Before the establishment of modern nation states in the region during the 20th century, the Maghreb most

commonly referred to a smaller area, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlas Mountains in the
south. It often also included the territory of eastern Libya, but not modern Mauritania. As recently as the
late 19th century, the term "Maghreb" was used to refer to the Western Mediterranean region of coastal
North Africa in general, and to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, in particular.[10]

During the rule of the Berber kingdom of Numidia, the region was somewhat unified as an independent
political entity. This period was followed by one of the Roman Empire's rule or influence. The Germanic
Vandals invaded after that, followed by the equally brief re-establishment of a weak Roman rule by the
Byzantine Empire. The Islamic Caliphates came to power under the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid
Caliphate and the Fatimid Caliphate. The most enduring rule was that of the local Berber empires of the
Ifranid dynasty(Also Called Emirate of Tlemcen with as leader abu qurra the berbers called him "caliph"
Ibn Khaldun explain it in his book kitab al ibar), Almoravid dynasty, Almohad Caliphate, Hammadid
dynasty, Zirid dynasty, Marinid dynasty, Zayyanid dynasty,Hafsid dynasty and Wattasid dynasty,
extending from the 8th to 13th centuries. The Ottoman Empire for a period also controlled parts of the
region.