Dihya was a Berber queen from the Aurès mountains in modern Algeria who notably dealt the Umayyad Caliphate a harsh defeat at the Battle of Meskiana (698). After this, she apparently ruled the entire Mahgreb for about five years, but her decision to adopt scorched earth policies as prevention against a second Umayyad invasion cost her the support of the oasis dwellers, eventually leading to exactly the thing that she was trying to prevent...
Let's say that she does not adopt scorched earth policies and is able to defeat the Umayyads again in 703. What happens next?
I suppose the first question is whether there is a third invasion. At what point do the Umayyads just quit and decide to focus elsewhere?
The second question is whether Dihya is able to solidify her control over the entire Mahgreb and pass it down to her descents (certainly the Muslim threat would help, but the Berbers were a notoriously fractious people).
If the answer is yes, then the third question is what would this new Mahgrebi realm look like? Despite rumours that she was Jewish or pagan, the most likely hypothesis is that Dihya was a Christian. What kind of Christian, we don't know, but if she wasn't a Catholic she might consider converting so that the Mahgreb could be a part of the Western European sphere.
Now, I don't know how plausible it is, but I'm rather intrigued by the idea of the berbers managing to take advantage of the Visigothic kingdom's constant instability to conquer the Iberian peninsula.
Thoughts?
Let's say that she does not adopt scorched earth policies and is able to defeat the Umayyads again in 703. What happens next?
I suppose the first question is whether there is a third invasion. At what point do the Umayyads just quit and decide to focus elsewhere?
The second question is whether Dihya is able to solidify her control over the entire Mahgreb and pass it down to her descents (certainly the Muslim threat would help, but the Berbers were a notoriously fractious people).
If the answer is yes, then the third question is what would this new Mahgrebi realm look like? Despite rumours that she was Jewish or pagan, the most likely hypothesis is that Dihya was a Christian. What kind of Christian, we don't know, but if she wasn't a Catholic she might consider converting so that the Mahgreb could be a part of the Western European sphere.
Now, I don't know how plausible it is, but I'm rather intrigued by the idea of the berbers managing to take advantage of the Visigothic kingdom's constant instability to conquer the Iberian peninsula.
Thoughts?