The Aghlabids were an Arab Dynasty of Emirs that ruled Ifriqya, a historical region consisting of Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria and parts of Southern Italy and Sicily, for about a century beginning in 800 CE. The Aghlabids gained power when Ibrahim al-Aghlab was appointed Emir of the region. Under Aghlabid rule, Ifriqya became the first autonomous state in the Abbasid Caliphate. The capital of Ifriqya was in the present-day Tunisian city of Kairouan, which became the most important center of academics in the Maghreb under Aghlabid rule. Aghlabid rule over Ifriqya ended around 900 CE when the Fatimids came to power. Thank you to Kirsten Mullin for this article.