Fall of Kairouan to Hilalian Arabs
1057
The Banu Hilal Arab tribesmen sacked Kairouan, ending centuries of prosperity for the Maghreb's greatest center of Islamic learning. Refugee scholars fled west to Fez and north to Andalusia. The Zirid court withdrew to the coast. Berber rural North Africa had been transformed permanently into an Arabic-speaking hinterland, and the region's agricultural economy would not fully recover for generations after the devastation.
In context
Also in 1057 (3 other events on record)
- Anawrahta Conquers Thaton and Transforms Burma · Southeast Asia · War
- Macbeth killed at Lumphanan · Europe · War
- Chola-Chalukya Wars Grind On in the Deccan · South Asia · War
Before and after in Africa
Before and after in War
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.