Ifriqiya, Fihrid Emirate of

The Fihrids (also known as Oqbids) are an illustrious Arab family and clan, prominent in North Africa and Muslim Iberia during the 8th century.The al-Fihri were originally an Arabian clan Banu Fihr attached to the Quraysh, the tribe of the Prophet.

Probably the most illustrious of the Fihrids was Oqba ibn Nafi al-Fihri, the Arab Muslim conqueror of North Africa in 670-680s, and founder of Kairouan.

Several of his sons and grandsons participated in the subsequent conquest of Hispania in 712.As spearheads of the western conquest, the al-Fihris are probably the leading aristocratic Arab family of Ifriqiya and Al-Andalus in the first half of the 8th century.

They produce several governors and military leaders of those provinces.

After the Berber Revolt of 740-41, the west falls into a period of anarchy and disorder.

The Umayyad Caliph in Damascus, facing revolts in Persia, does not have the resources to re-impose their authority in the west.

In the vacuum, the Fihrids, the pre-eminent local Arab family, seize power in the west.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri in Africa (745-755) and Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri in Al-Andalus (747-755) rule their dominions virtually independently of the Caliphate.

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