The Origins of the Islamic State/Part 5/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III
The Conquest of Barḳah and Zawîlah
Barḳah makes terms. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from ʿAbdallâh ibn-Hubairah:—After reducing Alexandria, ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi led his army intent upon the conquest of al-Maghrib [Mauritania] until he arrived in Barḳah, the chief city of Anṭâbulus,[1] whose inhabitants made terms on a poll-tax of 13,000 dînârs to be raised as the price of those of their children whom they desired to sell.[2]
Bakr ibn-al-Haitham from ʿAbdallâh ibn-Hubairah:—After investing and fighting the people of Anṭâbulus and its city, Barḳah,[3] which lay between Egypt and Ifrîḳiyah [Africa == Tunis], ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi made terms with them, stipulating that they pay a poll-tax which might include the price of those of their children whom they desired to sell. ʿAmr wrote a statement to that effect.
Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from Isḥâḳ ibn-ʿAbdallâh ibn-abi-Farwah:—The inhabitants of Barḳah used to send their kharâj to the governor of Egypt without having anyone come to urge them for it.[4] Their land was the most fertile land of al-Maghrib, and it never saw an insurrection.
Al-Wâḳidi states that ʿAbdallâh ibn-ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi used to say, " Had it not been for my possessions in al-Ḥijâz, I would live in Barḳah, because I know of no place that is more safe or isolated than it."
ʿAmr's report to ʿUmar. Bakr ibn-al-Haitham from Muʿâwiyah ibn-Ṣâliḥ:—ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi wrote to ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb informing him that he had appointed ʿUḳbah ibn-Nâfiʿ al-Fihri governor of al-Maghrib and that the latter had reached as far as Zawîlah. He also informed him that peace prevailed among all between Zawîlah[5] and Barḳah, that their allegiance was strong and that the Moslems among them had paid ṣadaḳah and the "people of the covenant" acknowledged the poll-tax imposed. ʿAmr also wrote that he had assessed on the inhabitants of Zawîlah and on those living in the region between his town and Zawîlah, what he saw would be tolerated by them, and ordered all his ʿâmils to collect ṣadaḳah from the rich to be distributed among the poor, and poll-tax from the dhimmis to be carried to ʿAmr in Egypt, and to raise from Moslem lands the tithe and half the tithe, and from those who capitulated, what had been agreed upon.
The origin of the Berbers. Bakr ibn-al-Haitham once told me, "I asked ʿAbdallâh ibn-Ṣâliḥ regarding the Berbers,[6] and he said, 'They claim to be the descendants of Barr ibn-Ḳais; but Ḳais had no son with the name, Barr. In fact they are descended from the race of the giants [Philistines] against whom David fought. In ancient times, their home was Palestine; and they were tent-dwellers. Later on, they came to al-Maghrib, where they multiplied'."
The Berbers of Luwâtah. Abu-ʿUbaid al-Ḳâsim ibn-Sallâm from Yazîd ibn-abi-Ḥabîb:—ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi made this a condition on the Berber inhabitants of Luwâtah[7] at Barḳah. "Ye have to sell your children and wives in order to pay the poll-tax on you." Commenting on this, al-Laith said, "If they were slaves, that would not be a legal thing for them to do."
Bakr ibn-al-Haitham from Yazîd ibn-abi-Ḥabîb:—ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz wrote regarding the Luwâtah women, "Whoever has a Luwâtah woman, let him either be engaged to her through her father, or return her to her people." Luwâtah[8] is a village inhabited by Berbers who had a covenant.
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ Pentapolis. Khurdâdhbih, p. 91. Cf. Caetani, vol. iv, p. 534.
- ↑ Caetani in vol. iv, p. 533, nota, thinks it must have meant the right to offer to the Moslems their children as slaves according to a fixed price.
- ↑ Barca. Butler, p. 429.
- ↑ As-Suyûṭi, Ḥusn al-Muḥâḍarah, vol. i, p. 86.
- ↑ Ṭabari, vol. i, p. 2646.
- ↑ See article on Berbers in the Encyclopedia of Islâm.
- ↑ Butler, p. 430.
- ↑ Cf. Khurdâdhbih, pp. 90 and 91; ibn-Khaldûn, Kitâb al-ʿIbar fi-Aîyâm al-ʿArab w-al-ʿAjam w-al-Barbar, vol. ii2, p. 128 (Bûlâḳ, 1284).