Since childhood, each of us has known the plot of the Arab fairy tale about Aladdin and the magic lamp - the self-styled uncle of the hero turned out to be a dangerous sorcerer from a distant and full of wonders country called Maghreb. Residents of medieval Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo did not need assurances that their land was full of wizards, because in earlier times, the warriors of the "ruler of the faithful" had to fight the mighty queen Ifrikiya Dihya al-Kahina. In one of the battles, she used magic and moved a wall of fire towards the Arabs - at least that's how the Arab historians wrote down the legends in the XIV century. Let's try to figure out what was behind the legend of Kahina, and how much it corresponded to the real history of the Arab conquest of North Africa.
Historical sources
The first mention of the confrontation between the Arab commanders and the queen of the Maghreb can be found in the Egyptian historian Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abdallah (802-872) in his work "The Conquest of Egypt, al-Maghreb and al-Andalus." We find a more detailed exposition of the legendary history in Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) in the book "A book of edifying examples on the history of the Arabs, Persians and Berbers and their contemporaries who had great power" and Ibn Idari (late XIII - early XIV centuries) in "An amazing message with [short] news about the kings of al-Andalus and the Maghreb." All of these historians are considered reliable, as they conscientiously recorded what they read or told. However, this does not negate the legendary, that is, not based on eyewitness information or documents, the nature of the story about Queen Ifrikiya (as the Arabs called North Africa). Other Arab authors have also written about Kahin, but more fragmentarily.
Monument to the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun in the Algerian city of Bejaya.
The complexity of the historical analysis of the legend also lies in the fact that Arab scholars did not always tie their story to specific dates, and where there are dates, they may differ from each other by five to eight years. In addition, the sequence of events can be different, so scientists still argue about the correctness of one or another medieval author.
The Legend of the Queen of Africa
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At a time when the inhabitants of the African lands west of Egypt had not yet converted to Islam, in the Ores mountains (in the northeast of Algeria and northwest of Tunisia) there was a kingdom of the Berber people, where Christians, Jews and pagans lived. They were ruled by a cruel man who was used to taking whatever he liked. Driving around the country, he saw and desired a girl of amazing beauty - "tall, with huge eyes and wild black hair."
The girl's name was Dihya, her tribe professed Judaism and originated from the Jews of Syria. Dihya did not want to become the king's wife, but obeyed. On her wedding night, she killed her husband and began to expect imminent retribution, but instead of punishment she received power over Ores. Everyone was so happy to get rid of the tyrant that they rejoiced at the young queen. Dihya ruled wisely and justly, and her prophetic and magical gift helped her in this - "everything that she predicted does not hesitate to happen."
Approximately such, according to the legend, was Dihya's acquaintance with the ruler of Ores. Artist - Otto Pilny.
This continued until the Arab caliph Abdul-Malik from Damascus sent his commander Hassan ibn al-Numan and the Muslim army to Ifrikiya. Ibn Idari wrote: “When he came to Ifrikiyya, he asked the locals:“Who is the strongest ruler here?” They replied: "He who owns Carthage rules Ifrikia." The Arabs defeated the Byzantines who ruled Carthage and captured the city.
Then Hasan returned to the main Muslim city of Ifrikiyya - Kairouan. Ibn Idari wrote:
Dihya magically learned about the plans of the Arab commander and with all her army rushed to meet. She first occupied and destroyed the border fortress of Bagaya, then the two armies met on the banks of the Nini River. The queen used magic, and a wall of fire moved on the Muslim army. Ibn Khaldun wrote:
The Uqba Mosque in the Tunisian city of Kairouan. Laid down in 670.
After the defeat, the Arabs left the Maghreb, and Dihya became the queen of all Ifrikiya. Five years passed, and it seemed to the subjects of the Berber queen that the danger of a new war had passed forever - they began to intrigue and quarrel. But most of all, people were outraged that Kahina ordered to ruin her kingdom so that the Arabs would no longer want to return there: “She sent her supporters everywhere with orders to destroy cities and castles, cut trees and take away the property of residents” (Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abdallah) …
Hasan learned about this from Alepp Ibn Yezid, who was able to convey a secret note. Caliph Abdul-Malik sent Hassan to the aid of soldiers, and the Muslims landed in Ifrikiya. Local residents greeted them with joy, only a few remained loyal to the queen. The Arab army was rapidly moving towards the heart of the Berber possessions in the Ores mountains.
On the eve of the decisive battle, Dihya said that she would die in this battle. She asked Khaled to take her two grown sons to the Arabs and entrust them to Hasan, which was done. The next day a fierce battle raged. It began to seem that the Arabs would be defeated by the brave Berbers, but at that moment the Maghreb prophetess died. Desperate Berbers surrendered to the victors. Hassan demanded that the Berbers submit to the caliph's authority and help conquer Spain. And so it was done. The sons of Kahina converted to Islam and, together with the Arabs, set out to conquer al-Andalus. This is where the story of Arab historians ends.
Warriors of the Berber tribes: 1 - infantryman; 2 - lightly armed rider; 3 - heavily armed rider. Artist - Agnus McBride.
Cavalry of the Umayyad Caliphate: 1 - governor; 2 - heavily armed rider; 3 - lightly armed rider. Artist - Agnus McBride.
Infantry of the Umayyad Caliphate: 1 - female sentry; 2 - swordsman; 3 - archer. Artist - Agnus McBride.
Dahya, Damya, Dihya
The problem of the historical analysis of Kahina's personality begins with her name. Without doubting the real existence of such a woman, researchers call her differently. Supporters of Jewish origin or Jewish religion of the heroine write the name as Dahya, the nickname of Kahina is considered a distorted "kohen" or "kohen" (kohen - the estate of hereditary clergy in traditional Judaism). It is reliably known that some Berber tribes assimilated the newcomer Jewish population. Back in the 4th century BC. Alexander the Great gave land in Cyrenaica to forty thousand Jewish military colonists. In 115 A. D. their descendants rebelled against the Roman government. The uprising was suppressed, and some of its participants fled from persecution among the nomadic Berber tribes. The relationship between these fugitives and the Berbers is poorly understood. Ibn Khaldun reports:
Other scholars write about Damier, a Christian woman of Roman-Berber origin, called a witch by the Arabs. She is credited with kinship with the previously mentioned leader Kusaila (Coseila, Kasila), who in one of the historical sources is called by the Roman name Cecilius. Finally, the latest version of the correct reading of the name is based on the idea of a purely Berber origin - translated from Berber, Dihya means “beauty”.
One way or another, there are few reliable facts on this issue, and it is not yet possible to draw final conclusions, but the legendary history of the forced marriage and murder of a spouse does not cause controversy.
Dihya al-Kahina - the leader of the Berber civilization from the popular computer game.
Most sources call the center of Kahina's possessions Mount Ores - this means that she was from the Berber Jerawa tribe.
In 670, one of her two sons led a detachment that fought the Arabs. Only a special woman could retain power or influence with an adult son among the Berbers. However, the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea pointed out that the Berbers had only women as soothsayers - thus, Dihya probably played the role of the religious leader of the Berber kingdom of Ores and had real power.
Dihya al-Kahina entered the historical arena in 697. After Hasan ibn al-Numan repulses the attack of the Byzantines from the sea, his army is weakened, and under the banner of the Berber ruler, everyone who is ready to fight the Muslims to the last becomes. It is known about the decisive battle in 698, but it was not possible to determine its place. The Arab historian Al-Balazuri wrote that the Berbers went for a trick: they set fire to the grass, and the wind carried fire and smoke to the Muslims. Ibn Idari described the battle as follows:
One way or another, Kahina's warriors defeated Hasan, and the result of the campaign was the flight of the Arabs to Tripolitania (Barca).
The time of Kakhina's control over the entire Ifrikia is indicated unanimously - five years (it is impossible to confirm or deny these messages). Perhaps after the victory over the Arabs, some kind of alliance of Berbers and Byzantines was formed, or, taking advantage of the military advantage, Ores forced the entire region into submission. It is also possible that with the departure of the Arabs, a war of all against all began again.
Between 702 and 706, a new Arab army under the command of the same Hassan ibn al-Numan invades Mauritania from Barqa. The Arabs capture and destroy Carthage, there are two versions regarding further events. The first says that Kahina relied on nomadic tribes, and considered the cities and cultivated fields to be useless bait for the Arabs - which is why the Berbers began to destroy the ancient irrigation system. This deprived the warriors from Ores of the support of the sedentary Romanized population, and they called on the Arabs. According to the second version, Muslim warriors and Berbers who converted to Islam used the scorched earth tactics, forcing Kahina to retreat to the mountains of Ores.
The next historical fact is the complete defeat of the Berbers and the death of Kahina - here we also have few details. According to Ibn Khaldun, “The Arab troops began a fierce battle against the troops of Kahina, and the massacre was so terrible that all Arabs expected an early death. But God came to the aid of the Muslims, and the Berbers were defeated, suffering huge losses. Kahina herself took part in the attack and was killed in the battle."
It is reliably known only about the complete victory of the Caliphate's troops and the destruction of the tribal kingdoms - the country of the Berbers came under the rule of the Arabs.
Map of the Berber kingdoms and the dominions of Kahina.
Civilization of "free people"
The Byzantines no longer made large-scale attempts to recover what was lost. Their fleet raided the coast, but this only provoked the Arabs. The next governor of Ifrikiya and Maghrib, Musa ibn Nusayr, who was next after Hasan, built his own fleet, and now Arab ships were plundering Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia.
After the final victory and establishment of their power over the entire region, the Arabs executed about 100,000 people, another 300,000 were sold into slavery. About half a century later, most Mauritanians paid tribute from the Gentiles (jizyu).
Arab historians of the 14th century tried to smooth over the acute angles of the Berber-Arab wars. In their writings, the narrative quickly turns to the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by a united Muslim army of Arabs and Maghrebians under the command of Berber Tariq ibn Ziyad.
None of the conquerors, including the Arabs, succeeded in destroying the ancient and distinctive culture of the people who call themselves "free people." Phoenician, Greco-Roman, Arab, and then European cultures had a noticeable influence on the way of life of the Berbers. The death of Kahina and her associates led to the collapse of the ancient civilization, but the Berbers managed to preserve their social, spiritual and everyday traditions. Since the last century, there has been a steady demand for the legendary "queen of Africa" - she was needed by nationalists in Algeria and Tunisia to fight the French colonialists, her story is in demand in modern Israel. Even feminists are not averse to using an old myth to substantiate their ideas. However, the life of the real woman behind the legend, apparently, was no less bright and eventful.