The medieval Berber capital of Achir in the Titteri Mountains

Achir, also known as Ashir, is a medieval Amazigh city in Algeria that served as the first capital of the Berber dynasty of the Zirids. It was located in the Titteri Mountains at an altitude of 4,593 feet in the current Algerian commune of Kef Lakhdar. During the 10th and 11th centuries, the city functioned under Fatimid suzerainty and was situated on a natural border between the western Tell plains and the eastern Kabyle mountains.

The city's importance grew because it commanded the road climbing from the coast and watched over the nomads of the plain. Ziri ibn Menad, the founder of the Sanhaja dynasty, received encouragement from the Fatimid Caliph to build the capital between 935 and 936. He brought people from other towns to the site and surrounded the area with thick walls. Al Bakri reported that the city was a strong place, difficult to take and likely to discourage enemies, where only ten men were sufficient to defend it.

Achir was an intellectual center where scholars and scientists gathered, and Ziri minted coins in his name from this location. However, as the Zirids became masters of Ifriqiya, they eventually abandoned the city with regret, moving their families to a new capital. Archaeological excavations have identified two Zirid sites in the area, and French historian Georges Marçais noted that the remains reveal the progress of the dynasty's founder.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons