The Political Role of Maghrebi Women during the Independent States Era (184 -297 AH)

Since prehistoric times, and throughout Carthaginian, Roman, and Byzantine eras, Maghrebi women have enjoyed a prominent status. Anthropologists attribute this to their income-earning role, in addition to their traditional household roles. We propose that such status is closely connected to the tribal way of life that characterized those eras, notably the political and military roles of women in defense against invaders and even the Arab conquerors. It is evident that such roles have expanded with the coming of Islam since the Sharia granted women more rights than they ever had. Another factor is the prevalence of the Kharijite, Shi'ite, and Muʿtazilite schools of thoughts among Berbers both before and after the Independent States Era in the Maghreib region, as these were revolutionary doctrines that shaped the ideologies of opposition groups revolting against the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties.

To prove this, we have included important texts on the political and even military roles of women in Nekor, Barghawata, Banu Midrar, Rustamids, Idrisid, and Aghlabids emirates. All these texts demonstrate that women have played a role in directing the policies of the emirs of these states. Furthermore, some of the women of that era have played part in achieving peaceful coexistence through “political marriages”, while others instigated wars among some of those emirates. This presentation also unveils the role of the women of the court in spying, conspiring, and unlawfully transferring power to their sons. The women of the courts of that era were even behind the fall of one of those emirates: the Rustamids.