The Kahina
A Jewish Berber Queen?
Legends are not history, but sometimes there are traces of history within legends. That is the case with the Kahina, though the exact nature of that history has been debated for over 1,000 years.
According to legend the Kahina was queen of the Jarawa tribe of Berbers in the Aures mountains in present day Algeria. She lived towards the end of the 7th century CE, during the Islamic conquest of North Africa and ruled over her tribe for 37 years, dying at the age of 127. The first legends about her began to circulate a century or so after her death, though the most comprehensive early account comes from the pen of the 14th century Islamic historian, Ibn Khaldun.
In the year 669 the Caliph, Abd-al-Malik told Hassan ibn Al-Muman, the governor of Egypt, to assemble an army and bring Islam to the pagan tribes of North Africa. Initially victorious, Hassan paused after conquering the cities of Kairwan and Carthage, and sought information on the nature of the tribes he was likely to confront next. He was told that he was entering Berber territory, and that he would confront a powerful woman known as the Kahina. She had the power to foretell the future and whatever she predicted would come to pass. However, he was told he should not fear; should he kill her, his armies would meet no further resistance to their conquest of the region.
