Berber Kharijite Revolts

Timeline

1. 740–742around Kairouan · TunisiaAfter the Arab conquest, Berber tribes were forced to pay heavy tribute and held low political status. Kharijite preachers emphasized Muslim equality and opposed hereditary caliphs, spreading rapidly among the Berbers and providing a religious and ideological basis for later armed resistance.
2. 742–757Tlemcen region · AlgeriaBerber Kharijite leaders organized armed revolts, controlling inland Tunisia and the mountainous west of Algeria. Umayyad authorities dispatched generals such as Hassan ibn Nu'man to suppress them; the rebel regimes and Arab garrisons fought back and forth, with some Berber polities maintaining autonomy between crackdowns.
3. 757–777Sijilmasa · MoroccoIn southern Morocco, Berber regimes bearing the Kharijite banner emerged, such as the precursor to the Midrar dynasty, controlling Saharan trade routes. Though distant from the Umayyad center, these polities provided a political tradition for later local Islamic states in Morocco.