Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati () was a

Zenata The Zenata (; ) are a group of Berber tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Society The 14th-century historiographer Ibn Khaldun repo ...

Berber chieftain and military commander during the

Berber Revolt The Berber Revolt or the Kharijite Revolt of 740–743 AD (122–125 AH in the Islamic calendar) took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled ...

of the 740s against the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

s in the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

. For reasons which are still obscure, Maysara al-Matghari, the original leader of the

and self-proclaimed caliph, was deposed and executed by fellow Berber rebels in the Summer or Fall of 740. Khalid ibn Hamid was elected to take his place. Khalid ibn Hamid led the Berber rebel armies in two stunning victories over the

authorities. In the Battle of the Nobles in late 740, Khalid annihilated an army composed of Arab forces sent from

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

. The shock of the defeat prompted the

Caliph

Hisham Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

to dispatch a mighty Syrian expeditionary force from the east to join the Ifriqiyans in crushing the Berber rebellion. In October 741, Khalid's Berber army defeated the combined Ifriqiyan-Syrian force at the Battle of Bagdoura (or Baqdura), by the

Sebou River The Sebou (Berber: Asif en Sbu, ) is a river in northern Morocco. At its source in the Middle Atlas mountains it is known as the Guigou River (Berber: Asif n Gigu). The river is 496 kilometers long and has an average water flow of 137 m3/s, wh ...

(near modern Fes), killing the new Ifriqyian governor Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi, in the process. The

Berber revolt The Berber Revolt or the Kharijite Revolt of 740–743 AD (122–125 AH in the Islamic calendar) took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled ...

continued for a little while longer, but under different commanders.

References

8th-century Berber people Berber rebels Berber Revolt {{Africa-mil-bio-stub Zenata