The Sheikhdom of Atlas Mountains (c. 1260-), abbrheviated as Atlas Mnt in medieval sources, was a Berber realm in North Africa, located in present-day Algeria.
History[]
The location of the Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains stretch from Morocco to Tunisia, and are inhabited mostly by the rural Berbers, who lived in small villages and used to take part in the Trans-Saharan Trade. In the mid-13th century, a sheikhdom led by the Tudjinids flourished in the Algerian portion of the mountains, bordering the Zayanids and the Hafsids. The sheikhdom broke away from the Zayanids and became its own nation, ruled by the Sunni Muslim Berber Tudjinid dynasty.
Its ruler Sheikh Muhammad of Atlas Mountains partook in Caliph al-Mustansir II's jihad against the Ilkhanate in 1261, and his army accompanied the forces of the Abbasid Beylerbeylik and the Bektashi Order into the Middle East. At the Battle of Takht e-Soleyman on 25 December 1261, the Muslim army was wiped out, and several Tunisian soldiers were killed in the battle against the Mongols.