Uqba ibn Nafi
Uqba ibn Nafi ( ) (also referred to as Uqba bin Nafe, Uqba Ibn al Nafia, or Akbah) (
622–
683) was an
Arab general under the
Umayyad dynasty, who began the
Islamic conquest of the
Maghreb, including present-day western
Algeria and
Morocco in
North Africa. He died in
683.
In
670 Uqba led an Arab army to North Africa, crossing the
Egyptian deserts, and setting up military posts at regular intervals along his route. In a desert and inhospitable region of what is now Tunisia, he established the town now called
Kairouan (Kairwan or al Qayrawan, meaning "camp" or "
caravanserai" in
Arabic) about 160 kilometres south of present-day
Tunis, which he used as a base for further operations.
According to one legend, one of Uqba's soldiers stumbled across a golden goblet buried in the sands. It was recognised as one that had disappeared from
Mecca some years before, and when it was dug out of the sand a spring appeared, with waters said to come from the same source as those of the sacred
Zamzam Well in Mecca. This story led to Kairouan becoming a place of
pilgrimage, and then a holy city (the Mecca of the Maghreb) and the most important city in North Africa.
In
683 Uqba was ambushed and killed at
Biskra. His armies evacuated Kairouan and withdrew to
Barqa (though Kairouan was soon recaptured).
Edward Gibbon, referring to Uqba ibn Nafi as
Akbah, gives him the title "conqueror of Africa," beginning his story when he "marched from
Damascus at the head of ten thousand of the bravest Arabs; and the genuine force of the Moslems was enlarged by the doubtful aid and conversion of many thousand Barbarians." He then marched into North Africa. Gibbon continues: "It would be difficult, nor is it necessary, to trace the accurate line of the progress of Akbah." On the North African coast, "the well-known titles of
Bugia, and
Tangier define the more certain limits of the
Saracen victories." Gibbon then tells the story of Akbah's conquest of the
Byzantine province of
Mauretania Tingitana.
The fearless Akbah plunged into the heart of the country, traversed the wilderness in which his successors erected the splendid capitals of
Fez and Morocco, and at length penetrated to the verge of the
Atlantic and the
great desert. . . . The career, though not the zeal, of Akbah was checked by the prospect of a boundless ocean. He spurred his horse into the waves, and raising his eyes to heaven, exclaimed with the tone of a fanatic: "Great God! if my course were not stopped by this sea, I would still go on, to the unknown kingdoms of the West, preaching the unity of thy holy name, and putting to the sword the rebellious nations who worship another gods than thee." Yet this Mahometan Alexander, who sighed for new worlds, was unable to preserve his recent conquests. By the universal defection of the Greeks and Africans he was recalled from the shores of the Atlantic, and the surrounding multitudes left him only the resource of an honourable death. The last scene was dignified by an example of national virtue. An ambitious chief, who had disputed the command and failed in the attempt, was led about as a prisoner in the camp of the Arabian general. The insurgents had trusted to his discontent and revenge; he disdained their offers and revealed their designs. In the hour of danger, the grateful Akbah unlocked his fetters, and advised him to retire; he chose to die under the banner of his rival. Embracing as friends and martyrs, they unsheathed their scimeters, broke their scabbards, and maintained an obstinate combat, till they fell by each other's side on the last of their slaughtered countrymen.
*
Islamic conquest of North Africa*
Muslim conquests*Edward Gibbon,
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter 51
