The Great Berber Revolt of 739/740-743 (122-125 AH in the Muslim calendar) takes place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marks the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled from Damascus).
Fired up by Kharijite puritan preachers, the Berber revolt against their Umayyad Arab rulers begins in Tangiers in 740, and is led initially by Maysara al-Matghari.
The revolt soon spreads through the rest of the Maghreb (North Africa) and across the straits to al-Andalus (Spain).The Umayyads scramble and manage to prevent the core of Ifriqiya (Tunisia) and al-Andalus from falling into rebel hands.
But the rest of the Maghreb is never recovered.
After failing to capture the Umayyad provincial capital of Kairouan, the Berber rebel armies dissolve, and the western Maghreb fragments into a series of small Berber statelets, ruled by tribal chieftains and Kharijite imams.The Berber revolt is probably the largest military setback in the reign of Caliph Hisham.
From it emerges some of the first Muslim states outside the Caliphate.
It is sometimes also regarded as the beginning of Moroccan independence, as Morocco will never again come under the rule of an eastern Caliph or any other foreign power until the 20th century.
