ABSTRACT
North Africa was both one of the greatest achievements of the Umayyad Caliphate and its greatest failure. Conquered later than other regions and with more difficulty, many of its peoples – the ‘Berbers’ – joined the Muslim armies. This chapter presents a critical account of the Umayyad conquest and the nature of Umayyad rule in North Africa. North Africa was a heavily militarised frontier province characterised by stark distinctions between the new Muslim community and local populations. These divisions, teamed with tensions between Arab and Berber soldiers, explain why North Africa was the first region to leave the Caliphate.
