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The Kairouan disaster

واقعة القيروان

1348 CE · Dhu al-Hijja 748 AH

The greatest battle of the Marinid era: the Arabs of Ifriqiya — sons of Mihhal, the Ka'ub and Banu Sulaym — rose against Abu al-Hasan's army and set over themselves Ahmad ibn Hamza back from Alexandria; the sultan marched in the hajj days of 748 and routed them at the defile below Kairouan, but they regathered, turned and hemmed him in the city, broke his ranks and plundered his camp, while he escaped to Susa and sailed for Tunis as the Arabs with Ibn Abi Dabbus laid siege to the capital — until he abandoned Ifriqiya for the Maghreb, his son Abu Inan having seized the throne in his absence.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Maghreb
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

In time

1330134013501360
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

Overview

Ibn Khaldun records the battle of Qayrawan in 748 AH, and counts it among the greatest events of the Marinid state. 1

The account

The Arabs of Ifriqiya from the sons of Muhalhil, the Ka'ub and the Banu Sulaym rose against the armies of the sultan Abu al-Hasan al-Marini, and set Ahmad ibn Hamza over them. The sultan advanced against them from Tunis at the time of the pilgrimage, met them at al-Thaniyya before Qayrawan, and defeated them. 1

The reversal

Then they broke their word again and surrounded him in Qayrawan. His battle line collapsed and his camp was plundered. He reached Sousse and boarded his fleets to Tunis. The Arabs besieged Tunis until the sultan withdrew to the Maghrib, when his son Abu Inan rose up to seize the kingdom. 2

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Abu al-Hasan al-Marini, sultan of the Maghrib· Abu Inan Faris al-Marini

People and things also explored

Abu al-Hasan al-Marini, sultan of the Maghrib· Abu Inan Faris al-Marini· Battle of Tarifa and the Testing of the Muslims· Naval battle of the Strait and the taking of the Muslim fleet· The fall of al-Jazira al-Khadra and the breaking of the fleet· Abu al-Hasan al-Marini's entry into Ifriqiya· Al-Mawla Abu Salim Ibrahim al-Marini· Marinid dynasty

Sources

  1. Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun , p.1761
  2. Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun , p.1762
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Kairouan disaster”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/kairouan-disaster-748/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Abu al-Hasan al-Marini, sultan of the Maghrib

Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Uthman al-Marini, sultan of the Maghreb, who styled himself amir al-mu'minin, 'sultan of the two shores, guardian of both banks'; he copied three noble mushafs in his own hand for the three mosques to which journeys are made, endowed waqfs on them whose titulature the great chancery writer Ibn Nubata composed, and sent al-Nasir Muhammad 325 great rubies, 128 emeralds and 128 zabarjads — al-Maqqari himself saw the Jerusalem copy in finest workmanship; he ruled ten years and seven days before his son Abu Inan deposed him.