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The Great Berber Revolt of 740-43 A.D. (122-25 A.H. in the Muslim calendar) took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 10th Umayyad caliph who ruled from 723 until his death in 743. When he was born in 691 his mother named him after her father....
 and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled from Damascus). The revolt began in Tangier in 740, and was led initially by Maysara al-Madghari, a member of the caliphal army.

By 740 Hisham's armies had been defeated by the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
 at the Battle of Akroinon
Battle of Akroinon

The Battle of Akroinon was fought at Akroinon in Phrygia, on the western edge of the Anatolian plateau, in 739 between an Umayyad Arab army of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, led by his brother Sulayman, and Byzantine Empire forces led by Leo III the Isaurian and his son, the future Constantine V....
; expeditions into Gaul
Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
 during the period 732-737 had been repulsed by the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
 under Charles Martel
Charles Martel

Charles "The Hammer" Martel was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a Titular ruler. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms....
, and the strategic city of Narbonne
Battle of Narbonne (737)

The Battle of Narbonne was fought in 737 between the forces of Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, Umayyad governor of Narbonne, and a Franks army led by Charles Martel....
 was threatened; the Caucasian front was at a standstill and Gujarat had been lost.






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The Great Berber Revolt of 740-43 A.D. (122-25 A.H. in the Muslim calendar) took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 10th Umayyad caliph who ruled from 723 until his death in 743. When he was born in 691 his mother named him after her father....
 and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled from Damascus). The revolt began in Tangier in 740, and was led initially by Maysara al-Madghari, a member of the caliphal army.

By 740 Hisham's armies had been defeated by the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
 at the Battle of Akroinon
Battle of Akroinon

The Battle of Akroinon was fought at Akroinon in Phrygia, on the western edge of the Anatolian plateau, in 739 between an Umayyad Arab army of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, led by his brother Sulayman, and Byzantine Empire forces led by Leo III the Isaurian and his son, the future Constantine V....
; expeditions into Gaul
Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
 during the period 732-737 had been repulsed by the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
 under Charles Martel
Charles Martel

Charles "The Hammer" Martel was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a Titular ruler. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms....
, and the strategic city of Narbonne
Battle of Narbonne (737)

The Battle of Narbonne was fought in 737 between the forces of Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, Umayyad governor of Narbonne, and a Franks army led by Charles Martel....
 was threatened; the Caucasian front was at a standstill and Gujarat had been lost. Against this series of reversals, the revolt of the Berbers in Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya

In Middle Ages, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria....
 marked the crowning blow and largest military catastrophe of Hisham's reign.

The main causes of the revolt were the harsh policies of the governor of North Africa, 'Ubayd Allah bin al-Habhab (which required that Berber slaves be delivered as part of the tribute paid by Berber tribes) and discrimination against Berber units of the caliphal army as compared to Arab units, the former frequently being exposed to dangers that commanders spared the latter.

The army of the Berber rebels, most of whom belonged to the radical Kharijite
Kharijites

Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the caliphate of the fourth and final "Rightly Guided" caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, later rejected him....
 sect, swept through the Maghreb
Maghreb

The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea....
 slaughtering most the Arab aristocracy at the Battle of the Nobles in 741. In 743 a force sent from Damascus
Damascus

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is List of oldest continuously inhabited cities and its current population is estimated at about 4,000,000....
 under the command of Kulthum finally brought the revolt to an end at the Battle of Kairouan
Kairouan

Kairouan it is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate. It was founded by the Arabs in around 670 and the original name was derived from Arabic kairuw?n, from Persian language K?rav?n, meaning "military/civilian camp" , "caravan", or "resting place" ....
.

See also

  • Berbers and Islam
    Berbers and Islam

    The Berber people are an ethnic group that had, until recently, few links to the Arabs. They have existed in ancient Mauretania, Numidia, Ifriqiya and Tripolitania, for thousands of years....