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741-745] spread among the latter. And as the Arabs had now lost their readiness for battle by reason of their tribal feuds, the Berbers ventured, under the Caliph Hishām, openly to secede. After local revolts, which were quickly suppressed, a serious rebellion began in the extreme west. The whole territory of what is now called Morocco within a short period shook off the domination of the Arabs (741). Hishām hereupon sent a powerful army, composed of the best Syrian troops, to Africa, and it was intended that this force should co-operate with the garrisons already there. But the feuds amongst the Arabs themselves more than counterbalanced their better equipment, and in consequence the Berbers won a mighty victory (741) at the river Sebu, or, as the best Latin authority gives it, "super fluvium Nauam," and thus put in doubt the supremacy of the Arabs. Later on numerous fugitives crossed over into Spain and brought new confusion into the confusion there prevailing. But here as there for a short period the authority of Damascus was once more restored. Ḥanẓala ibn Ṣafwān, the new governor, managed by time-honoured methods to prevent common action on the part of the Berbers, and then later vanquished the main body of the Berber troops (742) at Aṣnām, not far from Ḳairawān. His representative, 'Abu-l-Khaṭṭar, then enforced order in Spain. The Berber revolt was thus broken, but it was the Berbers notwithstanding, and not the Arabs, who decided the destinies of the countries. Though the majority returned to Muslim orthodoxy, remnants of the Khārijites have maintained their position in Northern Africa even to the present day, under the name of Ibāḍites.

This peace lasted scarcely three years. Spain arose out of the new tumults as an independent State, for which a period of high prosperity was in prospect. In North Africa too a series of independent States was gradually formed. After the residence of the Caliph had been removed nearer to Central Asia it was probably natural that the Mediterranean territories, inhabited by a vigorous population, should begin a separate existence as States. After the fall of the Umayyads the countries to the east of Baṛka, permeated by the Saracen expansion, only occasionally and then only nominally held common cause with the Eastern Empire. The first usurper preserved at least the appearance of dependence. In the year 745 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān ibn Ḥabīb, of the tribe of Fihr, declared himself in Tunis independent of the governor Ḥanẓala, who had conducted the affairs of the Maghrib since the revolt of Ḳairawān. Belonging to a race long tried and approved on African soil, 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān could count on followers by reason of the universal discontent. By a brutal intrigue he compelled Ḥanẓala to leave Africa without drawing the sword. The last of the Umayyads, Marwan, subsequently legalised the de facto authority of 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān. For this 'Abd-ar-Raḥmān paid a small tribute and named the Caliph in his pulpit prayers, but he was otherwise his own master; and his position was not influenced by the change in the dynasty in the East. When the rule of