The Kutama (Berber: Ikutamen; Arabic: كتامة) were a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form Koidamousii by the Greek geographer Ptolemy.[1]
The Kutama played a pivotal role in establishing the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), forming the bulk of the Fatimid army which eventually overthrew the Aghlabids who controlled Ifriqiya, and which then went on to conquer Egypt, Sudan,[2] Hijaz and the southern Levant in 969–975. The Kutama remained one of the mainstays of the Fatimid army until well into the 11th century.