The Talkata or Telkata constitute a branch of the sedentary faction of the Sanhaja in central Maghreb, with their stronghold being Titteri, during the Middle Ages. They played a prominent role in the history of the Muslim Maghreb and are the progenitors of the Zirid dynasties that ruled over central Maghreb, Ifriqiya, and Al-Andalus. The Telkata tribe went extinct during the French Invasion of Algeria.

The Talkata originate from the sedentary branch of the Sanhaja. The ethnonym "Sanhaja" refers to a grouping of Berber tribes that played a significant historical role during the medieval period. Dynastic powers emerging in the Maghreb and Andalusia evidenced the growing influence of several Sanhajan tribes, both sedentary in central Maghreb and nomadic in the Sahara, particularly during the era of the Zirid monarchy.

The Sanhadja were divided into two branches: the non-nomadic tribes, engaged in agriculture and herding, residing in the mountains of central Maghreb; and the nomadic tribes, represented by those inhabiting the Sahara. Ibn Khaldun enumerated nearly seventy branches, with one of the most significant being the Talkata, who occupied a portion of central Maghreb. Smaller groups were situated in the Atlantic plains of Morocco. However, none of these Sanhajan tribes wielded any political power, unlike the two others.

The ancestors of the Sanhaja, during the early Roman Empire, constituted a Maurean tribe in the Djebel Titteri (future stronghold of the Zirids) with a city known as Vsinazense. The name Vsinaza, documented in the early 3rd century in the region, is a toponym derived from Vsinazi These transcriptions refer to the same Berber name, that of the Iẓnagen.

According to Berber genealogists, the Sanhadja were one of the seven major branches descended from Burnis, the son of Barr. The Sanhaja, the Masufa (anciently Masofi), and the Lamadiya (anciently Lambdienses) were among the communities that formed the sedentary Sanhadja confederation during the Middle Ages. This significant tribal confederation was led from the 10th century onward by the Talkata branch.

Medieval genealogists provided often conflicting lineages. The most widespread, though not necessarily the most reliable, traces the lineage of the Talkâta back to the Himyarites. Ibn Khaldun describes the Telkata as descending from Telkat, the son of Kert, who is the son of Sanhaj. He identifies the main subdivisions as the Matennan, Ouennougha, Botuiya, Banu Mazghinna, Banu Uthman, and Banu Khalil.

The northern Sanhajan tribes inhabited the territories between the Ouarsenis, Titteri, and the southern Bibans The Talkata constitute the major Sanhajan tribe in central Maghreb in which they occupy a part of it.

They were mountain dwellers residing in the Tell Atlas south of Algiers in Titteri. According to Bouzid Aleya, who conducted a comprehensive study on the Sanhaja, the earliest Sanhajan groups mentioned in the early Middle Ages were situated in the eastern part of central Maghreb, specifically west of the Zab. The author distinguishes them from the nomadic Sanhaja of the Sahara. Within this sedentary group, the Talkata were established east of Tlemcen, in the regions of Algiers, Msila, Medea, and Béjaïa.