The Sorceress Queen

The Sorceress : Dihya, the Berber Warrior Queen

Dihya, the Berber Warrior Who Defied the Islamic Conquest of North Africa

In the final years of the seventh century, as Arab armies swept across North Africa claiming victory after victory for the new Islamic empire, they encountered an enemy unlike any they had faced before. Dihya, a Berber queen the Arabs would call Al-Kahina-the Sorceress-commanded tribal confederations in the Aurès Mountains and inflicted a stunning defeat on the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate, driving them back across hundreds of miles and delaying conquest for five years.

This book tells the story of the warrior queen whose memory has been contested for fourteen centuries. Was she Jewish, Christian, or pagan? Was she a tyrant who destroyed her own cities or a heroine who defended freedom against impossible odds? Drawing on Arab chronicles, archaeological evidence, and centuries of legend, this comprehensive history reconstructs Dihya's life, examines her military campaigns and scorched-earth strategy, and traces how her legacy has been claimed by Berber nationalists, Jewish historians, French colonialists, and feminist movements.

More than a biography, this is an exploration of how marginalized peoples use history to construct identity, how resistance becomes legend, and why a woman who failed to preserve her kingdom's independence fourteen centuries ago continues to inspire movements for justice and recognition across North Africa and beyond.