North Africa from 600 to 1800
- LAST REVIEWED: 17 August 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 25 October 2012
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846733-0092
- LAST REVIEWED: 17 August 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 25 October 2012
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846733-0092
Introduction
North Africa was shaped fundamentally by the coming of Islam and the subsequent migration of large numbers of Arab peoples. Although the Romans and the Phoenicians made important contributions, especially on the coasts and in fertile valleys, they did not alter the religious, linguistic character of North African society as deeply as did the Muslim conquests. Even though Sunni Islam has generally become the clear, dominant religion, many instances of resistance to orthodoxy have occurred in the North African frontier. Also, the Berber peoples, never happy to be under the yoke of central urban authority, were frequently organized under various religious ideologies. In the early 21st century Arabs and Berbers often see themselves as part of the same community and culture, especially because they have united for common cause against European rule and interference.
General Overviews
Several respected overviews are available on the history of North Africa (a region also called the Maghrib in Arabic), from the Islamic conquests of the 7th century to the early 21st century. Some of these studies focus on the Berbers, the original inhabitants of the Maghrib, and their interactions with the Arabs over time (Brett and Fentress 1995). Other important works, such as the history of the Maghrib in Abun-Nasr 1987, view the historical development of the religion of Islam and its interaction with the particularities of North Africa as the overarching theme. Several classic books by French authors were influenced by decades of French colonial schools and studies. These works, somewhat dated and a source of some controversy, include Julien 1970 and Bel 1938. A good introduction to these historiographical controversies is provided by Hannoum 2008 (cited under Historiographic and Anthropological Approaches). Other works reacted to colonial histories: those by prominent North African historians who sought to reclaim their history from European domination. The most famous of these was Laroui 1977, an interpretative history of North Africa. Azaykou 2002 is representative of the interpretive histories and essays popular in this genre. Naylor 2009 examines the Maghrib and its interactions with Egypt. For a work interspersed with compelling English translations of primary sources, see the excellent and accessible Norris 1982, which is, unfortunately, out of print.
Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Perhaps the most widely used and referenced general history for scholars of North Africa in English, Abun-Nasr’s analysis is both carefully rooted in sources and insightful in most of his general observations.
Azaykou, Ali Sidqi. Histoire du Maroc et ses possibles interprétations: Recueil d’articles. Rabat, Morocco: Centre Tarik Ibn Zyad, 2002.
Born 1942 in the Moroccan village of Igran n tuinght, Azaykou provides a critical, and often philosophical, interpretation of general trends in North African history.
Bel, Alfred. La religion musulmane en Berbérie. Paris: Geuthner, 1938.
Although critiqued as an example of colonial bias, Bel’s volume still contains information and research into the fundamental question about the interaction between Islam, a religion brought to North Africa by the Arab invasions, and its permutations in Berber society.
Brett, Michael, and Elizabeth Fentress. The Berbers. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
This is a comprehensive text on the history of the Berber people of North Africa and includes general historical information on North Africa as a whole, especially the interaction between Berbers and Arabs in the region.
Julien, Charles André. History of North Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco. Edited and revised by R. Le Tourneau. New York: Praeger, 1970.
Originally published in 1926 and considered the classic text, Julien’s volume is still used as a starting point for research on the region. Despite the existence of updated interpretations and accounts and critiques of his colonial bias, many of his conclusions remain relevant.
Laroui, Abdallah. The History of the Maghreb: An Interpretive Essay. Translated from the French by Ralph Manheim. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977.
Originally published in 1970. This classic interpretive and historiographic alternative to colonial histories found a wide audience outside of the region and the discipline of history. As teacher to the royal family, Laroui is both a member of the Moroccan elite and, at times, an impassioned critic of the North African political system. Text available online.
Naylor, Phillip C. North Africa: A History from Antiquity to the Present. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009.
A general survey of the history of the region including Egypt, this text integrates several key themes and discusses the historical background for current events.
Norris, H. T. The Berbers in Arabic Literature. London: Longman, 1982.
This text is an excellent reference for scholars and for students just beginning their research of the region. More a commentary on sources than a singular narrative, it allows the reader to digest directly from primary sources. The bibliography is a mine of references.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Achebe, Chinua
- Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
- Africa in the Cold War
- African Masculinities
- African Refugees
- African Socialism
- Africans in the Atlantic World
- Aid and Economic Development
- Alcohol
- Algeria
- Angola
- Arab Spring
- Arabic Language and Literature
- Archaeology and the Study of Africa
- Archaeology of Central Africa
- Archaeology of Eastern Africa
- Archaeology of Southern Africa
- Archaeology of West Africa
- Architecture
- Art, Art History, and the Study of Africa
- Arts of Central Africa
- Arts of Western Africa
- Asante and the Akan and Mossi States
- Bantu Expansion
- Benin (Dahomey)
- Boer War
- Botswana (Bechuanaland)
- Brink, André
- British Colonial Rule in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Burkina Faso (Upper Volta)
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Children and Childhood
- China in Africa
- Christianity, African
- Cinema and Television
- Cocoa
- Coetzee, J.M.
- Colonial Rule, Belgian
- Colonial Rule, French
- Colonial Rule, German
- Colonial Rule, Italian
- Colonial Rule, Portuguese
- Communism, Marxist-Leninism, and Socialism in Africa
- Comoro Islands
- Conflict Management and Resolution
- Congo, Republic of (Congo Brazzaville)
- Congo River Basin States
- Congo Wars
- Conservation and Wildlife
- Crime and the Law in Colonial Africa
- Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)
- Development of Early Farming and Pastoralism
- Diaspora, Kongo Atlantic
- Disease and African Society
- Djibouti
- Dyula
- Early States And State Formation In Africa
- Early States of the Western Sudan
- Eastern Africa and the South Asian Diaspora
- Economic Anthropology
- Economic History
- Economy, Informal
- Education
- Education and the Study of Africa
- Egypt
- Egypt, Ancient
- Environment
- Environmental History
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Ethnicity and Politics
- Europe and Africa, Medieval
- Family Planning
- Famine
- Farah, Nuruddin
- Feminism
- Food and Food Production
- Fugard, Athol
- Fulani
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Genocide in Rwanda
- Geography and the Study of Africa
- Ghana
- Gikuyu (Kikuyu) People of Kenya
- Globalization
- Gordimer, Nadine
- Great Lakes States of Eastern Africa, The
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Hausa
- Hausa Language and Literature
- Health, Medicine, and the Study of Africa
- Historiography and Methods of African History
- History and the Study of Africa
- Horn of Africa and South Asia
- Igbo
- Ijo/Niger Delta
- Image of Africa, The
- Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern Slave Trades
- Indian Ocean Trade
- Invention of Tradition
- Iron Working and the Iron Age in Africa
- Islam in Africa
- Islamic Politics
- Kenya
- Kongo and the Coastal States of West Central Africa
- Language and the Study of Africa
- Law and the Study of Sub-Saharan Africa
- Law, Islamic
- Lesotho
- LGBTI Minorities and Queer Politics in Eastern and Souther...
- Liberia
- Libya
- Literature and the Study of Africa
- Lord's Resistance Army
- Maasai and Maa-Speaking Peoples of East Africa, The
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mande
- Mau Mau
- Mauritania
- Media and Journalism
- Military History
- Modern African Literature in European Languages
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Music, Dance, and the Study of Africa
- Music, Traditional
- Nairobi
- Namibia
- Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Nollywood
- North Africa from 600 to 1800
- North Africa to 600
- Northeastern African States, c. 1000 BCE-1800 CE
- Obama and Kenya
- Oman, the Gulf, and East Africa
- Oral and Written Traditions, African
- Oromo
- Ousmane Sembène
- Pastoralism
- Police and Policing
- Political Science and the Study of Africa
- Political Systems, Precolonial
- Popular Culture and the Study of Africa
- Popular Music
- Population and Demography
- Postcolonial Sub-Saharan African Politics
- Religion and Politics in Contemporary Africa
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sexualities in Africa
- Seychelles, The
- Siwa Oasis
- Slave Trade, Atlantic
- Slavery in Africa
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Social and Cultural Anthropology and the Study of Africa
- Somalia
- South Africa Post c. 1850
- Southern Africa to c. 1850
- Soyinka, Wole
- Spanish Colonial Rule
- Sport
- States of the Zimbabwe Plateau and Zambezi Valley
- Sudan and South Sudan
- Swahili City-States of the East African Coast
- Swahili Language and Literature
- Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar)
- Togo
- Tourism
- Trade
- Traditional Religion, African
- Transportation
- Trans-Saharan Trade
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Urbanism and Urbanization
- Wars and Warlords
- Western Sahara
- Women and African History
- Women and Colonialism
- Women and Politics
- Women and Slavery
- Women, Gender and the Study of Africa
- Women in 19th-Century West Africa
- Yoruba Diaspora
- Yoruba Language and Literature
- Yoruba States, Benin, and Dahomey
- Youth
- Zambia