Bordj Menaïel was founded by the Ottoman government of Algeria, most likely in the 16th century, to guard a route between Algiers and Constantine and to secure control of the Isser plain.[3] In the 18th century, its military role was superseded by the foundation of Bordj Sebaou further west, but it remained the residence of the Ottoman wakil administering the surrounding farmland.[4]
The French conquest reached the fort of Bordj Menaïel in 1844, when General Bugeaud took it. Afterwards, it initially became the residence of the aghas of the Iflissen Umellil.[5] In 1859, a French colony was created there by imperial decree, using 1718 hectares. It was enlarged through land expropriation in 1872 by Admiral de Gueydon, in the wake of the Mokrani Revolt.[6]