á¸¥ÃÂmmÃÂd, son of AḥmÃÂd, and then of his son Al-Qassim. âÂÂAyssÃÂ, son of Mà «hÃÂmmÃÂd, obtained the town of Arshgul (town and island at Tafna, a river eight leagues from Tlemcen) and joined forces with the Fatimids. âÂÂAysÃÂ's brother Idris became ruler of the territories of the Dejrawa. His son Abû'l âÂÂAysh Ibn Aysàsucceeded him. After the death of Abu'l âÂÂAysh AyssÃÂ, Al Hasen b. Abu'l âÂÂAysh took power among the Dejrawas. After that, it was Ibrahim's turn and then that of his sons: Yahya, Ibrahim and Idris. Idris received Arshgul, on the other hand, his brother Yahya joined forces with the Umayyads of Cordoba in the time of Abd al-Rahman III. This provoked the Fatimids in 935. Yahya was arrested by general Mansur.
The city of the Dejrawas sheltered Al-HÃÂsÃÂn Ibn Abû'l âÂÂAysh and was besieged and taken by Ibn Abû'lâ Afya, representative of the Umayyads in the central Maghreb. Al-HÃÂsÃÂn then escaped to join his cousin Idris, son of Ibrahim, chief of Arshgul. Al-Buri, son of Mà «sàIbn Abû'l âÂÂAfya later took the city.
Ténès (in present-day Chlef Province in Algeria) was the seat of Ibrahim, son of Mà «á¸¥ÃÂmmÃÂd, then came into the hands of his son Mà «á¸¥ÃÂmmÃÂd, of the same name, then to Ibrahim (again of the same name), then to Yahya and Ali. The latter was defeated by the Zirids during the reign of Ziri ibn Manad in 953. Ali then took refuge with the Maghrawas. Al Kheyr Ibn Mà «hÃÂmmÃÂd Ibn Khazer of the Maghrawa helped Hamza and Yahya, son of Ali, to cross to the Iberian Peninsula.
Ahmed, son of Sulayman, son of Ibrahim, was a ruler of the central Maghreb. Among the descendants of Mà «hÃÂmmÃÂd, son of Sulayman, was Ituwish, son of Hatesh, son of Al Hassan, son of Muhammed, son of Sulayman, and Hammad, son of Ali, son of Mà «hÃÂmmÃÂd, son of Sulayman.
Ibn Khaldun noted that, according to Ibn Hazm, Suk Hamza at Bougie did not bear the name of an Idrisid but of a Sulaymanid. He adds that Jawhar al-Siqilli, the Fatimid general, took Hamza's sons to Kairouan in present-day Tunisia.
The family of Idris, which included Sulayman I, have been described as a Zaydi Shia Muslim dynasty, while other academics have described the Idrisids as Sunni Muslims. Cornell noted that the Idrisids brought with them to the western Maghreb from the Arabian Peninsula a form of archaic Shi'ism that was very similar to Zaydism. They were opponents of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Coins of the Sulaymanids minted at Souk Ibrahim and Ténès have been found. Until recently the coins of Mà «á¸¥ÃÂmmÃÂd Ibn Sà «lÃÂymÃÂn, the founder of the line and his great grandson AḥmÃÂd Ibn âÂÂIsàwere known only. The signatures struck ë MÃÂdënÃÂt êbrÃÂhëm Ibn Mà «á¸¥ÃÂmmÃÂd û, ë MÃÂdënÃÂt âÂÂIsàIbn IbrÃÂhëm and MÃÂdënÃÂt al-QÃÂssëm Ibn âÂÂIsàû are all honorary titles of Suq Ibrahim, while Burjayn, a typing of Yahya Ibn Muhammad, could well be the pseudonym of Ténès.