Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached Sijilmasa and the Moulouya River in the west, Tuat to the south and the Soummam in the east.

Although contemporary chroniclers asserted that they had a noble Arab origin, Ibn Zayyan reportedly spoke in Zenati dialect and denied the lineage that genealogists had attributed to him.

[17] Tlemcen was an important centre under the Almoravid dynasty and its successors the Almohad Caliphate, who began a new wall around the town in 1161.

[19] Yaghmurasen was able to maintain control over the rival Berber groups, and when faced with the outside threat of the Marinid dynasty, he formed an alliance with the Emir of Granada and the King of Castile, Alfonso X.

[26] Before his death he instructed his son and heir Uthman to remain on the defensive with the Marinid kingdom, but to expand into Hafsid territory if possible.

The city of Tlemcen was several times attacked or besieged by the Marinids, and large parts of the kingdom were occupied by them for several decades in the fourteenth century.

[9] Abu al-Hasan received delegates from Egypt, Granada, Tunis and Mali congratulating him on his victory, by which he had gained complete control of the trans-Saharan trade.

[32] However, Abu al-Hasan went too far in attempting to impose more authority over the Arab tribes, who revolted and in April 1348 defeated his army near Kairouan.

[34]: 141 The historian Ibn Khaldun lived in Tlemcen for a period during the generally prosperous reign of Abu Hammu Musa II, and helped him in negotiations with the nomadic Arabs.

He said of this period, "Here [in Tlemcen] science and arts developed with success; here were born scholars and outstanding men, whose glory penetrated into other countries."

[35] In the late 14th and the 15th centuries, the state was increasingly weak and became intermittently a vassal of Hafsid Tunisia, Marinid Morocco, or the Crown of Aragon.

Abu Tashufin sought refuge in Fez and enlisted the aid of the Marinids, who sent an army to occupy Tlemcen and reinstall him on the throne.

Abu Malek's Marinid puppet, Muhammad, was deposed and the Wattasids returned with Abd al-Haqq II to Fez, acknowledging Hafsid suzerainty.

[10]: 287 [37]: 47–49  The Zayyanids remained vassals of the Hafsids until the end of the 15th century, when the Spanish expansion along the coast weakened the rule of both dynasties.

[34]: 141 By the end of the 15th century the Crown of Aragon had gained effective political control, intervening in the dynastic disputes of the amirs of Tlemcen, whose authority had shrunk to the town and its immediate neighbourship.

[39] The failure of the kingdom to become a powerful state can be explained by the lack of geographical or cultural unity, the constant internal disputes and the reliance on irregular Arab nomads for the military.

[3] The city of Tlemcen displaced Tahert (Tiaret) as the main trading hub in the central Maghreb, lying on the west–east route between Fez and Ifriqiya.

The city was directly linked to Sijilmasa, which served as the main northern hub for the trade routes that crossed the desert to the Western Sudanese markets.

[41] In particular, Tlemcen was one of the points through which African gold (arriving from south of the Sahara via Sijilmasa or Taghaza) entered the European hands.

[42] Tlemcen housed several well-known madrasas and numerous wealthy religious foundations, becoming the principal intellectual centre of the central Maghreb.

[48][49][27]: 42, 179  Both minarets are made of brick and stone and feature sebka relief decoration similar to the earlier Almohad-built Kasbah Mosque of Marrakesh.

[27]: 179  Yaghmurasan is also credited with rebuilding or expanding the mosque's courtyard and adding another ornamental ribbed dome to its prayer hall.

Yaghmurasan developed this into a fortified palatial complex known as the Meshouar (or Mechouar; Arabic: قلعة المشور, romanized: Qal'at al-Mashwār) to which his successors added.

[47]: 137 [51]: 223  Few remains from the Zayyanid period have survived today, but historical sources and archeological excavations have demonstrated the existence of several palaces and residences during that time.

Most of the palaces took the form of courtyard buildings, often with a fountain or water basin at their center, gardens, and rich decoration including zellij and carved stucco.

[47]: 145  After this, the royal necropolis was moved by Abu Hammu II to a new religious complex which he erected in 1361–1362 next to the qubba (mausoleum) of a Muslim saint known as Sidi Brahim.