According to the French historians
Emile Felix Gautier and
Gabriel Camps, Zenata tribes entered in
Morocco,
Algeria,
Tunisia from the east of Africa in pre-Islamic times and grouped themselves with the tribes of
Maghrawa,
Miknasa and
Banu Ifran etc....
According to Ibn Khaldoun, arabic historian of the 14th century, there were Zenata tribes dispatched in all North Africa (current Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania); Probably, some of them lived in current Sudan or Egypt.
According to Ibn Khaldoun, the Zenata are one of the main divisions of the medieval Berbers, along with Senhaja and Masmuda etc...He added that these tribes, traditionally nomads, were concentrated in Middle Maghreb (part of the current Algeria); it's why he called " Middle Maghreb " home of Zenata.
The hypothesis of Ibn Khaldoun about the origin of this Berber group or ethnicity is not widely accepted by the modern historians like Emile Felix Gautier or Gabriel Camps.
