Battle of the Nobles
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Nobles was an important confrontation in the Berber Revolt
in c. 740 CE. It resulted in a major Berber
victory over the Arab
s near Tangier
. During the battle, numerous Arab aristocrats were slaughtered, which led to the conflict being called the "Battle of the Nobles". Zenata Berber chieftain Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati
led the revolting Berber soldiers.
in the early eighth century was under Umayyad rule. The Berber Revolt
broke out in early 740 in western Morocco, in response to the oppressive, unfair (and, by Islamic law
, illegal) tax-collection and slave-tribute policies imposed upon Muslim Berbers by the governor Obeid Allah ibn el-Habhab of Kairouan
, governor of Ifriqiya
and overlord of the Maghreb
and al-Andalus
. The Berber rebellion was inspired by Kharijite activists of the Sufri
te sect, who held out the promise of a new puritan Islamic order, without ethnic or tribal discrimination, a prospect appealing to the long-suffering Berbers.
The revolt began under the leadership of the Berber chieftain (alleged water-carrier) Maysara al-Matghari
. The Berber rebels successfully seized Tangiers and much of the western Morocco by the late summer of 740.
The Berbers had timed their uprising carefully. The bulk of the Ifriqiyan army, under the command of the general Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri
, was at that moment overseas, on an expedition to conquer Sicily
. The governor Obeid Allah ibn el-Habhab immediately dispatched instructions ordering Habib to break off the expedition and ship the army back to Africa. But this would take time. So, in the meantime, Obeid Allah assembled a cavalry-heavy column composed of much of the aristocratic elite of Kairouan
, and placed it under the command of Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri
(probably Habib's brother
). This column was dispatched immediately on Tangiers and instructed to serve as the vanguard, to keep the Berber rebels in check, until the Sicilian expeditionary force disembarked and caught up with them. A second, smaller reserve army, under Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Mughira al-Adhari, was sent to Tlemcen
, and instructed to hold there, in case the Berber army should break through to Ifriqiya.
somewhere in the outskirts of Tangiers. After a brief skirmish, Maysara ordered the Berber armies to fall back. Rather than give pursuit, the Arab cavalry commander Khalid ibn Abi Habib held the line just south of Tangiers, blockading the Berber-held city while awaiting the reinforcements from the Sicilian expedition.
Regrouping after these skirmishes, the Berber rebels deposed and killed their leader, Maysara al-Matghari
and elected the Zenata
Berber chieftain, Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati
as the new Berber commander. The reasons for Maysara's fall are not altogether clear - possibly because his sudden cowardice shown before the Arab cavalry column proved him military unfit, possibly because the puritan Sufri
te preachers found a flaw in the piety of his character, or simply because the Zenata
tribal chieftains, being closer to the Ifriqiyan frontline, felt they should be the ones leading the rebellion.
The chronicler Ibn Khaldun
claims Khalid ibn Abi Obeida's encountered the Berber forces and held his position at the 'Shalif' river, which many commentators have taken to be the well-known Chelif river (Wadi ash-Shalif) in central Algeria
. However, it is highly improbable that the Berber rebel army would have been that far east by then. Modern historians have suggesed Ibn Khaldun or his transcribers made a mistake here. Julien (1961: p. 30) suggests Ibn Khaldun actually meant to say the Sebou river
, whose upper reaches would indeed appropriately place the Ifriqiyan column close to Tangiers. The chronicler En-Nuweri indeed reports the skirmish was outside the walls of Tangiers.
opted to immediately attack the Ifriqiyan army mulling around the 'Shalif' (or the outskirts of Tangiers) before the arrival of the reinforcements from Sicily. The Berber rebels under Khalid ibn Hamid overwhelmed and completely defeated the army of Khalid ibn Abi Habib, massacring the cream of the Ifriqiyan Arab nobility.
fell into a panic. Seeing Sufri
te preachers everywhere around the city, the troops launched a series of indiscriminate massacres, provoking a massive uprising in the hitherto-quiet city.
The Sicilian expeditionary army of Habib ibn Abi Obeida
arrived too late to prevent the massacre of the nobles. Realizing they were in no position to take on the Berbers by themselves, they retreated to Tlemcen
to gather the reserves, only to find that that city too was now in disarray and the troops killed or scattered.
Habib ibn Abi Obeida entrenched what remained of the Ifriqiyan army in the vicinity of Tlemcen
(perhaps as far back as Tahert
), and called upon Kairouan
for reinforcements. The request was forwarded to Damascus
.
Hearing of the defeat of the nobles, Caliph Hisham is said to have exclaimed "By God, I will most certainly rage against them with an Arab rage, and I will send against them an army whose beginning is where they are and whose end is where I am!" .
In February, 741, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham appointed Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi
to replace the disgraced Obeid Allah
as governor in Ifriqiya. Kulthum was to be accompanied by fresh Arab army of 30,000 raised from the Syrian regiments (junds) of the east. This would set up the even more momentous Battle of Bagdoura
in late 741.
Berber Revolt
The Great Berber Revolt of 739/740-743 AD took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate...
in c. 740 CE. It resulted in a major Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
victory over the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s near Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
. During the battle, numerous Arab aristocrats were slaughtered, which led to the conflict being called the "Battle of the Nobles". Zenata Berber chieftain Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati
Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati
Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati was a Zenata Berber chieftain and military commander during the Berber Revolt of the 740s against the Umayyads in the Maghreb....
led the revolting Berber soldiers.
Background
The MaghrebMaghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
in the early eighth century was under Umayyad rule. The Berber Revolt
Berber Revolt
The Great Berber Revolt of 739/740-743 AD took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate...
broke out in early 740 in western Morocco, in response to the oppressive, unfair (and, by Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
, illegal) tax-collection and slave-tribute policies imposed upon Muslim Berbers by the governor Obeid Allah ibn el-Habhab of Kairouan
Kairouan
Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...
, governor of Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya
In medieval history, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria. This area included what had been the Roman province of Africa, whose name it inherited....
and overlord of the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
and al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
. The Berber rebellion was inspired by Kharijite activists of the Sufri
Sufri
The Sufris were a Khariji sect of Islam that existed in the 7th and 8th centuries. They established the Midrarid state at Sijilmassa.In Algeria , the Banu Ifran were Sufri Berbers who opposed Umayyad, Abbasids and Fatimid rule, most notably under resistance movements led by Abu Qurra and Abu...
te sect, who held out the promise of a new puritan Islamic order, without ethnic or tribal discrimination, a prospect appealing to the long-suffering Berbers.
The revolt began under the leadership of the Berber chieftain (alleged water-carrier) Maysara al-Matghari
Maysara al-Matghari
Maysara , oft-surnamed al-Matghari or, in older arab sources, el-Hakir was a Berber rebel leader and original architect of the Great Berber Revolt that erupted in 739-40, until his deposition and death in the middle of 740.-Background:The exact biographical details of Maysara are...
. The Berber rebels successfully seized Tangiers and much of the western Morocco by the late summer of 740.
The Berbers had timed their uprising carefully. The bulk of the Ifriqiyan army, under the command of the general Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri
Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri
Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri was an Arab military commander of the illustrious Fihrid family who played an important role in the early history of Ifriqiya and al-Andalus .-Biography:...
, was at that moment overseas, on an expedition to conquer Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. The governor Obeid Allah ibn el-Habhab immediately dispatched instructions ordering Habib to break off the expedition and ship the army back to Africa. But this would take time. So, in the meantime, Obeid Allah assembled a cavalry-heavy column composed of much of the aristocratic elite of Kairouan
Kairouan
Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...
, and placed it under the command of Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri
Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri
Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri was an Arab military commander in North Africa during the Berber Revolt, who led the Arab army that was defeated at the Battle of the Nobles in late 740....
(probably Habib's brother
Fihrids
The Fihrids were an illustrious Arab family and clan, prominent in North Africa and Muslim Iberia during the 8th century.The al-Fihri were originally an Arabian clan Banu Fihr attached to the Quraysh, the tribe of the Prophet...
). This column was dispatched immediately on Tangiers and instructed to serve as the vanguard, to keep the Berber rebels in check, until the Sicilian expeditionary force disembarked and caught up with them. A second, smaller reserve army, under Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Mughira al-Adhari, was sent to Tlemcen
Tlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
, and instructed to hold there, in case the Berber army should break through to Ifriqiya.
First Encounter
Maysara's Berber forces encountered the vanguard Ifrqiyian column of Khalid ibn Abi HabibKhalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri
Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri was an Arab military commander in North Africa during the Berber Revolt, who led the Arab army that was defeated at the Battle of the Nobles in late 740....
somewhere in the outskirts of Tangiers. After a brief skirmish, Maysara ordered the Berber armies to fall back. Rather than give pursuit, the Arab cavalry commander Khalid ibn Abi Habib held the line just south of Tangiers, blockading the Berber-held city while awaiting the reinforcements from the Sicilian expedition.
Regrouping after these skirmishes, the Berber rebels deposed and killed their leader, Maysara al-Matghari
Maysara al-Matghari
Maysara , oft-surnamed al-Matghari or, in older arab sources, el-Hakir was a Berber rebel leader and original architect of the Great Berber Revolt that erupted in 739-40, until his deposition and death in the middle of 740.-Background:The exact biographical details of Maysara are...
and elected the Zenata
Zenata
Zenata were an ethnic group of North Africa, who were technically an Eastern Berber group and who are found in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco....
Berber chieftain, Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati
Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati
Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati was a Zenata Berber chieftain and military commander during the Berber Revolt of the 740s against the Umayyads in the Maghreb....
as the new Berber commander. The reasons for Maysara's fall are not altogether clear - possibly because his sudden cowardice shown before the Arab cavalry column proved him military unfit, possibly because the puritan Sufri
Sufri
The Sufris were a Khariji sect of Islam that existed in the 7th and 8th centuries. They established the Midrarid state at Sijilmassa.In Algeria , the Banu Ifran were Sufri Berbers who opposed Umayyad, Abbasids and Fatimid rule, most notably under resistance movements led by Abu Qurra and Abu...
te preachers found a flaw in the piety of his character, or simply because the Zenata
Zenata
Zenata were an ethnic group of North Africa, who were technically an Eastern Berber group and who are found in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco....
tribal chieftains, being closer to the Ifriqiyan frontline, felt they should be the ones leading the rebellion.
The chronicler Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
claims Khalid ibn Abi Obeida's encountered the Berber forces and held his position at the 'Shalif' river, which many commentators have taken to be the well-known Chelif river (Wadi ash-Shalif) in central Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. However, it is highly improbable that the Berber rebel army would have been that far east by then. Modern historians have suggesed Ibn Khaldun or his transcribers made a mistake here. Julien (1961: p. 30) suggests Ibn Khaldun actually meant to say the Sebou river
Sebou River
Sebou is a river in northern Morocco. The river is 458 kilometres long and has an average water flow of 137 m3/s, which makes it the largest North African river by volume. The source is in the Middle Atlas mountains. It passes near the city of Fes and discharges to the Atlantic Ocean in Mehdia...
, whose upper reaches would indeed appropriately place the Ifriqiyan column close to Tangiers. The chronicler En-Nuweri indeed reports the skirmish was outside the walls of Tangiers.
The battle
Khalid ibn Hamid al-ZanatiKhalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati
Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati was a Zenata Berber chieftain and military commander during the Berber Revolt of the 740s against the Umayyads in the Maghreb....
opted to immediately attack the Ifriqiyan army mulling around the 'Shalif' (or the outskirts of Tangiers) before the arrival of the reinforcements from Sicily. The Berber rebels under Khalid ibn Hamid overwhelmed and completely defeated the army of Khalid ibn Abi Habib, massacring the cream of the Ifriqiyan Arab nobility.
Aftermath
News of the slaughter of the Ifriqiyan nobles spread like a shock-wave. The reserve army of Ibn al-Mughira in TlemcenTlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
fell into a panic. Seeing Sufri
Sufri
The Sufris were a Khariji sect of Islam that existed in the 7th and 8th centuries. They established the Midrarid state at Sijilmassa.In Algeria , the Banu Ifran were Sufri Berbers who opposed Umayyad, Abbasids and Fatimid rule, most notably under resistance movements led by Abu Qurra and Abu...
te preachers everywhere around the city, the troops launched a series of indiscriminate massacres, provoking a massive uprising in the hitherto-quiet city.
The Sicilian expeditionary army of Habib ibn Abi Obeida
Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri
Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri was an Arab military commander of the illustrious Fihrid family who played an important role in the early history of Ifriqiya and al-Andalus .-Biography:...
arrived too late to prevent the massacre of the nobles. Realizing they were in no position to take on the Berbers by themselves, they retreated to Tlemcen
Tlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
to gather the reserves, only to find that that city too was now in disarray and the troops killed or scattered.
Habib ibn Abi Obeida entrenched what remained of the Ifriqiyan army in the vicinity of Tlemcen
Tlemcen
Tlemcen is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located inland in the center of a region known for its olive plantations and vineyards...
(perhaps as far back as Tahert
Tahert
Tiaret is a large town in the central Algeria, that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Wilaya de Tiaret' province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of Algiers in the western region of the central highlands, in the Tell Atlas, and about from the Mediterranean coast...
), and called upon Kairouan
Kairouan
Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...
for reinforcements. The request was forwarded to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
.
Hearing of the defeat of the nobles, Caliph Hisham is said to have exclaimed "By God, I will most certainly rage against them with an Arab rage, and I will send against them an army whose beginning is where they are and whose end is where I am!" .
In February, 741, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham appointed Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi
Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi
Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi was an Umayyad governor of Kairouan, Ifriqiya for only a few months, from February to October, 741....
to replace the disgraced Obeid Allah
Obeid Allah ibn al-Habhab
Obeid Allah ibn al-Habhab al-Maousili was an important Umayyad official in Egypt from 724 to 734, and subsequently Umayyad governor of Kairouan, Ifriqiya from 734 to 741...
as governor in Ifriqiya. Kulthum was to be accompanied by fresh Arab army of 30,000 raised from the Syrian regiments (junds) of the east. This would set up the even more momentous Battle of Bagdoura
Battle of Bagdoura
The Battle of Bagdoura was a decisive confrontation in the Berber Revolt in late 741 CE. It was a follow-up to the Battle of the Nobles the previous year, and resulted in a major Berber victory over the Arabs by the Sebou river...
in late 741.