The Battle of Tabarka was a military engagement fought between the forces of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

and

Dihya Al-Kahina ( ar, الكاهنة, , the diviner), also known as Dihya, was a Berber queen of the Aurès and a religious and military leader who led indigenous resistance to the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, the region then known as Numidia notab ...

, a Berber queen. The battle took place near the city of

Tabarka Tabarka ( ar, طبرقة ') is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia, close to the border with Algeria. Tabarka's history is a mosaic of Berber, Punic, Hellenistic, Roman, Arabic, Genoese and Turkish culture. The town is dominated b ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, in either 701, 702 or 703 AD. The battle resulted in a major victory for the Umayyads and the end of organized Berber resistance to the caliphate.

Background

During the late 7th century, forces of the Arab-dominated Umayyad Caliphate conducted a decades-long conquest of the Magrheb, then under the nominal control of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. One major obstacle to the invasion was Dihya, a Berber queen who had fought against the Umayyad advance into

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

. In 698, she won a victory over the Umayyads at the

Battle of Meskiana The Battle of Meskiana occurred in North Africa in 698 between the Umayyad forces of Hassan ibn al-Nu'man and Queen Dihya. According to the historian Ibn Idhari Abū al-ʽAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʽIḏārī al-Marrākushī ( ar, أب ...

, temporarily halting

Hassan ibn al-Nu'man Hassan ibn al-Nu'man al-Ghassani ( ar, حسان بن النعمان الغساني, Hassān ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Ghassānī) was an Arab general of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the final Muslim conquest of Ifriqiya, firmly establishing Islamic rule ...

's campaign to conquer Numidia.

Battle

Regrouping in Libya, the Umayyads invaded Numidia again in either 701, 702 or 703. Dihya gathered many Berber tribes people to resist the new invasion. The two armies clashed near the town of Tabarka near the modern Algeria–Tunisia border, where a choke point exists between the Mediterranean sea and the

Aurès Mountains The Aures Mountains ( ar, جبال الأوراس) are an eastern prolongation of the Atlas Mountain System that lies to the east of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria and northwestern Tunisia, North Africa. The mountain range gives its nam ...

. The battle - described as "fierce" - ended in a victory for the Umayyads, the death of Dihya, and the end of organized Berber resistance to the Umayyad invasion.

Aftermath

Dihya was later killed in Bir al-Kahina (al-Kâhina's well),

Aurès , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Natural region , image_skyline = Ras el Aïoun.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = Landscape of the Aurès in Ras el Aïoun , image_flag ...

. Sources disagree on whether Dihya's two sons - both of whom survived the battle - converted to Islam before the battle and fought against their mother or converted after the battle in exchange for their lives being spared.

References

{{Reflist 700s in the Umayyad Caliphate Battles involving the Umayyad Caliphate 8th century in Africa Muslim conquest of the Maghreb