Arab migration to the Maghreb

Arab migration to the Maghreb refers to the centuries-long process of Arab people migrating and settling in the Maghreb region of North Africa, encompassing modern-day Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The influx of Arabs to the Maghreb began in the 7th century with the Arab conquest of the Maghreb when Arab armies conquered the region as part of the early Muslim conquests. This initial wave of Arab migration was followed by subsequent periods of migration and settlement, notably during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. However, the most significant wave of Arab migration occurred in the 11th century with the arrival of Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula, such as Banu Hilal, Banu Sulaym, and Maqil. These had a profound impact on the demographics and culture of the Maghreb. It resulted in the Arabization of the Berber population and the spread of the Arabic language and Arab culture throughout the region.

Rashidun and Umayyad era (7th-8th century)
Map of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb

Arab migration to the Maghreb first started in the 7th century with the Arab conquest of the Maghreb. This first started in 647 under the Rashidun Caliphate, when Abdallah ibn Sa'd led the invasion with 20,000 soldiers from Medina in the Arabian Peninsula, swiftly taking over Tripolitania and then defeating a much larger Byzantine army at the Battle of Sufetula in the same year, forcing the new Byzantine Exarch of Africa to pay tribute.[1] Increasing Arab migration towards the end of the 7th century finally overcame Berber and Byzantine resistance, gradually converting the Berbers to Islam and incorporating the entire Maghreb into the Umayyad Caliphate.[2] Throughout the period of conquest, Arab migrants settled in all parts of the Maghreb, coming as peaceful newcomers and were welcomed everywhere. Large Arab settlements were established in many areas. A considerable portion of the Arab settlers belonged to the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim.[3]

Arabians arrived in the Maghreb in large numbers after an expedition by the Banu Muzaina tribe to the Maghreb under the leadership of Zayd ibn Haritha al-Kalbi in the 7th-8th century.[4] The Arab Muslim conquerors had a much more durable impact on the culture of the Maghreb than did the region's conquerors before and after them, and by the 11th century, the Berbers had become Islamized and Arabized.[5]

During the Umayyad conquest, 40,000 Arab troops from Egypt were brought in. The Umayyads controlled the vast territory of the Maghreb through a military force of 50,000 Arabian soldiers who originally served in Egypt. These became a hereditary ruling class primarily made up of the conquerors and their descendants with very few outsiders. Land grants were given to these soldiers, creating a landed Arab aristocracy with extensive landholdings, cultivated in many cases by slaves from sub-Saharan Africa. An example of these were the Fihrids, descendants of Uqba ibn Nafi, who occupied a privileged position in Ifriqiyan and Andalusi society. There were other powerful Arab settlers who briefly appeared in the sources, especially those of Qurayshi ancestry.[6] Arab settlers mostly settled in cities, such as Kairouan, until the migration of the nomadic Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in the 11th century.[7] During this time, the majority of Maghrebi Arabs were Qahtanites from South Arabia.[8]

The Umayyad Caliphate was aware of the importance of the importance of the spread and settlement of Arabs in the Maghreb. Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik swore that he would send a large army and added "I will not leave a single Berber compound without pitching beside it a tent of a tribesman from Qays or Tamim".[9]

Abbasid era (8th century)

During the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, there was a great influx of Khurasani Arabs from Iraq to the Maghreb. These were mostly North Arabian tribes, among them was the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim. This shifted the tribal balance of Ifriqiya in favor of the North Arabian Adnanite tribes who became the majority, to the detriment of the formerly more numerous South Arabian Qahtanite tribes.[8]

Aghlabid and Idrisid era (9th century)

In 800, Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab was appointed as governor of Ifriqiya by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. He founded the Aghlabid dynasty, a dynasty of emirs from the tribe of Banu Tamim. During this time, Arab migration to increased in numbers due to the anti-Kharijite wars. The number of Arab migrants of Ifriqiya concentrated in the army and the cities, mainly Kairouan, has been estimated at 100,000. Most of the Arab migrants came from Syria and Iraq, which from the start supplied numerous migrants to the Maghreb.[10] The organization of the Aghlabid army was largely based on the Arab tribes who settled in Ifriqiya in the late seventh and eighth centuries. The troops were paid at clearly defined times, while cavalry received twice as much as infantry because of the greater cost of their horses and equipment.[11] These troops were called the jund, descendants of Arab tribesmen who participated in the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. They often rebelled against the Aghlabid regime.[12]

In 789, descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Idris ibn Abdallah, fled from the Hejaz and arrived in Tangier after the failed revolt against the Abbasids in the Battle of Fakhkh. He later moved to Walili and founded the city of Fez in the same year. He founded the Hashemite Idrisid dynasty, which established control over modern-day Morocco and western Algeria. The Idrisid dynasty played an important role in the early Islamization of the area, and contributed to an increase in Arab migration and Arabization in major urban centers of the western Maghreb.[13] Several Shia Arabs rapidly flocked to Fez, Arabizing the region. Fez experienced large waves of Arab migration, including one which involved 800 Arabs from Al-Andalus in 818 and one which involved 2,000 Arab families from Ifriqiya in 824.[14]

These Arab political entities, in addition to the Salihids and Fatimids, were influential in encouraging Arabization by attracting Arab migrants and by promoting Arab culture. In addition, disturbances and political unrest in the Mashriq compelled the Arabs to migrate to the Maghreb in search of security and stability.[9]

Arab tribes

By the 3rd century AH (9th century CE), there were numerous Arab tribes in the Maghreb. According to al-Ya'qubi, In the mountains near Cyrenaica were the Arab tribes of Azd, Lakhm, Judham, al-Sadaf, and other Yemenite tribes on the eastern mountain, and Ghassan, Judham, Azd, Tujayb and others on the eastern mountain. In Waddan, there was a group that claimed to be Yemenite, and in Zawila, there were Arabs from the region of Khurasan and the cities of Basra and Kufa.[9]

In Kairouan, there were Arabs from Quraysh and other tribes within the groupings of Mudar, Rabi'a and Qahtan. In nearby Al-Jazira, there were Arabs from Banu Adi and other groups. In Satfura, there were people from Quraysh and Quda'a, in Baja there were people from Banu Hashim, and in Majjana there were people from Diyar Rabi'a.[9]

In al-Zab, in its capital Tobna, there was Quraysh, and other Arabs. In Sétif, there were tribesmen from Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah. In Bilizma, the population consisted of tribesmen from Banu Tamim. Al-Ya'qubi's information does not include the whole Maghreb, such as the western Maghreb where the Idrisids arrived with Arab tribes and encouraged other Arabs to arrive.[9]

Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym (11th century)
Movement of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym from Arabia to Egypt

The 11th century witnessed the most significant wave of Arab migration, surpassing all previous movements. This event unfolded when the Zirid dynasty of Ifriqiya proclaimed its independence from the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. In retribution against the Zirids, the Fatimids dispatched large Bedouin Arab tribes, mainly the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, to defeat the Zirids and settle in the Maghreb. These tribes followed a nomadic lifestyle and were originally from the Hejaz and Najd.[4] According to Ibn Khaldun, they were accompanied by their wives, children and stock. They settled in the Maghreb after repeatedly fighting battles against the Berbers, such as the Battle of Haydaran. They heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb into Arab culture, and spread nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant.[4] It played a major role in spreading Bedouin Arabic to rural areas such as the countryside and steppes, and as far as the southern areas near the Sahara.[9] In addition, they destroyed the Berber Zirid state and most of its cities, sparing only the Mediterranean coastal strip at al-Mahdiyya, and deeply weakened the neighboring Hammadid dynasty and the Zenata. Their influx was a major factor in the linguistic, cultural, genetic and ethnic Arabization of the Maghreb.[4] According to Ibn Khaldun, the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become desertified and turned into completely arid desert. The journey of Banu Hilal is recounted in the Arabic oral poem of Sirat Bani Hilal.[4]

To persuade the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym to migrate to the Maghreb, the Fatimid caliph gave each tribesman a camel and money and helped them cross from the east to the west bank of the Nile river. The severe drought in Egypt at the time also persuaded these tribes to migrate to the Maghreb, which had a better economic situation at the time. The Fatimid caliph instructed them to rule the Maghreb instead of the Zirid emir Al-Mu'izz and told them "I have given you the Maghrib and the rule of al-Mu'izz ibn Balkīn as-Sanhājī the runaway slave. You will want for nothing." and told Al-Mu'izz "I have sent you horses and put brave men on them so that God might accomplish a matter already enacted".[15]

Hilali Emir of Mascara in western Algeria, 1856

Sources estimated that the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century was at around 1 million Arabs.[15]

Ma'qil and Beni Hassan (13th-15th century)

The Ma'qilis also entered the Maghreb during this wave of Arabian tribal immigration in the 11th century. They later allied with the Banu Hilal and entered under their protection.[16] They adapted to the climatic desert conditions of the Maghreb, discovering the same way of life as in the Arabian Peninsula.[17] In the 13th century, they occupied southern Algeria and dominated the oases of Tuat and Gourara. For some authors, at this point, the Maqil group had already disintegrated into different populations in the Maghreb and had given rise to the Beni Hassan along with other related groups.[18]

The Beni Hassan expanded southwest and occupied Sanhaja lands in the 13th century after invading and defeating the Berber confederation.[19] The Sanhaja has long had to pay tribute to the nomadic Bedouin Hassani invaders.[19] The invasion was quick and effective and happened around the year 1250, by the end of the Almohad Caliphate, and also dominated the valleys of the Moulouya, Draa, Sous, as well as the Tafilalt oasis region.[20]

Historical accounts report that these Hassani communities enriched themselves by collecting tolls from trade caravans and extorting farming and herding villages settled in the oases.[21] This took place during the Char Bouba War in modern day Western Sahara and Mauritania from 1644 to 1674, which after decades of confrontations ended up completely Arabizing the native Berber population, destroying their language and culture and giving rise to the contemporary Sahrawi people.[21][22][23]

Harry Norris noted "the Moorish Sahara is the western extremity of the Arab World. Western it certainly is, some districts further west than Ireland, yet in its way of life, its culture, its literature and in many of its social customs, it has much in common with the heart lands of the Arab East, in particular with the Hijaz and Najd and parts of the Yemen".[24]

Andalusi refugees (15th-17th century)

Starting from the late 15th century, a new wave of Arabs arrived as refugees from Al-Andalus in response to the persecution they faced under Christian Spanish rule after the fall of Granada in the Reconquista in 1492.[25] In 1609, Spain implemented the Expulsion of the Moriscos, which aimed to forcibly remove all Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula, expelling about 275,000 to 300,000 of them.[26] Accustomed to urban life, they settled in urban cities in the Maghreb, including Fez, Rabat and Tangiers in Morocco, Tlemcen and Constantine in Algeria, Kairouan, Tunis and Bizerte in Tunisia. They brought with them the urban dialects of Andalusi Arabic, which they introduced to the existing Bedouin Arabic dialects of the Maghreb.[27] This event greatly increased the process of Arabization in the Maghreb from the 15th to the 17th century.[28] There were several Arab tribes in Al-Andalus, of which the most prominent were Qays, Kilab, Uqayl, Mudar, Rabi'a, Yaman, Tayy, Lakhm, Judham, Amilah, and Quda'a.[29]

Effects

Arabization

A major effect of the Arab migration to the Maghreb was the Arabization of its population. In addition to changing the population's demographics, the migration resulted in the Arabization of the native Berber population. The early wave of migration prior to the 11th century contributed to the Berber adoption of Arab culture. Furthermore, the Arabic language spread during this period and drove Latin into extinction in the cities. The Arabization took place around Arab centres through the influence of Arabs in the cities and rural areas surrounding them.[9]

The migration of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in the 11th century had a much greater influence on the process of Arabization of the population. It played a major role in spreading Bedouin Arabic to rural areas such as the countryside and steppes, and as far as the southern areas near the Sahara.[9] It also heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb into Arab culture, and spread Bedouin nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant.[4] These Bedouin tribes accelerated and deepened the Arabization process, since the Berber population was gradually assimilated by the newcomers and had to share with them pastures and seasonal migration paths. By around the 15th century, the region of modern-day Tunisia had already been almost completely Arabized.[30]

Islamization

The Umayyad Caliphate played a significant role in the Islamization of the Maghreb during their rule. Umayyad campaigns into the Maghreb were highly successful. In 705, Musa ibn Nusayr launched a great campaign to the western Maghreb and seized most cities there. This allowed him to impose his authority over the entire Maghreb, so he then continued the program of spreading Islam and the Arabic language through missionary activity and chose seventeen religious scholars to convert the locals. Many people became Muslims at the hands of these scholars and the inhabitants of the Maghreb gradually converted to Islam.[15] Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz sent to the governor of Ifriqiya Ismail ibn Abdallah all scholars and men of culture, who were ordered to teach the religion of Islam.[15] They were distributed around the regions of the Maghreb. In less than one century, the great majority of Christians converted to Islam with 'great zeal that they sought martyrdom', and the final conversions took place in the first two centuries after the hijrah.[15] The Berbers were the only people to be incorporated into the Umayyad armies and to have converted to Islam on such a large scale.[31]

Contemporary demographics

Today, the Arabs make up the majority of the population of the countries of the Maghreb, comprising 70%[32] to 80%[33] of Algeria, 92%[34] to 97%[35] of Libya, 67%[36] to 70%[37] of Morocco and 98% of Tunisia.[38]

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