Kahina
Amazigh warrior-queen who led Berber resistance against Arab conquest.
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She united Amazigh tribes to resist the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb and became the uncontested ruler of the region for five years.[1][2] Her title al-Kāhina, meaning "priestess soothsayer," was given by Muslim opponents who believed she could foresee the future.[2] In the 7th century, an Amazigh religious and military leader from the Aurès region (now part of Algeria) was known as Al-Kahina and also called Dihya.[3]
Last updated 2026-10-07 from the source article.
Life and work
In 698, she demolished the city of Baghaya upon hearing of Hassan ibn al-Nu'man's arrival, then defeated him decisively at the Battle of Meskiana in present-day Oum el-Bouaghi province.[4] Believing the Muslims came for riches, she embarked on a scorched earth campaign that lost her the support of sedentary oasis-dwellers.[5] According to sources, the individual's name was Dihya or Dahya, and the available accounts place her death in what is now Algeria near the close of the 7th or start of the 8th century.[2]
What the cited sources add
Becker reports that since the 9th century, accounts of the Kahina have been rewritten by Arabs, Berbers, Muslims, Jews, and French colonial writers to advance diverse causes.[6] Becker states that a statue of the Kahina was erected in the Algerian town of Baghaï in 2003 by L'Association Aurès El-Kahina.[6] Becker also notes that the President of the Defense of the Arab Language, Othmane Saadi, called the statue's construction blasphemy because she fought to prevent Islam's spread.[6] Becker writes that Amazigh activists view the Kahina alongside Massinissa and Jugurtha to demonstrate Berbers' deep history before the Arabs arrived.[6]
Becker adds that the Kahina symbolizes Berbers as a people who refuse to be subjugated and fight to retain their freedom.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Kahina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The History of Anti-Semitism, Volume 2: From Mohammed to the Marranos Leon Poliakov University of Pennsylvania Press; Remarkable Jewish Women: Rebels, Rabbis, and Other Women from Biblical Times to the Present Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry Jewish Publication Society,; History of North Africa: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco: From the Arab Conquest to 1830 Charles André Julien Praeger; The Jews of North Africa: From Dido to De Gaulle Sarah Taieb-Carlen University Press of America, (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kahina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Modéran, "Kahena", Edisud, 2005, p. 4102–4111 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kahina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Abdelaziz Bouras et Mohamed Eddarhor, ; *Apprendre la langue tamazight*, 2006, Dar El Hadita, Casablanca, , p. 123.; Modéran, "Kahena", Edisud, 2005, p. 4102–4111 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kahina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Talbi (1971) suggests that based on the topography reported by al-Mālikī, the actual battlefield was the Wadi Nīnī.; "Histoire du Maghreb médiéval: VIIe-XIe siècle", 2012, p. 111 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kahina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: See Talbi (1971) and Modéran (2005). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Becker, Cynthia, "The Kahina: The Female Face of Berber History". Mizan Project. October 26, 2015. Accessed April 15, 2018.. facts only, no text reused. mizanproject.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kahina (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Kahina (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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