Hafsid dynasty (redirected from Kafsids)

Hafsid dynasty

(c. 13th–16th century) Berber dynasty. It was founded by a governor of the Almohad dynasty, Abu Zakariyya' Yahya, in north-central Africa c. 1229. His son Mustansir (r. 1249–77) enlarged the empire to its peak of power and prestige. It had trade relations with Italian, Spanish, and Provençal communities despite the fact that it also ran pirate operations in the Mediterranean Sea. It resisted periodic invasions by the Marinid dynasty. Dynastic struggles after 1452 weakened the Hafsids. Spanish and Turkish forces later competed for the Hafsid territory, and the Ottoman Empire incorporated its land into a province in 1574.