Gafsa

Gafsa was an oasis centre in the Tunisian Jerid, once ruled by the Banu al-Rand. In 1337 the Hafsid prince Ahmed governed the region for his family.

In 1344 a Hafsid army retook Gafsa from rebels, reflecting the unrest in the south. Its fifteenth-century kasbah stood on Byzantine foundations, while the oasis produced dates, henna and cotton. After the Ottoman conquest of 1574, Gafsa became a provincial garrison on the desert road.