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This is actually not even known by most people but Morocco and Algeria have barely been under arab rule and most people don't even know that these arab troops also included freshly converted berbers from Libya anyway the Maghrebi campaign was literally the longest and hardest campaign of the Muslim armies; one of their greatest generals lost his life there (Uqba ibn Nafi) and was buried in what is now Sidi Oqba in Algeria :
quote:The energetic Uqba ibn nafi, who had distinguished himself in Syracuse, in Cyrenaica and perhaps even in Kawar, took in 669 the head of a reduced army, 10,000 Bedouin horsemen, it seems, but, significantly, reinforced by several thousand new converts from Cyrenaica.
Jean-Marie Lassère, Africa quasi Roma, p. 738
Once the conquest was completed, the Arabs behaved like real tyrants by constantly humiliating the local populations (tribute of women (slaves), exorbitant taxes, status of clients even after conversion, etc.) which naturally led to an important revolt that put an end to the power of the Arabs in the Maghreb ... only 30 years after the conquest :
quote: This growth of tension had an impact on Spain even before the outbreak of factional conflict in Syria in 744. In 739 some of the Berbers in North Africa, many of whom had become not only committed but also fundamentalist Muslims, rebelled against what they saw as oppressive Arab domination, which denied them the equality of status that should have been theirs as fellow believers. Initially the revolt was highly successful, and an army was sent from Syria to Ifriqiya to help suppress it. This force, composed of Qaysiyya units, was defeated by the rebels and its commander, Kulthiim, was killed. The survivors took refuge in Ceuta under his deputy Balj ibn Bishr, and then persuaded the governor of Al-Andalus, 'Abd aI-Malik ibn Qatan to permit them to cross into Spain.
Roger Collins, Early medieval Spain, pp. 165
quote:' Regardless of their martial ability, the Syrian junds failed miserably in quelling the uprising in North Africa in 741. As a result, the governor of al-Andalus eventually invited the desperate troops in Ceuta to cross the Mediterranean and enter al-Andalus in order to help him put down a similar Berber rebellion
Erich B. Anderson, Rise of the Berber mercenaries: Desert nomads come to Europe
quote:Until 750, the Umayyads, as sole caliphs, ruled both al-Andalus and North Africa. By the second half of the 700s, the Umayyads controlled only al Andalus, and despite Abbasid claims, much of North African Maghrib was independent, ruled by the Idrisids in Northern Morocco and the Rustamids in western Algeria. Al-Andalus and North Africa were, however , culturally and economically linked both before and after 750.
Later during the XIth century, we see the famous Hilalian invasions : some turbulent arab tribes sent to the maghreb to punish the zirid vassal of Fatimids who decided to become independent . These arabs again got defeated by the berber almohads in Tunisia and were sent to Morocco and andalucia to serve as cannon fodder but it's undeniable that these tribes had an important socio-cultural impact in NA :
quote:In 1161, the Beni Hilal, once again in revolt, were crushed near Kairouan in a battle against the army of the Almohad sultan Abd al-moumin. A thousand people from each Jochem tribe were then forced to provide contingents for the wars in Spain. The Beni Hilal were thus massively displaced towards the western coasts to be enrolled in the holy war in Andalusia, as were the successive sovereigns.
Mouna Hachim, Histoire inattendue du Maroc, p. 266
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