Editing Berbers (section)

==== In al-Andalus under the Umayyad governors ====
{{main|Emirate of Córdoba}}
[[File:Almohad Expansion.png|thumb|upright=1.4|The [[Almohad Empire]], a Berber empire that lasted from 1121 to 1269]]
[[File:Castillia.jpg|thumb|right|Castillian ambassadors meeting Almohad caliph [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada]], contemporary depiction from the ''[[Cantigas de Santa Maria]]'']]
The Muslims who invaded the [[Iberian Peninsula]] in 711 were mainly Berbers, and were led by a Berber, [[Tariq ibn Ziyad]], under the [[suzerainty]] of the Arab Caliph of [[Damascus]] [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan]] and his North African Viceroy, [[Musa ibn Nusayr]].<ref name=Collins1994>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797|date=1994|publisher=Blackwell|page=97|edition=Paperback}}</ref> Due to subsequent antagonism between Arabs and Berbers, and due to the fact that most of the histories of al-Andalus were written from an Arab perspective, the Berber role is understated in the available sources.<ref name=Collins1994/> The biographical dictionary of [[Ibn Khallikan]] preserves the record of the Berber predominance in the invasion of 711, in the entry on Tariq ibn Ziyad.<ref name=Collins1994/> A second mixed army of Arabs and Berbers came in 712 under Ibn Nusayr himself. They supposedly helped the Umayyad caliph [[Abd ar-Rahman I]] in al-Andalus, because his mother was a Berber.

English medievalist [[Roger Collins]] suggests that if the forces that invaded the Iberian peninsula were predominantly Berber, it is because there were insufficient Arab forces in Africa to maintain control of Africa and attack Iberia at the same time.{{r|Collins1994|p=98}} Thus, although north Africa had only been conquered about a dozen years previously, the Arabs already employed forces of the defeated Berbers to carry out their next invasion.{{r|Collins1994|p=98}} This would explain the predominance of Berbers over Arabs in the initial invasion. In addition, Collins argues that Berber social organization made it possible for the Arabs to recruit entire tribal units into their armies, making the defeated Berbers excellent military auxiliaries.{{r|Collins1994|p=99}} The Berber forces in the invasion of Iberia came from Ifriqiya or as far away as Tripolitania.<ref name=Collins2014>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Roger|title=Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031|date=2014|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|page=9|edition=Paperback}}</ref>

Governor [[Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani|As-Samh]] distributed land to the conquering forces, apparently by tribe, though it is difficult to determine from the few historical sources available.{{r|Collins1994|p=48–49}} It was at this time that the positions of Arabs and Berbers were regularized across the Iberian peninsula. Berbers were positioned in many of the most mountainous regions of Spain, such as [[Granada]], the [[Pyrenees]], [[Cantabria]], and [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]. Collins suggests this may be because some Berbers were familiar with mountain terrain, whereas the Arabs were not.{{r|Collins1994|p=49–50}} By the late 710s, there was a Berber governor in [[León, Spain|Leon]] or [[Gijón|Gijon]].{{r|Collins1994|p=149}} When [[Pelagius of Asturias|Pelagius]] revolted in [[Kingdom of Asturias|Asturias]], it was against a Berber governor. This revolt challenged As-Samh's plans to settle Berbers in the Galician and Cantabrian mountains, and by the middle of the eighth century it seems there was no more Berber presence in Galicia.{{r|Collins1994|p=49–50}} The expulsion of the Berber garrisons from central Asturias, following the [[battle of Covadonga]], contributed to the eventual formation of the independent Asturian kingdom.{{r|Collins2014|p=63}}

Many Berbers were settled in what were then the frontier lands near [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], [[Talavera de la Reina|Talavera]], and [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]],{{r|Collins1994|p=195}} Mérida becoming a major Berber stronghold in the eighth century.{{r|Collins1994|p=201}} The Berber garrison in Talavera would later be commanded by [[Amrus ibn Yusuf]] and was involved in military operations against rebels in Toledo in the late 700s and early 800s.{{r|Collins1994|p=210}} Berbers were also initially settled in the eastern Pyrenees and Catalonia.{{r|Collins1994|p=88–89, 195}} They were not settled in the major cities of the south, and were generally kept in the frontier zones away from Cordoba.{{r|Collins1994|p=207}}

Roger Collins cites the work of [[Pierre Guichard]] to argue that Berber groups in Iberia retained their own distinctive social organization.{{r|Collins1994|p=90}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guichard|first1=Pierre|title=Tribus arabes et berbères en al-Andalus|date=1973|location=Paris |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Guichard|first1=Pierre|title=Al-andalus: estructura antropológica de una sociedad islámica en occidente|date=1976|location=Barcelona|publisher=Barral Editores|edition=Spanish translation of French original}}</ref> According to this traditional view of Arab and Berber culture in the Iberian peninsula, Berber society was highly impermeable to outside influences, whereas Arabs became assimilated and Hispanized.{{r|Collins1994|p=90}} Some support for the view that Berbers assimilated less comes from an excavation of an Islamic cemetery in northern Spain, which reveals that the Berbers accompanying the initial invasion brought their families with them from north Africa.<ref name=Collins2014/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Sénac|first1=Philippe|title=Villes et campagnes de Tarraconaise et d'al-Andalus (VIe-XIe siècle): la transition|date=2007|location=Toulouse|publisher=Presses universitaires du Midi|pages=114–124}}</ref>

In 731, the eastern Pyrenees were under the control of Berber forces garrisoned in the major towns under the command of [[Munuza|Munnuza]]. Munnuza attempted a Berber uprising against the Arabs in Spain, citing mistreatment of Berbers by Arabic judges in north Africa, and made an alliance with [[Odo the Great|Duke Eudo]] of [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]]. However, governor [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi|Abd ar-Rahman]] attacked Munnuza before he was ready, and, besieging him, defeated him at [[Cerdanya]]. Because of the alliance with Munnuza, Abd ar-Rahman wanted to punish Eudo, and his punitive expedition ended in the Arab defeat at [[Battle of Tours|Poitiers]].{{r|Collins1994|p=88–90}}

By the time of the governor [[Uqba ibn al-Hajjaj|Uqba]], and possibly as early as 714, the city of [[Pamplona]] was occupied by a Berber garrison.{{r|Collins1994|p=205–206}} An eighth-century cemetery has been discovered with 190 burials all according to Islamic custom, testifying to the presence of this garrison.{{r|Collins1994|p=205–206}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sénac|first1=Philippe|title=Villes et campagnes de Tarraconaise et d'al-Andalus (VIe-XIe siècle): la transition|date=2007|location=Toulouse|publisher=Presses universitaires du Midi|pages=97–138}}</ref> In 798, however, Pamplona is recorded as being under a [[Banu Qasi]] governor, Mutarrif ibn Musa. Ibn Musa lost control of Pamplona to a popular uprising. In 806 Pamplona gave its allegiance to the [[Franks]], and in 824 became the independent [[Kingdom of Navarre|Kingdom of Pamplona]]. These events put an end to the Berber garrison in Pamplona.{{r|Collins1994|p=206–208}}

Medieval Egyptian historian [[Ibn Abd al-Hakam|Al-Hakam]] wrote that there was a major [[Berber Revolt|Berber revolt]] in north Africa in 740–741, led by [[Maysara al-Matghari|Masayra]]. The ''Chronicle of 754'' calls these rebels Arures, which Collins translates as 'heretics', arguing it is a reference to the Berber rebels' Ibadi or [[Kharijites|Khariji]] sympathies.{{r|Collins1994|p=107}} After [[Charles Martel]] attacked Arab ally [[Maurontus]] at [[Marseille]] in 739, governor Uqba planned a punitive attack against the Franks, but news of a Berber revolt in north Africa made him turn back when he reached [[Zaragoza]].{{r|Collins1994|p=92}} Instead, according to the ''Chronicle of 754'', Uqba carried out an attack against Berber fortresses in Africa. Initially, these attacks were unsuccessful; but eventually Uqba destroyed the rebels, secured all the crossing points to Spain, and then returned to his governorship.{{r|Collins1994|p=105–106}}

Although Masayra was killed by his own followers, the revolt spread and the Berber rebels defeated three Arab armies.{{r|Collins1994|p=106–108}} After the defeat of the third army, which included elite units of Syrians commanded by [[Kulthum ibn Iyadh al-Kushayri|Kulthum]] and [[Balj ibn Bishr al-Qushayri|Balj]], the Berber revolt spread further. At this time, the Berber military colonies in Spain revolted.{{r|Collins1994|p=108}} At the same time, Uqba died and was replaced by [[Abd al-Malik ibn Katan al-Fihri|Ibn Qatan]]. By this time, the Berbers controlled most of the north of the Iberian peninsula, except for the Ebro valley, and were menacing Toledo. Ibn Qatan invited Balj and his Syrian troops, who were at that time in [[Ceuta]], to cross to the Iberian peninsula to fight against the Berbers.{{r|Collins1994|p=109–110}}

The Berbers marched south in three columns, simultaneously attacking Toledo, Cordoba, and the ports on the Gibraltar strait. However, Ibn Qatan's sons defeated the army attacking Toledo, the governor's forces defeated the attack on Cordoba, and Balj defeated the attack on the strait. After this, Balj seized power by marching on Cordoba and executing Ibn Qatan.{{r|Collins1994|p=108}} Collins points out that Balj's troops were away from Syria just when the Abbasid revolt against the Umayyads broke out, and this may have contributed to the fall of the Umayyad regime.{{r|Collins1994|p=121}}

In Africa, the Berbers were hampered by divided leadership. Their attack on Kairouan was defeated, and a new governor of Africa, [[Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi|Hanzala ibn Safwan]], proceeded to defeat the rebels in Africa and then to impose peace between Balj's troops and the existing Andalusi Arabs.{{r|Collins1994|p=110–111}}

Roger Collins argues that the Great Berber revolt facilitated the establishment of the Kingdom of Asturias and altered the demographics of the Berber population in the Iberian peninsula, specifically contributing to the Berber departure from the northwest of the peninsula.{{r|Collins1994|p=150–151}} When the Arabs first invaded the peninsula, Berber groups were situated in the northwest. However, due to the Berber revolt, the Umayyad governors were forced to protect their southern flank and were unable to mount an offense against the Asturians. Some presence of Berbers in the northwest may have been maintained at first, but after the 740s there is no more mention of the northwestern Berbers in the sources.{{r|Collins1994|p=150–151, 153–154}}