Muslim conquest of the Maghreb

Quick Facts: Who was Muslim conquest of the Maghreb?

Subject:

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb

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The long military campaign by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates to conquer North Africa.

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2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

The Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates conquered the Byzantine Exarchate of North Africa commencing in 647 and concluding in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds in the Maghreb to Caliph al-Walid I. The North African campaigns form part of Arab-Byzantine wars, as well as part of the century of rapid early Muslim conquests. Taking nearly 70 years, the conquest of the Maghreb was one of the longest campaigns of the early Muslim conquests. Occurring in fits and starts, the first campaigns began in the 640s soon after the fall of Egypt. In 647, the Byzantine army was defeated at Sufetula in southern Tunisia and a massive tribute was exacted.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

After a long interim, campaigns restarted in 665, in 670 Uqba ibn Nafi founded Qayrawan, Abu al-Muhajir Dinar began the pivotal rapprochement policy with the Berbers and their large scale recruitment, Numidia was subjugated and in 683 Uqba pushed all the way to the Atlantic, ultimately being defeated upon his return, reversing all Muslim gains. In 694 a new army was sent, taking Carthage and ending the Byzantine presence by 698. Over the next decade Musa ibn Nusayr then conquered modern day Algeria and Morocco, began the mass recruitment and Islamization of the Berbers on a scale unseen elsewhere, and set the stage for the 711 conquest of Iberia. By 642 AD, under Caliph Umar, Arab Muslim forces had taken control of Mesopotamia (638 AD), Syria (641 AD), Egypt (642 AD), and had invaded Armenia (642 AD), all territories previously split between the warring Byzantine and Sasanian empires, and were concluding their conquest of Sasanian Persia with their defeat of the Persian army at the Battle of Nahāvand.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

It was at this point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years and furthering the spread of Islam. In 644 at Medina, Umar was succeeded by Uthman, during whose twelve-year rule Armenia, Cyprus, and all of modern-day Iran, would be added to the expanding Rashidun Caliphate. With Afghanistan and North Africa being targets of major invasions and Muslim sea raids ranging from Rhodes to the southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, the Byzantine navy was defeated in the eastern Mediterranean.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Muslim conquest of the Maghreb

True or False: “The conquest of the Maghreb was completed in a single, swift military campaign lasting less than two decades.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): The conquest spanned nearly 70 years, occurring in fits and starts across several generations of Caliphate leadership.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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