Banu Jami', was an Arab dynasty that ruled Gabes. Its emirate was established by Makki ibn Kamil al-Dahmani of the Banu Hilal. It fell at the hands of the Almohads in 1159.
Origin Kamil ibn Jami', father of the dynasty, was a member in al-Manaqisha clan, which he ruled as well, he was the son of Jami' ibn Dahman ibn Ali. The Dahmanids are a branch of Banu Yazid, from Banu Mirdas, from Banu Riyah, from Banu Hilal, who migrated to Ifriqiya in the 11th century.
History
Background Gabes was ruled since the Hilalian invasion by the Sanhaji Banu Walmuyah dynasty. In 1095, they were overthrown by the local population. The peoples then appointed Umar ibn al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, as their emir, but that didn't please his brother Tamim, Emir of Mehdia, who saw it as a challenge to his authority, so he invaded the city and deposed his brother. That only led to another revolt, and so Tamim had to give the city to the Hilalian Banu Zaghba tribe, which was expelled to south Ifriqiya by Riyah in 1075. Then, the Banu Riyah, led by Makki ibn Kamil, Emir of al-Manaqisha, descended on Gabes and expelled Zaghba, in which after that, Makki established himself as Emir of Gabes, and thus the Banu Jami' dynasty was established.
As for the year of Makki's ascent, it was not told by the medieval historians. Afifi Mahmoud and Najwan Abu Bakr place it between 1095 and 1097, while Muhammed al-Marzouki and Hadi Roger Idris and Khalid Abd al-Badi' place the event in 1096, on the basis that by the end of 1095 or the beginning of 1096, the revolt against the Zirids and Zaghba's temporar reign happened, and by the middle or the end of 1096, Makki ibn Kamil came and captured the city. Belguasem Jarad places it at 1097.
Makki ibn Kamil (1096-1106) During Makki's reign, Gabes became a refuge for all the opponents and enemies of the Badisid dynasty. After al-Muthanna ibn Tamim was removed from his position as crown prince in favor of his brother Yahya, and was also expelled from Mehdia because of showing signes of jealousy and envy towerds his brother, al-Muthanna went to Gabes, seeking the support of Banu Jami'. Makki welcomed al-Muthanna and treated him hospitably; al-Muthanna succeeded in persuading Makki to support him in attacking Sfax and Mehdia, and agreed to fund the campaign from his own money. Makki gatherd an army, and was joined by an Oghuz warlord known as Shah Malek, together with al-Muthanna, they marched on Sfax and attacked it. When Tamim heard of the rebellion, he sent an army to face the attackers, hearing so, al-Muthanna changed the plans and attacked the lightly defended Mehdia instead, but Yahya ibn Tamim repelled their attack, and the rebells retreated in defeat. Al-Muthanna’s funds and assets were subsequently lost, and he was unable to finance another attack; thus, his rebellion came to an end, and Makki returned to Gabes, making no further attempts to fight the Zirids. In 1099, Sfax fell to the Zirids, and Tamim was able to overthrow Hammou ibn Malil after 40 years of rivalry, Hammou took refuge in Gabes where he was welcomed and treated kindly, Hammou settled in Gabes and died there.
Like the year of his ascension, the year of Makki's death is debated, while Afifi and Marzouki place his death between 1101 and 1104, Makki propably died in 1106, as al-Tijani confirmed that Tamim ibn al-Mu'izz was still alive when Makki died, and inscriptions that confirm Makki's heir was ruling in 1106.
Rafi‘ ibn Makki (1106-?) After Makki's death, his son Rafi‘ succeeded him. Gabes flourished during Rafi's reign, Rafi‘ continued the construction of Qasr al-Arusayn, and laying the foundation for the Gabes fleet by starting the construction of a large ship; his tenure was also marked by friendly relations with Yahya ibn Tamim, the new Emir of Mehdia, who supported Rafi‘ and assisted him in building the vessel. But after Ali ibn Yahya succeeded him, the vessel turned from a symbol of peace to a symbol of hostility, because Ali didn't like any competition at sea, and sought to maintain the Zirid monopoly on maritime trade in Ifriqiya.
In 1117, Ali sent a fleet of 6 warships and 4 dromons to Gabes, to block Rafi's ship from leaving the port and seizing it if it tried. Afraid from the Zirid fleet, Rafi' sent a message to Roger II, Count of Sicily, telling him that he made the ship with the intention of using it to deliver a gift to him, and asked for his protection. Roger II accepted and sent a Norman fleet of 24 ships to defend Gabes. Accounts differ of what happened after that. According to Ibn al-Athir, the Zirid and Norman fleet arrived to Gabes at the same time, but Rafi' didn't join his allies, and when the Normans received nothing from him, they left, leaving the city under a Zirid siege that didn't last long, then was lifted and the Badisid fleet retreated. While according to al-Tijani, the Normans arrived first, and they were feasting in Gabes when the Zirid fleet arrived, and when the Normans attempted to board their ships, the Zirid fleet attacked them, killing many of them and capturing a large number of their vessels; After that, the Zirid fleet laid siege to Gabes, sabotaging its water tank, but because the siege was imposed only from the sea and not from the land, the Zirids failed to capture Gabes and were forced to withdraw before the onset of winter. Ibn Khaldun supports this account.
The accounts continue to differ on the next event of the war. According to al-Tijani and Ibn Idhari, Ali wanted to continue the war and started recruiting Arab tribes and preparing the fleet, and when Rafi' knew, he sent ambassadors to sue for peace, but Ali refused to negotiate, so Rafi' gathered an army and marched on Mehdia. While according to Ibn al-Athir and al-Nuwayri, Rafi' was the one who gathered the Arabs, and marched on Mahdia with a great Bedouin allegiance, claiming he arrived to declare obedience and make peace, but "His actions contradict his words", and Ali refused to believe him. Whether Rafi' was the one to continue the war or Ali, it's not certain, however, what happened subsequently is agreed upon, even if the details differ, and while al-Tijani mentions only that Rafi' was defeated by an attack from Ali ibn Yahya, the other historians give us a more detailed account. Two battles ensued, the first happened after the Zirid army attacked on the after-noun, pushing the Bedouins back, then the Zirid army attacked the Arab tents, causing the women there to scream out of fear, which inflamed the Bedouins jealousy, so they attacked the Zirid force and a battle happened until the sunset, in the end Rafi' and his allies were defeated. Rafi‘ faced an even greater crisis when three-fifths of the Arab troops in his army defected to the Zirids, with only Banu Dahman remaining truly loyal to him; in the second battle, the Zirid army attacked, and Rafi‘ suffered a crushing defeat.
Seeing that he couldn't capture Mahdia, Rafi' retreated at night to Kairouan, but its population closed the gates of their city at his, but after few days of fighting, Rafi' was able to capture the city, and before that, Rafi' was given Kairouan as a feudality by the sheikhs of Dahman. Ali sent his army to Kairouan, supported by Arab tribes which Ali paid, and after a battle or a siege, Rafi' was defeated and forced to leave towards Gabes. Following mediation by Maymun ibn Ziyad al-Sakhri, a peace treaty was signed between Banu Jami‘ and Banu Ziri, bringing the war to an end. It is unknown how Rafi' died or how his reign ended and when.
Rushaid ibn Kamil (?-1147)
Rushaid ibn Kamil, who ruled Gabes during the war, succeeded Rafi', who was his nephew (cousin or son in other accounts) after his death. During Rushaid's reign, Gabes saw peace and prosperity, as Rushaid confined his activities to organizing the emirate, as well as construction and development. He completed the construction of Qasr al-Arusayn,Al-Tijani concluded from his researched that the construction of Qasr al-Arusayn was begun by the Zirids, continued by Rafi‘ ibn Makki, and finally completed by Rushaid. Many modern scholars support this theory. and minted a currency for Gabes which was known as "al-Rashidiya"; Poets and writers came to Rushaid's court, including Ibn Hamdis who praised him. Rushaid pledged alligance to the Abbasid caliphate, inscribing the name of al-Muqtafi on the coin, and minting on the Sunni Almoravid style. It is possible that Maliki imams, like Abu al-Qasim Muhammed ibn Khalaf Allah "Ibn Mishkan", who was a student of al-Mazari and served as the Qadi of Gabes, convinced Rushaid to switch to the Abbasids instead of Fatimids. Rushaid himself played a role in restoring the Maliki Sunni Islam and abolishing Shi'ism. Rushaid died in 1147.
Muhammed ibn Rushaid (1147) After Rushaid died, his son Muhammad. The accounts on Muhammad's reign are heavily differed. According to Ibn Khaldun and al-Tijani, after Muhammed left the city for a military campaign, and left one his son with a person named Yusuf to rule the city during his absence. However, Yusuf staged a coup, expelled Muhammad's son, and seized domain over Gabes for himself, and pledged allegiance to Roger II, who rose that decade to become King of Sicily instead of a count. Nothing is mentioned about Muhammad ibn Rushaid after that. Ibn al-Athir tells a different story. According to his account, Rushaid's first-born and heir was a son named Muammar. But after Rushaid's death, a freed slave (Mawla) named Yusuf kicked Muammar out of the city, and appointed his younger brother Muhammad in his stead, then appointed himself as his regent. During his regency, Yusuf assaulted some ladies from his Muhammad's harem, one of them was a women from Banu Qurrah tribe, she told her brothers about the incident, and when they arrived to take her, he didn't allow them, with the pretext that she belonged to his master's harem. Banu Qurrah and Muammar ibn Rushaid went to al-Hasan ibn Ali, Emir of Ifriqiya, complaining against Yusuf. When al-Hasan sent to Yusuf a message about the complaints and asking him to let go of the women from Banu Qurrah, Yusuf responded with a threat that he will give the city to Roger II, and when al-Hasan started gathering an army to deal with Yusuf, he sent a message declaring obedience and asking for an appointment as governor of Gabes, like the one that was given to Rafi ibn Matrouh in Tripoli. Roger II responded positively, he sent to Yusuf the letter of appointment and the official clothes of office; Ibn Abi Dinar added that Roger honored him with Christian ceremonials and collected the taxes of Gabes from him. Nothing is mentioned about Muhammad after that.
Yusuf of Gabes (1147)