kingdom · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan
Kingdom of the Aures
Origins
The Berbers of the Aurès mountains broke away from the Vandal Kingdom around 484. An inscription at Arris records a ruler, Masties, who called himself duke for 67 years and emperor for ten, and claimed never to have broken faith with either Romans or Moors.
Rule and society
The kingdom drew on Roman titles and Christian faith while resting on Berber clans of the mountains. In the 530s Iaudas (Iabdas) raided Byzantine Numidia and resisted the general Solomon, who finally stormed his strongholds in 539. Little is known of the following century. In the 690s the Jerawa tribal leader Dihya, called al-Kahina by Arab writers, led Berber resistance and defeated Hassan ibn al-Numan.
Decline and legacy
Hassan returned, and Dihya was killed around 701 to 703. The Umayyad Caliphate absorbed the region, and many of her followers converted to Islam and joined the Arab armies. Dihya became a lasting symbol of Berber resistance.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Kingdom of the Aures was conquered by Umayyad Caliphate703 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of the Aures. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-aures
- MLA
- “Kingdom of the Aures.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-aures. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of the Aures.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-aures.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of the Aures’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-aures (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻