Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II

Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II (Arabic: أبو فارس عبد العزيز المتوكل) (reigned 1394–1434) was a Hafsid Caliph of Ifriqiya.

Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II
Caliph of the Hafsid Sultanate
Reign	June 1394 – July 1434
Predecessor	Ahmad II
Successor	Muhammad III
Born	1361
Died	July 1434 (aged 72–73) Tlemcen
Dynasty	Hafsids
Religion	Islam

Life

He proceeded to further consolidate the kingdom after his father Abu al-Abbas Ahmad II had restored its integrity. A strong monarch and an orthodox Muslim he abolished some taxes he deemed incompatible with the teachings of Qur'an, using instead privateer actions against Christian shipping as a way to raise state income. He intervened against his western neighbors, the Zayyanid dynasty of the Kingdom of Tlemcen, and in Andalusia as well.

military career

Beginning in 1404, he launched a military campaign in Libya, focusing on the Nafusa Mountains. Two years later, the campaign continued with the conquest of Derj and the launch of a Hafsid invasion of Ghadames. In the following year, he captured Matmata, and by 1410, he had brought the region of Nefzaoua under Hafsid control.^[1]

In 1413, they succeeded in conquering Algiers, which enabled them, from 1415 onward, to gain access to the Strait of Gibraltar, where they engaged in multiple naval battles against Portuguese fleets.^[2]

In 1431, he launched a military expedition against Tlemcen, during which he captured the local leader, Abou Abdallah Mohamed. He then undertook a campaign into Morocco, but the expedition ended in failure, and he returned to Tunis. ^[3]

Ultimately, he was the one who completed the reunification of Ifriqiya under Hafsid authority. He brought several previously independent Arab dynasties under Hafsid control, including those ruling Béjaïa, Constantine, Tripoli, Gafsa, Tozeur, and Biskra.^[4]