History of Algeria

Surrounded by Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Western Sahara, Algeria is roughly Texas size. Among Arabs and Africans, this is the biggest country.

Prehistory

People started to settle in Algeria some two hundred thousand years ago. At different times in Algerian history, Arabs, Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, and Byzantines have all been allowed into that nation.

Numidia 

Numidia, an ancient Berber state, lay in Algeria and several surrounding nations. It was significant for North African history between the third and first centuries BCE. Skilled farmers and riders, Berber tribes established the kingdom. Numidia also gained notoriety for its political and other ties to massive empires like Carthage and Rome. 

Arrival of Islam 

Following their conquest of Algeria, Arab Muslims came into Islam and settled there in the seventh century. For the native people, who largely practiced the ancient Berber religions, it was a major social change. 

Ottoman Rule 

Algeria under Ottoman rule in the sixteenth century Algiers’ Regency was founded by the Ottomans as the basis for Ottoman North African territory. Many Algerians converted to Moslems at this period, and Arabic became their language.

Roman Empire 

Before Islam arrived under Ottoman control, Algeria was a significant component of the Roman Empire. Following their Punic Wars victory over the Carthaginians, the Romans came to rule North Africa—what modern Algeria consists of. Much of the area had been under the Roman Empire by 46 BCE as the province of Africa Proconsularis.

 Romans brought urbanity through aqueducts, constructed roads, and cities like Timgad and Djemila, now UNESCO World Heritage sites. Roman control also cremated the area to Christianity, but Islam soon overlapped it.

Medieval Muslim Algeria 

With the arrival of Islam, Algeria underwent a significant political and cultural change in the 7th century. Arab troops brought the new religion; they rapidly arrived at the Berber indigenous population and Islamized the region. During the Middle Ages, Algeria was part of a succession of consecutive Muslim kingdoms: Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, and Berber-based Zirids and Almohads. Their passing began an Islamic cultural legacy in the area connected to the region's architecture, commerce routes, and intellectual life but promoted by these kingdoms. The important city of trade and the seat of scholarship, Algiers, Constantine, and Tlemcen's influence extended to Southern Europe and beyond in the Islamic world.

Berber dynasties

Berber dynasties could shape vast areas and establish their strong states, therefore helping to shape the history of North Africa. Founded in the eleventh century were the Almoravids. They left a long legacy in Islamic Spain by uniting most of the Maghreb and, in many cases, beyond into Al-Andalus. 

Following them and growing, the Almohads solidified, enhanced Berber dominance, and created a rich, sophisticated intellectual and cultural milieu that yielded mathematical, philosophical, and architectural triumphs. The Berber customs kept by the Marinid and Zayyanid dynasties occasionally changed, responding creatively to nearby areas.  

Maghrawa Dynasty 

Among the strongest of the Berber kingdoms, the Maghrawa dynasty profoundly affected the history of Maghreb. Originally part of the Zenata Berber confederation, the Maghrawa fully fledged first in the 10th century and initially ruled areas of modern Algeria and Morocco. Renowned for their ties to the Ummayyads of Córdoba or, subsequently, their allies, the Fatmids, the Maghrawa negotiated the complex political maelstrom of the area. 

Zirid Dynasty  

Established by the Banu Ifran Berber tribe in the tenth century, the Zirid dynasty held immense might over North Africa.  Originally from Tunisia nowadays, their stronghold would also include Algeria and other areas of modern Libya.  Using what would have been crack soldiers, zirids were subordinates of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Fatimid Empire, therefore establishing control over trade routes and vital cities.  

Hammadid Dynasty 

Eventually, it also developed into the Hammadid Dynasty. Hamad ibn Buluggin formed the Hammadids, members of a branch of the Zirid Dynasty, declaring their independence from this dynasty in 1014. About Qal'at Bani Hammad, they found their power in the city with its architectural beauty and a strategic location in the Maghreb with a good reputation. Aiming to enhance regional trade and cultural development, the Hammadid Dynasty endured longer than its forebears. However, they also faced challenges from competing dynasties and internal struggle and finally fell to be absorbed into the expanding Almohad Empire during the 12th century. 

Almohad Caliphate

Starting under a Berber ruler in the early 12th century, the Almohad Caliphate was a low period in North African history.  Taking capturing Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Spain, the Almohads established a Muslim state. They zealously fostered intellectual curiosity and education, and Marrakesh's capital developed into an artistic, literary, and scientific hive. Many outstanding architectural monuments were raised in North Africa and Al-Andalus under their control. 

Origins

The ideas of the Berber leader Ibn Tumart, who advocated a puritanical kind of Islam and unity under the same religious and political philosophy, affected the Almohad movement. Like the Almohads, the retrieval saw reformists and revivalists of Islamic society in the vicinities of simplicity. Strongly anti-colonial in language, they attracted support from underprivileged groups in North Africa as they became robust.

Legacy 

Unlikely to have governed for over a few decades, the Almohad Caliphate significantly impacted North Africa's future. If their architectural legacy has been limited to a few surviving magnificent buildings that can be appreciated for their unique Andalusian, Berber, and Arabic styles, their attitude on education and intellectually related matters advanced the advancements in a few circles, for example, philosophy, arithmetic, and medication. The Almohad Caliphate, a massive power we can still sense in modern laws and customs as well as in the cultural and political identity of North Africa and the surrounding areas, played another crucial part in forming these identities. 

Zayyanid Dynasty 

Living first in what is now Algeria and some of Tunisia, the Berber tribe established the Zayyanid Empire.  Rising to be a potent force in the 13th century, they toppled the Almohad Caliphate and controlled major cities such as Tlemcen, Constantine, and Algiers. Still, the Zayyanids supported research cultural interchange and made unique contributions to architecture and literature. 

Merinid Dynasty

The Merinid dynasty was also a Berber kingdom spanning centuries over North Africa. Founded by the Marinid tribe, who lived in what is now Morocco, Rising to authority in the 13th century, they expanded their influence over most of the Maghreb, including portions of Algeria, Tunisia, and Spain. Renowned artists and architects, the Merinids built Fes, their capital city, a significant hub of Islamic knowledge and creative inspiration. Like many dynasties before them, however, they were finally toppled by internal power conflicts and outside invasions by surrounding kingdoms. 

French Colonization

France colonized Algeria in the 19th century and ruled over the territory for almost 130 years. These were the years the Algerian people battled French control on their path to independence. The French mistreated Algerian people with prejudice and used their resources at that period. Notable Algerians such as Emir Abdelkader and Ahmed Bey joined many others to start a revolution. Still, Algeria would only count its freedom from France in 1962.

Regency of Algiers 

Originally founded at the start of the 16th century, the Regency of Algiers was the forerunner of French colonialism in an Ottoman region. It was run under Ottoman suzerainty, under a dynasty of Ottoman administrators known as days, and possessed semi-autonomous state status. Prominent for Mediterranean trade, the regency was well-known for its strong navy, which engaged in privateering and piracy. The area's stability was brought about throughout this age, although it also saw wars involving European states and internal conflicts for dominance. Ottoman authority declined; Europe grew more potent until the French invaded Algeria in 1830, terminating the Regency of Algiers.

Political Turmoil (1659-1713) 

The Regency of Algiers saw particularly severe political unrest from 1659 to 1713. The region's governance was often split into factional rivalries among the Janissaries, tribal leaders, and Corsaire captains. As power generally lay with local military leaders the days, who had a significant influence, Ottoman-appointed governors, or pashas, had severe difficulty maintaining control in the region. These inside conflicts undermined the central power, and lawlessness periods and vulnerability to the most outside threats resulted. Notwithstanding all this, Algiers remained a major Mediterranean commerce and privateering actor during the stormy age and preserved its economic survival. North Africa has, nevertheless, generally a history of several kingdoms, empires, and colonial powers. North Africa has been resilient, from Islamic caliphates to ancient civilizations like Egypt and Carthage, modern countries, and a historically rich area with a large culture and legacy.

After Bouteflika (2019-2024)

Abdelaziz Bouteflika's 2019 retirement made Algerian history. Still, the Hirak Movement—which had mostly driven the campaign for Bouteflika's exit—supported general political and economic transformation. Fixing such issues as corruption, generating more employment, and diversifying the economy from its dependence on oil and gas took the front stage. Although there was uneven progress, new leadership was rebuilding confidence, and modernizing the ingrained institutional changes proved difficult. Indeed, the years following Bouteflika highlighted the challenges of guiding toward a more open and democratically inclusive governance vision in a nation acclimated to decades of political rule.

Independent Algeria 

Algeria had to rebuild and come to define itself as a people after winning freedom. The first president of the country, Ahmed Ben Bella concentrated on social and economic transformation designed to help the Algerian people. Demand for democratic changes set Algeria's political and social scene ablaze in the late 1980s. Over the almost ten-year civil struggle this brought about, thousands of people perished.  Arabs, Berbers, and other ethnic groups are part of Algeria's multiethnic republic. Among the plenty of natural resources the country possesses to boost its economy are oil and gas.