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. 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.
Background 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. 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.
Sources The earliest surviving Arab accounts of the Maghreb (comprising almost a third of the early Islamic world) were written in the late ninth century, by historians external to the region, from Iraq and Egypt, writing from an Abbasid viewpoint. By this time, some 200 years had elapsed since the first campaigns, a century had passed since all of Morocco and most of Algeria was permanently lost to the Caliphate in the Great Berber Revolt, and at least 50 years since the tenuous Abbasid reconquest had given way to the autonomous Aghlabid dynasty. Thus, this was not an imperial triumph to celebrate; rather, the Caliphate's most notorious failure to be glossed over.
Ibn Abd al-Hakam's (d.871) history is the earliest extant account of the conquest, relying upon Egyptian accounts, such as Ibn Lahi'a, his account celebrates the achievements of specific Arab tribes and individuals, and favours pro-Zubayrid accounts. Other early historians like Khalifah ibn Khayyat, al-Baladhuri, al-Tabari focus mainly on Iraq and the east, dealing with North Africa only cursorily. Unfortunately, al-Yaqubi's history of the conquest of Africa is lost, which might otherwise have filled gaps in our knowledge with his well-informed perspective.
Beginning in the 11th century, western historians based in Kairouan such as Ibrahim ibn ar-Raqiq (d. after 1028) and Abu Bakr al-Maliki (fl. 1036–1057) provided much more detailed accounts of the conquest. Until reaching a zenith in the 14th century with scholars such as Ibn Idhari, Ibn Khaldun, who gives the perspective of the Berbers, and al-Nuwayri, who gives a pro-Marwanid version. However, there is a need for new translations of many of these works, as the current translations are old, riddled with errors and colonial assumptions.
There are also non-Muslim sources, however these are vague, fragmentary and have their own biases. One of the earliest sources is the Latin chronicler of Merovingia, Fredegarius (c.660), who gives a near contemporary mention of the death of Gregory and the fall of Africa to the Muslims, however this is limited to a single sentence. The Chronicle of 754 provides some important information, though often confused. Byzantine historians like Theophanes the Confessor only have very scattered references to North Africa - this is likely due to Heraclian embarrassment to offer an explanation for the loss of the province. Preferring instead to deflect responsibility to Maximus the Confessor and Pope Martin who allegedly subverted the Byzantine resistance. The hagiographies of whom provide some information of the religious tensions at the time of the first invasions.
Archaeology can transcend some of the problems of the written tradition. However, much of the medieval occupation, particularly that of the Arabs, was destroyed on a massive scale, unmatched elsewhere in the Mediterranean, to reach the underlying Roman layers. However recent archaeology has shown that the conquest was not as destructive as once assumed, even in Carthage the Byrsa Hill was continuously occupied and the decline and depopulation of the region had begun centuries before the first Muslim incursions. Such as the abandonment of Utica, Meninx and Cherchell in the fifth and sixth centuries.
First invasion
Soon after the fall of Alexandria in 642, Amr ibn al-As continued westwards into Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. Perhaps he had an awareness of the Byzantine campaigns on Egypt via North Africa in 608-9 and Heraclius's plan in 633 to move troops from Numidia to bolster Egypt and wished to forestall such an effort.
Heading for Barca he had around 4,000 troops, drawn from the army which conquered Egypt and particularly the reinforcements which accompanied Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, the majority of whom from Yaman (Mahra, Hadramawt, Khawlan, Mu'afir, Lakhm and Sadif) as well as some of the Hejazis (Fihr, Banu Abd al-Uzza and the Ansar) who were under Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr. Barqa fell without opposition, treaties were made with the Luwata Berbers exacting a tribute of 13,000 dinars and Amr sent Uqba ibn Nafi into the Fezzan, successfully taking Zuwayla. Tripoli was more difficult, its garrison being supported by the Christian Berber tribes of Nafusa, but after around a month it also fell in around 643, along with Sirte, Sabratha and Leptis Magna, while Busr ibn Abi Artat took Waddan. Now, with a vast buffer between Byzantine North Africa and Egypt, Amr returned to Fustat, leaving Uqba ibn Nafi as Governor of Barqa.
In late 645 the Byzantines attempted a reconquest of Egypt. Constans II sent Manuel with a large naval force, successfully retaking Alexandria he began to push towards Fustat, until he was stopped in May 646 at Nikiou, a mere 60 km from Fustat. This highlighted the still somewhat insecure Muslim hold on Egypt, prompting campaigns to end all remaining Byzantine military or political threats to the region, such as those to the west.
Meanwhile, in Africa, Exarch Gregory the Patrician rebelled against Constans II following the public disputation between Maximus and Pyrrhus of July 645, declaring himself emperor (perhaps attempting to emulate the successful Heraclian revolt which seized Constantinople via North Africa). However, this rebellion weakened Africa's defences; attempting to wage war independently, without assistance from Constantinople. It also brought to the attention of the Muslims the internal strife and fragilities of the North Africans and their leadership.
The Battle of Sufetula
In 647, governor of Egypt, Abd Allah ibn Sa'd, led a new invasion force, around 20,000 strong, into Africa. Accompanied by many luminaries of the Quraysh: Ma'bad ibn Abbas, Abd Allah ibn Umar, Asim ibn Umar, Ubayd Allah ibn Umar, Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn al-Khattab, al-Miswar ibn Makhrama, Abd Allah ibn Amr, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Busr ibn Abi Artat, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, Al-Harith ibn al-Hakam, Abu Dhuʾayb al-Hudhali and others, showing that this was no small raid.
Joined en route by Uqba ibn Nafi and his forces stationed in Barqa, Abd Allah ibn Sa'd first made for Tripoli, which had fallen back into the hands of the Byzantines soon after Amr ibn al-Aas' departure. Then Ghadames, and a place referred to as "Elenptien" by the Chronicle of 754, possibly referring to Leptis Magna, Lamta or Thelepte. After a failed attempt on the southern Tunisian port of Gabes, the Muslims pushed into the interior, towards Gregory's base of operations at Sufetula - a nodal point in southern Tunisia, where the Exarch could dominate the fertile fields of Byzacena while controlling access further west into Numidia or to the north (Zeugitana) via the Kasserine pass. But it was also ideal for the Muslims, as its distance from the coast prevents Byzantine naval interference, while the flat plains of Byzacena means there are no obstacles to cut their lines of communication with Tripolitania.
To avoid a long war of attrition, which would have put the Muslims at a disadvantage due to their limited forces and distance from Egypt, they instead provoked Gregory into a decisive open field battle - probably by raiding the countryside, forcing local elites to pressure Gregory into a confrontation to protect their lands. According to Ibn al Athir it was Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr who recognised the Muslims' overextension and need for a decisive battle, he then advised Abd Allah ibn Sa'd to leave some elite troops near camp, while the remainder wear down Gregory's soldiers. When the Exarch's forces begin to tire, the Muslims would feign a retreat to the camp, where the fresh troops would suddenly pounce on the Romans And so it happened, with brilliant success. In the summer of 647, the Muslims lured Gregory and his inexperienced troops into pursuing them eastwards (perhaps because Gregory sought to open up communications with the coast to avoid entrapment around Sufetula). Around an hour before sunset, the Muslims unleashed their ambushes, disorienting Gregory's forces, breaking their cohesion and leading to their flight, while Ibn al-Zubayr himself personally slew the Exarch.
After the battle, Abd Allah ibn Sa'd remained in North Africa for the next 14–15 months campaigning in the region and blockading Thysdrus. Eventually the local Romano-African inhabitants, probably under Gennadius, consented to the payment of a humiliating tribute of 2,520,000 dinars or 330,000 solidi if the Muslims left the region. Abd Allah ibn Sa'd agreed and returned to Egypt in 648. The reason for returning so soon, after winning such an overwhelming victory, is probably due to Abd Allah ibn Sa'd recognising that Carthage and the remaining Byzantine coastal cities could only be subdued via Muslim naval power, which was still in its very early infancy. While the 646 Byzantine reconquest of Alexandria further emphasized this need for naval build up, and showed that the east hadn't been fully consolidated yet, so it is improbable that they'd want to establish a settlement or base in the west and risk overextension. Beyond that, the resounding victory at Sufetula meant that there was little threat from Byzantine troops via the Maghreb, so there was much less incentive to pursue further campaigns. Perhaps the huge amount of booty (1,000 dinars for each infantryman, and 3,000 for a horseman) further dissuaded enthusiasm for further campaigns.