In what is now Algeria, the Hammadid dynasty was first ruled by Hammad ibn Buluggin, who passed away in 1028. (1014–1028).

Al-Mansur ibn Buluggin (984–995), Hammad’s brother and the ruler of the Zirid dynasty in Ifriqiya, appointed Hammad as the governor of the central Maghreb upon the death of his father Buluggin ibn Ziri (grossly corresponding to the modern northern Algeria). He engaged the Zanata tribes, ultimately driving them into what is now Morocco. In the Hodna Mountains west of Setif, Hammad established the settlement of al-Qala (the Fortress) in 1007 and began a massive building program that featured a palace and mosque that quickly gained notoriety among his contemporaries.

Hammad’s power in the western Zirid realm grew as a result. He converted to Sunni Islam in 1014, proclaimed his independence from the Zirids, and acknowledged the Sunni Abbasids of Baghdad as the legitimate Caliphs (not the Shia Fatimids in Egypt, on whose behalf the Zirids ruled). Although there was originally hostility with the Zirids, they were compelled to reach a ceasefire in 1016, and in 1018 they recognized the Hammadids’ independence.

Qaid ibn Hammad (1028–1054), who succeeded Hammad, resumed diplomatic ties with the Fatimids.