Kairouan

Kairouan, town located in north-central Tunisia. The town, one of the holy cities of Islam, lies on the Basse Steppe (Low Steppes), a semiarid alluvial plain southeast of the Central Tell. Tradition holds that the town was founded in 670 by ʿUqbah ibn Nāfiʿ (Sīdī ʿUqbah), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, on the site of the Byzantine fortress of Kamouinia. The town served as the camp from which the offensive was launched that resulted in the Islamic political and religious subjugation of the Maghrib (northwest Africa). It was chosen as the capital of the Maghrib by the first Aghlabid ruler about 800. The Maliki school of Islam emerged there, as clerics challenged the personal and political excesses of the Aghlabid emirs. Subsequently, the town served (with Mahdia [Al-Mahdiyyah]) as the political centre through the Fāṭimid and Zīrid dynasties into the 11th century, becoming one of the great administrative, commercial, religious, and intellectual centres of Islam. It also served as the site of a famous medical research centre for both Jews and Muslims in the medieval period. As a result of Bedouin incursions in the 11th century, the decline of steppe cultivation in favour of nomadic life, and the rise of Tunis as capital, Kairouan declined into an isolated market town for nomads.

Modern Kairouan trades in grain and livestock that are raised in the surrounding region, and it is an important carpet and handicrafts centre. The town has expanded rapidly with the establishment of a university and some light industry. Tourism has also begun to make an impact, notably fueling the conservation of the old city and the development of the town’s Musée d’Art Islamique. A road and railway link it with Sousse (Sūsah), 38 miles (61 km) to the east. Kairouan’s rampart-enclosed medina (75 acres [30 hectares]) contains the Great Mosque, with a 115-foot- (35-metre-) high minaret. Originally built by Sīdī ʿUqbah in the 7th century, the present mosque is the fifth mosque built on the site and dates from Aghlabid times. Outside the town is the zāwiyah (seat of a religious fraternity) of Sīdī Sahab, containing the tomb of one of the companions of Muhammad, and an Aghlabid reservoir, an open circular pool 420 feet (128 metres) in diameter dating from the 9th century. The old city of Kairouan was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. Pop. (2004) 117,903.