Khalifa al-Zanati

Khalifa al-Zanati (Arabic: خليفة الزناتي) was the Berber king of Tunis and one of the main characters in the Bani Hilal epic. The epic says that during the siege of Bani Hilal to Tunis he asked their knights for duels every day and killed many of them, not even Abu Zayd al-Hilali was able to defeat him. His destiny was to be killed by Dhieb bin Ghanim who thrust spear into his eyes. The epic also says that one of the reasons of his defeat was the betrayal of his daughter Sadaa who fell in love with Maree, one of the Hilalian princes who were captive in her fathers prison.