Arab migrations to the Maghreb

Arab migrations to the Maghreb
The Arab migrations to the Maghreb was the centuries-long process of Arab people migrating and settling in the Maghreb region of North Africa (excluding Egypt), encompassing modern-day Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The process lasted from the early 7th century to the 17th century.
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 and later Arab dynasties. However, the most significant wave of Arab migration occurred in the 11th century with the arrival of more Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula, such as Banu Hilal, Banu Sulaym, and Maqil. The last significant wave of Arab migration to the Maghreb was from Al-Andalus in the 17th century as a result of the Reconquista. These migrants established numerous Arab empires and dynasties in the Maghreb, such as the Aghlabids, Idrisids, Sulaymanids, Salihids, Fatimids, Saadians and 'Alawites.
The Arab migrations to the Maghreb had a profound impact on the demographics and culture of the Maghreb. It resulted in significant Arab demographic growth, the Arabization of the Berber populations and the spread of the Arabic language and Arab culture throughout the region.
Migrations
Rashidun and Umayyad era (7th–8th century)
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. 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. 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. During the earliest Muslim conquests in the 7th to 8th centuries, about 150,000 Arabs settled in the Maghreb.
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 or 8th century. 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.
The Umayyad conquest brought in 40,000 Arab troops who had originally served in Egypt. These troops and their descendants became a hereditary ruling class, with very few elites being outsiders. These soldiers were rewarded with land grants, creating an Arab aristocracy with substantial territory, cultivated mostly 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 (modern-day Tunisia) and Andalusi society. There were other powerful Arab settlers who briefly appeared in the sources, especially those of Qurayshi ancestry. Arab settlers mostly settled in cities, such as Kairouan, until the migration of the nomadic Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in the 11th century. During this time, the majority of Maghrebi Arabs were Qahtanites from South Arabia.
The Umayyad Caliphate was aware of the importance of the spread and settlement of Arabs in the Maghreb to the Caliph. 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".
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.
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 increased in numbers due to the anti-Kharijite wars against the Rustamid dynasty. 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. The organization of the Aghlabid army was largely based on the Arab tribes who settled in Ifriqiya in the late 7th and 8th 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. These troops were called the jund, descendants of Arab tribesmen who had participated in the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. They often rebelled against the Aghlabid regime.
In 789, Ali ibn Abi Talib's descendant 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. 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.
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. Arab immigration from the Mashriq to the Maghreb increased during periods of unrest and disorder.
Arab tribes in the Maghreb (9th century)
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 western 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.
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.
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.
Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym (11th century)
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.
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".
Upon arriving in Cyrenaica, the Arab nomads found the region almost empty of its inhabitants, except a few Zenata Berbers that Al-Mu'izz had already mostly destroyed. The number of Hilalians who moved westward out of Egypt has been estimated as high as 200,000 families. Cyrenaica was left to be settled by Banu Sulaym while the Hilalians marched westwards. As a result of the settlement by Arab tribes, Cyrenaica became the most Arab place in the Arab world after the interior of Arabia. According to Ibn Khaldun, the Arab tribes 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. The Zirids abandoned Kairouan to take refuge on the coast where they survived for a century. The Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym spread on the high plains of Constantine where they gradually obstructed the Qal'at Bani Hammad as they had done to Kairouan a few decades ago. From there, they gradually gained control over the high plains of Algiers and Oran. In the second half of the 12th century, they went to the Moulouya valley and the Atlantic coast in the western Maghreb to areas such as Doukkala.
They heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb into Arab culture, and spread nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant. 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. 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. 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.
Sources estimated that the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century was at around 1 million Arabs. Historian Mármol Carvajal estimated that more than a million Hilalians migrated to the Maghreb between 1051-1110, and estimated that the Hilalian population at his time in 1573 was at 4,000,000 individuals, excluding other Arab tribes and other Arabs already present.
Almohad and Marinid era (12th–15th century)
To weaken resistance by Arab tribes in Ifriqiya, the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min transferred them to Morocco in large numbers and settled them in the Atlantic plains in the 12th century. The region was formerly inhabited by the Barghawata tribal group, however this area was largely destroyed and depopulated by the Almoravids in their war against the heretic Barghawata, and it was depopulated again by an Almohad expedition in 1149–1150 and again in 1197–1198 to suppress revolts against them in the region. The Almohads helped the Arab tribes pass the barriers of the Atlas Mountains, and accelerated their expansion to Morocco to complete the nomadic Bedouin predominance over the lowlands of the Maghreb as far as the Atlantic coastal plains.
Historian Roland Oliver noted that "The influx of the Arabs added to the complexity of the ethnic population of Morocco and introduced a significant non-Berber element." They increasingly played an important role in the politics of the Almohad Empire. Abd al-Mu'min expected opposition from the Masmuda to whom he was a stranger, so he gained Arab support to secure the succession of his son. With the decline of the Almohad army, the Arab nomads became the most powerful force in the Moroccan plains, and no ruler could have held authority there without their support. The later 'Alawite dynasty came to power in the 17th century with the help of these Arab tribes, who they mobilized against the powerful Berber principality of Dila'iyyah.
Under the Marinid dynasty (1244–1465), the Arabs grew in importance in Morocco. Due to the lack of Zenata supporters, they welcomed the support of Arab nomads who already began to penetrate into the country under the Almohads. The Zenata were heavily assimilated into Arab culture and the Marinid Makhzan (government) composed of both Arabs and Zenata. This led to the expansion of Arab tribes into Morocco where they settled in the plains, and many Berber groups were Arabized. Under the Marinids, Arabic became both the common and official language. Like the Marinids, the Zayyanid dynasty of the Kingdom of Tlemcen had to rely on Arab nomads for soldiers.
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. They adapted to the climatic desert conditions of the Maghreb, discovering the same way of life as in the Arabian Peninsula. In the 13th century, the Ma'qilis occupied southern Algeria, including the oasis towns of Tuat and Gourara. For some authors, at this point, the Ma'qil had already split into many tribes in the Maghreb and had given rise to the Beni Hassan along with other Ma'qili tribes.
The Beni Hassan expanded southwest and occupied Sanhaja lands in the 13th century after invading and defeating the Berber confederation. The Sanhaja has long had to pay tribute to the nomadic Bedouin Hassani invaders. The invasion was quick and effective and happened around the year 1250, by the end of the Almohad Caliphate. Additionally, the Beni Hassan dominated the valleys of the Moulouya, Draa, Sous, as well as the Tafilalt oasis region.
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. 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.
Historian Harry T. 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".
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. 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. Accustomed to urban life, they settled in urban cities in the Maghreb, including Fez, Rabat and Tangiers in Morocco, Tlemcen and Constantine in Algeria, and 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. This event greatly increased the process of Arabization in the Maghreb from the 15th to the 17th century. 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.
Causes
There were multiple factors that caused Arabs to migrate to the Maghreb. The first Arabs arrived in the 7th century with the goals of conquering Byzantine territories in the Maghreb and spreading Islam to the local populations, as well as protecting Egypt "from flank attack by Byzantine Cyrene" according to historian Will Durant. The later Arabs that arrived in the 11th century were driven by factors such as instability and political unrest in the Mashriq, compelling them to settle in the Maghreb in search of security and stability. Arab immigration from the Mashriq to the Maghreb increased during periods of unrest and disorder. A notable example of this was during the period of severe drought in Egypt due to a fall in the level of the Nile river, as well as plague and economic crisis. This encouraged Arab Bedouin tribes such as Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym to settle in the Maghreb, which enjoyed a better economic situation at the time. The Fatimid caliph further persuaded them to march westwards by giving each tribesman a camel and money and helping them cross from the east to the west bank of the Nile.
Other Arab nomads were encouraged to settle in the Maghreb by local Arab dynasties, such as the Idrisids, Aghlabids, Salihids and Fatimids, to fulfil the Arabization of the non-Arab populations. Commercial activities such as the Trans-Saharan trade boosted the expansion of Islam and spread of Arabic, and trade with the Mashriq brought several Arab groups to the Maghreb. The Arab emigrants to the Maghreb from the 15th to the 17th century were largely refugees from Al-Andalus who left Christian Spanish persecution following the Fall of Granada in 1492.
Impact
Arabization
A major effect of the Arab migrations to the Maghreb was the Arabization of its population. With the large-scale arrival of Arab migrants, the indigenous Berber population underwent a process of Arabization, in which they adopted Arab culture and language. 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 major towns through the influence of Arabs in the cities and rural areas surrounding them.
The migration of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in the 11th century had a much greater influence on the process of Arabization than the migration beforehand. 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. It also heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb into Arab culture, and spread Bedouin nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant. 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.
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. 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. 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. The Berbers were the only people to be incorporated into the Umayyad armies and to have converted to Islam on such a large scale.
Nomadization
The influx of Arab tribes of the 11th century into the Maghreb significantly contributed to the desertification and nomadization of the Maghreb. The Banu Hilal conquered lands which they largely destroyed, whose cultivation then began to decline, leading to the rise of nomadism. According to Ibn Khaldun, the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become desertified and turned into completely arid desert. As Arab nomads spread, the territories of the local Berber tribes moved and shrank. The Zenata were pushed to the west and the Kabyles were pushed to the north. The Berbers took refuge in the mountains whereas the plains were Arabized. The arrival of the Banu Hilal, followed by the Banu Sulaym in the 12th century, broke the balance between nomads and sedentary populations in favor of the nomads. For strategic reasons, the Almohads gave over the Atlantic plains of the western Maghreb to them.
Genetics
A study from 2002 revealed that the second most-frequent Haplogroup in the Maghreb was Haplogroup J1-M267 (Eu10), which originated in the Middle East (the highest frequency of 30%–62.5% has been observed in Muslim Arab populations in the Middle East). The study found out that the majority of Eu10 chromosomes in the Maghreb are due to the recent gene flow caused by the Arab migrations to the Maghreb in the first millennium CE. Both southern Qahtanite and northern Adnanite Arabs added to the heterogenous Maghrebi ethnic melting pot. Therefore it has been established that the Eu10 chromosome pool in the Maghreb is derived not only from early Neolithic dispersions but to a much greater extent from recent expansions of Arab tribes from the Arabian Peninsula. The results of a more recent study from 2017 suggested that the Arab migrations to the Maghreb were mainly a demographic process that heavily implied gene flow and remodeled the genetic structure of the Maghreb, rather than a mere cultural replacement as claimed by older studies. Haplogroup J1-M267 accounts for around 30% of Maghrebis and is assumed to have spread out of the Arabia Peninsula into North Africa, second after E1b1b1b which accounts for 45% of Maghrebis. According to a study from 2021, the highest frequency of the Middle Eastern component ever observed in North Africa so far was observed in the Arabs of Wesletia in Tunisia, who had a Middle Eastern component frequency of 71.8%. According to a study from 2004, Haplogroup J1 had a frequency of 35% in Algerians and 34.2% in Tunisians. Recent genome-wide analysis of North Africans found substantial shared ancestry with the Middle East, and to a lesser extent sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. This recent gene flow caused by the Arab migrations increased genetic similarities between North Africans and Middle Easterners.
Contemporary demographics
Arab tribes
These Arab tribes settled in the Maghreb and emerged into several contemporary sub-tribes. The most notable Arab tribes of Morocco include Abda, Ahl Rachida, Azwafit, Banu Ma'qil, Banu Tamim, Beni Ahsen, Beni 'Amir, Beni Guil, Beni Ḥassān, Banu Hilal, Beni Khirane, Beni Mathar, Beni Moussa, Banu Sulaym, Beni Zemmour, Chaouia, Doukkala, Hyayna, Khlout, Mzab, Oulad Delim, Oulad Tidrarin, Oulad Zyan, Rahamna, Sless, Zaër, Zyayda. There are several tribes of Bedouin origin throughout Tunisia, such as Banu Hudhayl and Shammar, however they are not very nomadic nowadays and they mostly live in towns. The major Arab tribes in Libya are Qadhadhfa, Magarha, Warfalla, Firjan, Saʿada and Murabtin, Masamir, Zuwayya, Awlad Busayf, Awlad Sulayman and Abaydat. The most well known Arab tribes of Algeria are Chaamba, Dhouaouda, Doui-Menia, Ghenanma, Beni Hassan, Ouled Djerir, Awlad Sidi Shaykh, Banu Tamim, Banu Hilal, Banu Sulaym, Thaaliba, Ouled Nail, Beni Amer, Hamyan and many more. Bedouin tribes in Algeria primarily live in the Algerian Desert.
Arabic dialects
The Arab migrations led to the emergence of Bedouin dialects in the Maghreb, commonly known as Hilalian dialects. These dialects are spoken in various regions, including the Atlantic plains in Morocco, the High Plains and Sahara regions in Algeria, the Sahel in Tunisia, and the regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in Libya. The Bedouin dialects can be classified into four primary varieties: Sulaymi dialects (Libya and southern Tunisia), Eastern Hilalian dialects (central Tunisia and eastern Algeria), Central Hilalian dialects (south and central Algeria), Ma'qili dialects (western Algeria and Morocco) and Hassaniya dialects (Mauritania, Western Sahara and southern Morocco; also classified as Maqil). In Morocco, Bedouin Arabic dialects are spoken in plains and in recently founded cities such as Casablanca. Thus, the city Arabic dialect shares with the Bedouin dialects gal 'to say' (qala); they also represent the bulk of modern urban dialects, such as those of Oran and Algiers.
Demographics
Today, the Arabs make up the majority of the population of the countries of the Maghreb, comprising 70% to 80% of Algeria, 92% to 97% of Libya, 67% to 70% of Morocco and 98% of Tunisia.
See also
History of the Arabs
Spread of Islam
Notes
References
Arab history
Tribes of Arabia
Arab tribes in Algeria
Arab tribes in Morocco
Arab tribes in Western Sahara
Arab tribes in Mauritania
Maghreb
Bedouins
Bedouins in Africa
Historical migrations