The Sanhaja Berbers had spread out, after the arrival of Islam, to the borders of the historic Sudan as far as the Senegal River and the Niger.
From the ninth century, Sanhaja tribes were established in the Middle Atlas range, in the Rif Mountains and on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
A part of the Sanhaja, such as the Kutama, settled in central/eastern Algeria and northern Niger.
They have played an important part in the rise of the Fatimids.
Ziri ibn Manad is a clan leader of the Berber Sanhaja tribe who, as an ally of the Fatimids, defeats the rebellion of Abu Yazid (943–947).
His reward is the governorship of the western provinces, an area that roughly corresponds with modern Algeria north of the Sahara.
Ziri has the gubernatorial residence of Ashir built southeast of the future site of Algiers, in which endeavor he is supported by the Fatimids with craftsmen and architects.
