Ikjan

Ikjan served as the capital of the Kutama during the time of Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i, the Shiite preacher who was the source of Fatimid power in the Maghreb.[1]

Having skillfully won the confidence and admiration of the notables Kutama on pilgrimage to the Mecca, he agreed to travel to their country and, in 893, settled in Ikjan, in the vicinity of Arbaoun (ex-Chevreul). The place was considered impregnable. This judgment of Ch.A. Julien seems exaggerated, but it is true that the attempts of the Aghlabid armies against the stronghold of the Kutama completely failed.

Despite the hostility of some Amγars, Abu Abdullah succeeded in maintaining a strong unity among these fanaticized people through his teaching and the exposition of Shiite doctrine. The Ketama army captured Mila in 902 but, defeated in the battle against the troops of the Aghlabid Emir, it escaped disaster when, in winter, Babor and the neighboring massifs were covered in snow.

In the following years, the Fatimid cause won the day for good. The Ketama retake Mila and then successively seize Sétif, Tobna and Bélezma during the years 904–905. The conquest ended in March 909: the Fatimid troops became mistresses of Raqqada, the last Aghlabid capital. Ikjan could have succeeded him, especially since the mountain village remained the center of Ketama power, but the memory of Ikjan was already fading while the Fatimid sultan 'Ubayd Allah established his capital, Mahdiya, on the coast of Sahel ifriqiyen, attentive to the affairs of the East, the new city turned its back on the Maghreb.[2][3][4][5][6][7]