The Arab Governors (705 to 800)
In the seventh century AD, the whole of Maghreb/Andalusia became a
province in the Omeyyad Empire with Kairouan as its capital. Moussa Ibn
Nusayr, the first "wali" (governor) to be no longer under the
command of Egypt, answered directly to the caliph. He took on the rather
delicate mission of pursuing the conquest of Andalusia, already set on
its way by Berber chief, Tarak Ibn Ziyad. His successors would have to
deal with frequent Berber uprisings in the Maghreb. These insurrections
enflamed the region at least until 743.
At the same time, internal quarrels, due to the rebellion of the
great-grandson of Oqba Ibn Nafa, Abderahmen Ibn Habib (746 - 759),
gradually put an end to Omeyyad power (751). Ifriqiya obtained its
independence. However, the province rapidly degenerated into an anarchic
jumble of different succession disputes and Kharijite uprisings. The
Abbasids of Baghdad, successors to the Omeyyads of Damas, reimposed
order in Ifriqiya. In 767, Ibn Al Ashat was able to avert the Kharijite
danger, but rebellions in his own regiments forced him to retreat to the
East. Out of Egypt, a second army, lead by Yazid Ibn hatim (771 - 786),
was confronted with the same kind of difficulties. The last years of the
eighth century AD were stigmatised by a succession of uprisings and
military coups.