| Battle of Meskiana | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Muslim conquest of North Africa | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Umayyad Caliphate | Berber tribes | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Hasan ibn al-Nu'man | Dihya | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Heavy losses A number of Arab soldiers captured | Unknown | ||||||||
The Battle of Meskiana occurred in North Africa in 698 between the Umayyad forces of Hassan ibn al-Nu'man and Queen Dihya.
According to the historian Ibn Idhari after destroying Carthage, Hassan ibn al-Nu'man inquired about the most powerful chief in all of Africa.[1] He was told that it was Queen Dihya whom all the Berbers obeyed and that if he defeated her he would succeed in submitting the entire Maghreb.[1]
In 698, Hassan ibn al-Nu'man attempted to seize the Aurès but he was defeated by Dihya and forced to retreat to Libya.[1][5] The Umayyad army suffered heavy losses and a number of Arab soldiers were captured.[1][5] Following this victory Queen Dihya became the uncontested ruler of the entire Maghreb for around five years.[1][2][3][4]