Kahina, al-
Kahina, al- (d. 698). The Arabic word means “the sorceress” and indicates the woman who was the guiding spirit of Berber resistance to the Arab invaders who were led into North Africa by Hassan ibn al-Nu‘man after the collapse of Byzantine power marked by the fall of Carthage in 692.
After the destruction of Carthage, the mountain people of the Aures (Algeria), who had fiercely fought for their independence against the Vandals and the Byzantines during the preceding two hundred years, rose up in revolt against the Arabs under the leadership of a woman the Arabs called “al-Kahina” – “the sorceress.” Reasoning that the Arabs were only interested in her country’s wealth, al-Kahina decided to pursue a scorched earth policy. Al-Kahina ordered her followers to cut down all the trees of the Aures in hopes that if she turned her land into a desert, the Arabs would leave. The deforestation ordered by al-Kahina did help to create the desert which is the legacy that remains today.
As for the Arabs, the desert had always been their home, and al-Kahina’s strategy failed. Al-Kahina, unable to surrender herself but seeing that the Arabs were not going to leave advised her sons to join the Arabs -- which they ultimately did.
Al-Kāhina (Classical Arabic for "female seer"; modern Maghreb Arabic l-Kahna, commonly romanised as Kah(i)na, also known as Dihya or Kahya) was a 7th century female Berber religious and military leader, who led indigenous resistance to Arab expansion in Northwest Africa, the region then known as Numidia, known as the Maghreb today. She was born in the early 7th century and died around the end of the 7th century probably in modern day Algeria.
Her real name was said to be Dihyā, Dahyā or Damiya (the Arabic spellings are difficult to distinguish between these variants). al-Kāhinat (the female soothsayer) was the nickname used by her Muslim opponents because of her reputed ability to foresee the future.
Over four centuries after her death, Tunisian hagiographer al-Mālikī seems to have been among the first to state she resided in the Aurès Mountains. Just on seven centuries after her death, the pilgrim at-Tijani was told she belonged to the Lūwāta tribe. When the later historian Ibn Khaldun came to write his account, he placed her with the Jrāwa tribe.
According to various sources, l-Kahna was the daughter of Tabat, or some say Mātiya. These sources depend on tribal genealogies, which were generally concocted for political reasons during the 9th century.
Accounts from the nineteenth century on claim she was a Jew or that her tribe were Judaized Berbers, though scholars dispute this. According to al-Mālikī she was said to have been accompanied in her travels by what the Arabs called an "idol", possibly an icon of the Virgin or one of the Christian saints, but certainly not something associated with Jewish religious customs.
Dihyā may have been of mixed descent: Berber and Byzantine Christian, since one of her sons is described as a 'yunani' or Greek.[9]
Ibn Khaldun records many legends about l-Kahna. A number of them refer to her long hair or great size, both legendary characteristics of sorcerers. She is also supposed to have had the gift of prophecy and she had three sons, which is characteristic of witches in legends. Even the fact that two were her own and one was adopted (an Arab officer she had captured), was an alleged trait of sorcerers in tales. Another legend claims that in her youth, she had supposedly freed her people from a tyrant by agreeing to marry him and then murdering him on their wedding night. Virtually nothing else of her personal life is known.
The Sorceress see Kahina, al-
Dihya see Kahina, al-
Kahya see Kahina, al-
l-Kahna see Kahina, al-
Kahina, al- (d. 698). The Arabic word means “the sorceress” and indicates the woman who was the guiding spirit of Berber resistance to the Arab invaders who were led into North Africa by Hassan ibn al-Nu‘man after the collapse of Byzantine power marked by the fall of Carthage in 692.
After the destruction of Carthage, the mountain people of the Aures (Algeria), who had fiercely fought for their independence against the Vandals and the Byzantines during the preceding two hundred years, rose up in revolt against the Arabs under the leadership of a woman the Arabs called “al-Kahina” – “the sorceress.” Reasoning that the Arabs were only interested in her country’s wealth, al-Kahina decided to pursue a scorched earth policy. Al-Kahina ordered her followers to cut down all the trees of the Aures in hopes that if she turned her land into a desert, the Arabs would leave. The deforestation ordered by al-Kahina did help to create the desert which is the legacy that remains today.
As for the Arabs, the desert had always been their home, and al-Kahina’s strategy failed. Al-Kahina, unable to surrender herself but seeing that the Arabs were not going to leave advised her sons to join the Arabs -- which they ultimately did.
Al-Kāhina (Classical Arabic for "female seer"; modern Maghreb Arabic l-Kahna, commonly romanised as Kah(i)na, also known as Dihya or Kahya) was a 7th century female Berber religious and military leader, who led indigenous resistance to Arab expansion in Northwest Africa, the region then known as Numidia, known as the Maghreb today. She was born in the early 7th century and died around the end of the 7th century probably in modern day Algeria.
Her real name was said to be Dihyā, Dahyā or Damiya (the Arabic spellings are difficult to distinguish between these variants). al-Kāhinat (the female soothsayer) was the nickname used by her Muslim opponents because of her reputed ability to foresee the future.
Over four centuries after her death, Tunisian hagiographer al-Mālikī seems to have been among the first to state she resided in the Aurès Mountains. Just on seven centuries after her death, the pilgrim at-Tijani was told she belonged to the Lūwāta tribe. When the later historian Ibn Khaldun came to write his account, he placed her with the Jrāwa tribe.
According to various sources, l-Kahna was the daughter of Tabat, or some say Mātiya. These sources depend on tribal genealogies, which were generally concocted for political reasons during the 9th century.
Accounts from the nineteenth century on claim she was a Jew or that her tribe were Judaized Berbers, though scholars dispute this. According to al-Mālikī she was said to have been accompanied in her travels by what the Arabs called an "idol", possibly an icon of the Virgin or one of the Christian saints, but certainly not something associated with Jewish religious customs.
Dihyā may have been of mixed descent: Berber and Byzantine Christian, since one of her sons is described as a 'yunani' or Greek.[9]
Ibn Khaldun records many legends about l-Kahna. A number of them refer to her long hair or great size, both legendary characteristics of sorcerers. She is also supposed to have had the gift of prophecy and she had three sons, which is characteristic of witches in legends. Even the fact that two were her own and one was adopted (an Arab officer she had captured), was an alleged trait of sorcerers in tales. Another legend claims that in her youth, she had supposedly freed her people from a tyrant by agreeing to marry him and then murdering him on their wedding night. Virtually nothing else of her personal life is known.
The Sorceress see Kahina, al-
Dihya see Kahina, al-
Kahya see Kahina, al-
l-Kahna see Kahina, al-
Kakuyids
Kakuyids (Kakwayhids). Dynasty of Daylami origin which ruled over part of west-central Persia (Jibal) during the first half of the eleventh century as virtually independent sovereigns, and thereafter for more than a century as local lords of Yazd, in Fars, tributary to the Saljuqs. The greatest member of the dynasty was ‘Ala’ al-Dawla Muhammad (r.1008-1041).
The Kakūyids (also called Kakwayhids) were a Daylamite (Northern Iranian people) dynasty that held power in Isfahān (c. 1008–c. 1051). They were also the ātābegs (governors) of Yazd and Abarkūh from c. 1051 to the mid-12th century.
The Kakūyids were given control of Isfahān in or before 1008 by the Sayyida, who held the regencies of her young Būyid sons Majd al-Daula of Ray and Shams al-Daula of Hamadān. The man who was given the administration of the city was Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula ibn Kakūya, who was a cousin of Majd al-Daula on his mother's side. Over time, he effectively became independent of Būyid control.
At times Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula acted as an ally of the Būyids; when Shams al-Daula was faced with a revolt in Hamadān, for example, he turned to the Kakūyid for helped. Shortly after Shams al-Daula died and was succeeded by Samā' al-Daula, however, the Kakūyids invaded and took control of Hamadan in 1023 or 1024. They then moved on and seized Ḥulwān from the 'Annāzids. The Būyid Musharrif al-Daula, who ruled over Fars and Iraq, forced the Kakūyids to withdraw from Ḥulwān, but they retained Hamadān. Peace was made between the two sides, and a matrimonial alliance was eventually arranged.
Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula was succeeded in 1041 by his son Farāmurz, while in Hamadān another Kakūyid, Garshasp I Abū Kālījār 'Alā' al-Daula, took power. Farāmurz's reign was cut short by the Seljuks, who after a year-long siege of Isfahān took the city in 1051 or 1052. Despite this, Farāmurz was given Yazd and Abarkūh in fief by the Seljuks. The Kakūyids remained the governors of these provinces until sometime in the mid-12th century; their rule during this time was known for the construction of mosques, canals and fortifications.
Kakwayhids see Kakuyids
Kakuyids (Kakwayhids). Dynasty of Daylami origin which ruled over part of west-central Persia (Jibal) during the first half of the eleventh century as virtually independent sovereigns, and thereafter for more than a century as local lords of Yazd, in Fars, tributary to the Saljuqs. The greatest member of the dynasty was ‘Ala’ al-Dawla Muhammad (r.1008-1041).
The Kakūyids (also called Kakwayhids) were a Daylamite (Northern Iranian people) dynasty that held power in Isfahān (c. 1008–c. 1051). They were also the ātābegs (governors) of Yazd and Abarkūh from c. 1051 to the mid-12th century.
The Kakūyids were given control of Isfahān in or before 1008 by the Sayyida, who held the regencies of her young Būyid sons Majd al-Daula of Ray and Shams al-Daula of Hamadān. The man who was given the administration of the city was Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula ibn Kakūya, who was a cousin of Majd al-Daula on his mother's side. Over time, he effectively became independent of Būyid control.
At times Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula acted as an ally of the Būyids; when Shams al-Daula was faced with a revolt in Hamadān, for example, he turned to the Kakūyid for helped. Shortly after Shams al-Daula died and was succeeded by Samā' al-Daula, however, the Kakūyids invaded and took control of Hamadan in 1023 or 1024. They then moved on and seized Ḥulwān from the 'Annāzids. The Būyid Musharrif al-Daula, who ruled over Fars and Iraq, forced the Kakūyids to withdraw from Ḥulwān, but they retained Hamadān. Peace was made between the two sides, and a matrimonial alliance was eventually arranged.
Ja'far 'Alā' al-Daula was succeeded in 1041 by his son Farāmurz, while in Hamadān another Kakūyid, Garshasp I Abū Kālījār 'Alā' al-Daula, took power. Farāmurz's reign was cut short by the Seljuks, who after a year-long siege of Isfahān took the city in 1051 or 1052. Despite this, Farāmurz was given Yazd and Abarkūh in fief by the Seljuks. The Kakūyids remained the governors of these provinces until sometime in the mid-12th century; their rule during this time was known for the construction of mosques, canals and fortifications.
Kakwayhids see Kakuyids
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