| Battle of Tabarka | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Muslim conquest of North Africa | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Umayyad Caliphate | Berber tribes | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Hasan ibn al-Nu'man | Dihya † | ||||||||
The Battle of Tabarka was a military engagement fought between the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate and Dihya, a Berber queen. The battle took place near the city of Tabarka, Tunisia, 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.
During the late 7th century, forces of the Arab-dominated Umayyad Caliphate conducted a decades-long conquest of the Maghreb, then under the nominal control of the Byzantine Empire. One major obstacle to the invasion was Dihya, a Berber queen who had fought against the Umayyad advance into Numidia. In 698, she won a victory over the Umayyads at the Battle of Meskiana, temporarily halting Hassan ibn al-Nu'man's campaign to conquer Numidia.[1]
Regrouping in Libya, the Umayyads invaded Numidia again in either 701, 702[2] 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.[3] The battle - described as "fierce"[3] - ended in a victory for the Umayyads, the death of Dihya, and the end of organized Berber resistance to the Umayyad invasion.[3]
Dihya was later killed in Bir al-Kahina (al-Kâhina's well), Aurès.[4] 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[3] or converted after the battle in exchange for their lives being spared.[4]