Ziri ibn Mennad was a chief of the Takalata branch of the Sanhajah confederation, to which the Kutama Berbers belonged located in the Central Maghreb (Algeria).
[1] As an ally of the Fatimids, he assisted in the defeat of the rebellion of Abu Yazid (943–947) by Caliph al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah, and was rewarded with the governorship of the western provinces, an area that roughly corresponds with modern Algeria north of the Sahara.
He summoned masons and joiners from M'sila and Tubna to build the fortress, which, once finished, was filled with scholars, merchants and lawyers.
[2] His son Buluggin ibn Ziri founded the cities of Algiers, Miliana and Médéa (Lamdiya), and rebuilt the settlements destroyed in the revolt.
[6] He was succeeded as governor by his son Buluggin ibn Ziri, who in 972 became Viceroy of Ifriqiya (972–984) when the Fatimids transferred their court to Egypt.