Kingdom of Altava

Kingdom of Altava
578–708
The Kingdom of Altava (1) and other romanized berber kingdoms of the early sixth century.
The Kingdom of Altava (1) and other romanized berber kingdoms of the early sixth century.
StatusRump state of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom
CapitalAltava
Common languagesBerber, African Romance Latin
Religion
Christianity
GovernmentMonarchy
King 
• 578-670s
(Unknown)
• 670s
Sekerdid
• 680-690
Caecilius
Historical eraMedieval
• Collapse of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom
578
• Annexed by Umayyad Caliphate
708
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mauro-Roman Kingdom
Umayyad Caliphate
Today part ofAlgeria
Morocco

The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Christian Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria.[1] The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. During the reign of Kusaila, it extended from Volubilis in the west to the Aurès and later Kairaouan and the interior of Ifriqiya in the east. [2][3][4][5] This Kingdom collapsed following Eastern Roman military campaigns to decrease its influence and power after Garmul invaded the Exarchate of Africa.[6]

The collapse of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom lead to the rise of several petty berber kingdoms in the region, including the Kingdom of Altava, which was centered on the capital of the older kingdom.[7] The kingdom continued to exist in the Maghreb until the conquest of the region by the Umayyad Caliphate in the seventh and eighth centuries.

  1. ^ Courtot, P. (1987). “Altava”. In Gabriel Camps. Encyclopedie Berbere. 4. Editions Edisud. pp. 543–552. ISBN 978-2-85744-282-0.
  2. ^ The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live InHugh Kennedy Hachette UK,
  3. ^ Middle East and Africa: International Dictionary of Historic Places Trudy Ring, Noelle Watson, Paul Schellinger Routledge
  4. ^ Historical Dictionary of Tunisia Kenneth J. Perkins Rowman & Littlefield
  5. ^ Islam, 01 AH-250 AH: A Chronology of Events Abu Tariq Hijazi Message Publications,
  6. ^ Martindale (1980), pp. 509-510
  7. ^ Map showing the reduced "Kingdom of Altava" with the other Romano-Moorish kingdoms