Bagdoura, Battle of
741 CE
The Battle of Bagdoura (or Baqdura) is a decisive confrontation in the Berber Revolt in late 741 CE.
It is a follow-up to the Battle of the Nobles the previous year, and results in a major Berber victory over the Arabs by the Sebou river (near modern Fes).
The battle will permanently break the hold of the Umayyad Caliphate over the far western Maghreb (Morocco), and the resulting retreat of elite Syrian forces into Spain will have implications for the stability of al-Andalus.
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The Berber and Arab armies finally clash at the Battle of Bagdoura (or Baqdura) in October–November, 741, by the Sebou river (near modern Fes).
Disdaining the experience and cautious advice of the Ifriqiyans, Kulthum ibn Iyad makes several serious tactical errors.
Berber skirmishers dehorse and isolated the Syrian cavalry, while the Berber foot falls upon the Arab infantry with overwhelming numbers.
The Arab armies are quickly routed.
By some estimates, two-thirds of the Arab army are killed or captured by the Berbers at Bagdoura.
Among the casualties are the new governor Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi and the Ifriqiyan commander Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri.
The Syrian regiments, now reduced to some ten thousand, are pulled together by Kulthum's nephew, Balj ibn Bishr and scramble up towards the straits, where they hope to get passage across the water to Spain.
A small Ifriqiyan contingent, under Habib's son Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri, joins the Syrians in their flight, but …
…the rest of the Ifriqiyan forces flee in disorder back to Kairouan.
The bulk of the Berber rebel army sets off in pursuit of the Syrians, and lays siege to them in Ceuta.
The Zenata Berber leader Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati, who has delivered the two great victories over the Arab armies, disappears from the chronicles shortly after Bagdoura, but news of the defeat emboldens hitherto quiet Berber tribes to join the revolt.
Berber uprisings erupt across the Maghreb and al-Andalus.
The most immediate threat arises in southern Ifriqiya, where the Sufrite leader Oqasha ibn Ayub al-Fezari raises a Berber army and lays siege to Gabès and …
…Gafsa.
The Kairouan qadi Abd al-Rahman ibn Oqba al-Ghaffari manages to defeat and disperse Oqasha's forces near Gafsa in December, 741, by a rapid sally south with the remnant of the Ifriqiyan army, but the qadi possesses far fewer Arab troops to put up a pursuit, and …
…Oqasha immediately sets about reassembling his forces quietly around Tobna in the Zab valley of western Ifriqiya.