Libya is made of three regions: Cyrenaica (Arabic pronunciation BARQAH) to the east,
Tripolitania (Arabic pronunciation TARABLUS) to the west, and Fezzan (Arabic pronunciation FAZZAN) to the south. Evans-Pritchard highlights the difference between Tripolitania where one Muslim faith united the Arab tribes, and Cyrenaica. The Sanusiya united and organised the Bedouin tribes in Cyrenaica, whereas in Tripolitania the tribesmen remained weaker and divided. This made the task of administering Tripolitania far easier for the Turks and later the Italians.
The choice of Cyrenaica was particularly significant. It had the right ingredients for the birth of nationhood through the growth of a politco-religious movement. It is cut off, composed of a homogeneous population, affiliated to a tightly knit tribal system, and ruled by one dominant religious Order. The leader of this order, Sayyid Muhammad Idris al-Mahdi al-Sanusi, became prince of this region in 1920.
Cyrenaica was colonised by the Greeks, the Ptolemies of Egypt, and the Romans. Arab armies under the leadership of 'Amr ibn al-'As conquered the country in 642. In the Middle Ages, Cyrenaica was ruled by a succession of Egyptian-based dynasties. The region, along with most of North Africa eventually came under the direct rule of the Ottoman Empire.
