Arab migrations to the Maghreb

Arab migrations to the Maghreb
	Map depicting the routes Umayyad armies took during the Arab conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century
Date	c. 7th century — 17th century
Location	Maghreb, North Africa
Cause	See causes
Participants	Total unknown: 150,000 (7th century); 1,000,000 (11th century);
Outcome	Arab population growth, Arabization, Islamization and displacement

The Arab migrations to the Maghreb^[a] involved successive waves of migration and settlement by Arab people in the Maghreb region of North Africa (excluding Egypt), encompassing modern-day Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The process took place over several centuries, lasting from the early 7th century to the 17th century. The Arab migrants hailed from the Middle East, particularly the Arabian Peninsula, with later groups arriving from the Levant and Iraq.

The influx of Arabs to the Maghreb began in the 7th century with the Arab conquest of the Maghreb, when Arab armies conquered the region as part of the early Muslim conquests. This initial wave of Arab migration was followed by subsequent periods of migration and settlement, notably during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and later Arab dynasties. However, the most significant wave of Arab migration occurred in the 11th century with the arrival of more Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula, such as Banu Hilal, Banu Sulaym, and Maqil.^[8] The last significant wave of Arab migration to the Maghreb was from Al-Andalus in the 17th century as a result of the Reconquista. These migrants established numerous Arab empires and dynasties in the Maghreb, such as the Aghlabids, Idrisids, Sulaymanids, Salihids, Fatimids, Saadians and 'Alawites.

The Arab migrations to the Maghreb had a profound impact on the demographics and culture of the Maghreb. It resulted in significant Arab demographic growth, forced displacement and Arabization of the Berber and Punic populations and spread of the Arabic language and Arab culture throughout the region. The descendants of the Arab settlers in the Maghreb are known as Maghrebi Arabs. According to Charles-André Julien, a specialist in North African history, the Hilalian invasion was "the most important event of the entire medieval period in the Maghrib".^[9]

^ Spickard, Paul R. (2005). Race and Nation: Ethnic Systems in the Modern World. Psychology Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-415-95002-2. It is estimated that Arab invasions brought about 150,000 people to North Africa during the early conquest of the seventh century
^ Bateson, Mary Catherine (1967). Arabic Language Handbook. Georgetown University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-87840-386-8. North Africa was conquered by the Arabs in the seventh and eighth centuries, but only some 150,000 troops settled there, while the greater number pressed on to Spain.
^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Kusters, Christiaan Wouter (2003). Linguistic Complexity: The Influence of Social Change on Verbal Inflection. p. 97. ISBN 978-90-76864-41-9. Egypt initially only had 80,000 Arabs in a population of 8 million, and the number of Arabs in the whole Maghreb was probably between 70,000 and 150,000, although later, from the 11th until 14th century, about a million Arabs migrated to the Maghreb which had consisted of five million people until then.
^ Poulton, Robin; Youssouf, Ibrahim ag; Research, United Nations Institute for Disarmament (1998). A Peace of Timbuktu: Democratic Governance, Development and African Peacemaking. UN. p. 24. ISBN 978-92-9045-125-9.
^ Fentress, Elizabeth. "Islamization of Berber lifestyles" (PDF). p. 75.
^ Miller, Catherine; Al-Wer, Enam; Caubet, Dominique; Watson, Janet C. E. (2007-12-14). Arabic in the City: Issues in Dialect Contact and Language Variation. Routledge. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-135-97876-1.
^ Crawford, Michael H.; Campbell, Benjamin C. (2012-11-08). Causes and Consequences of Human Migration: An Evolutionary Perspective. Cambridge University Press. pp. 176–178. ISBN 978-1-139-85150-3. The latter dynasties are responsible for the capital and one of the most important migrations in the history of North Africa. This migration corresponds to the second Arabic invasion, by the Banu Hilal and Banu Soleim from 1050 onwards.
^ Joffé, George (2023-11-20). Routledge Handbook on the Modern Maghrib. Taylor & Francis. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-429-99964-2. According to Ch-A. Julien, a specialist in North African history, the Hilalian invasion was "the most important event of the entire medieval period in the Maghrib". It was, he writes, "an invading torrent of nomadic peoples who destroyed the beginnings of Berber organization — which might very well have devloped in its own way and put nothing whatever in its place".

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[1] Spickard, Paul R. (2005). Race and Nation: Ethnic Systems in the Modern World. Psychology Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-415-95002-2. It is estimated that Arab invasions brought about 150,000 people to North Africa during the early conquest of the seventh century

[2] Bateson, Mary Catherine (1967). Arabic Language Handbook. Georgetown University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-87840-386-8. North Africa was conquered by the Arabs in the seventh and eighth centuries, but only some 150,000 troops settled there, while the greater number pressed on to Spain.

[:2-3] Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Kusters_2003_97-4] Kusters, Christiaan Wouter (2003). Linguistic Complexity: The Influence of Social Change on Verbal Inflection. p. 97. ISBN 978-90-76864-41-9. Egypt initially only had 80,000 Arabs in a population of 8 million, and the number of Arabs in the whole Maghreb was probably between 70,000 and 150,000, although later, from the 11th until 14th century, about a million Arabs migrated to the Maghreb which had consisted of five million people until then.

[5] Poulton, Robin; Youssouf, Ibrahim ag; Research, United Nations Institute for Disarmament (1998). A Peace of Timbuktu: Democratic Governance, Development and African Peacemaking. UN. p. 24. ISBN 978-92-9045-125-9.

[6] Fentress, Elizabeth. "Islamization of Berber lifestyles" (PDF). p. 75.

[7] Miller, Catherine; Al-Wer, Enam; Caubet, Dominique; Watson, Janet C. E. (2007-12-14). Arabic in the City: Issues in Dialect Contact and Language Variation. Routledge. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-135-97876-1.

[9] Crawford, Michael H.; Campbell, Benjamin C. (2012-11-08). Causes and Consequences of Human Migration: An Evolutionary Perspective. Cambridge University Press. pp. 176–178. ISBN 978-1-139-85150-3. The latter dynasties are responsible for the capital and one of the most important migrations in the history of North Africa. This migration corresponds to the second Arabic invasion, by the Banu Hilal and Banu Soleim from 1050 onwards.

[10] Joffé, George (2023-11-20). Routledge Handbook on the Modern Maghrib. Taylor & Francis. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-429-99964-2. According to Ch-A. Julien, a specialist in North African history, the Hilalian invasion was "the most important event of the entire medieval period in the Maghrib". It was, he writes, "an invading torrent of nomadic peoples who destroyed the beginnings of Berber organization — which might very well have devloped in its own way and put nothing whatever in its place".

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