Battle of Meskiana
The Battle of Meskiana occurred in North Africa in 698 between the Umayyad forces of Hassan ibn al-Nu'man and Queen Dihya.
Background
According to the historian Ibn Idhari after destroying Carthage, Hassan ibn al-Nu'man inquired about the most powerful chief in all of Africa. He was told that it was Queen Dihya whom all the Berbers obeyed and that if he defeated her he would succeed in submitting the entire Maghreb, so he decided to go and face her.In 698, Hassan moved to the west and marched to Dihya's realm, but when he reached Madjana, he decided to face the Byzantines first. When Dihya knew of his arrival, she left her kingdom, then captured and demolished the city of Baghaya, thinking that Hassan wanted to use it as a fortification.
When Hasan heard of that, he changed his direction to Aurés Mountains, and camped in Meskiana Valley infront of Nini River, Kahina followed and camped in the same place, the Muslims drank from the top of the valley while the Berbers drank from the bottom. At the end of the day, horsemen from both sides gathered and the two armies approached until they were within striking distance. But Hassan decided not to fight and to wait until the following morning, and Dihya did the same. The two adversaries did not return to their camps but spent the night in their saddles, that is, they spent the night on guard on their horses' backs.
Battle
In the morning, the battle broke out, and the two sides fought fiercely and with great patience, believing it to be annihilation. In the end, likely due to the Berbers' familiarity with the terrain, Hassan ibn al-Nu'man was defeated, many Muslims were killed, and 80 arabs from Hassan's friends were taken captives.Aftermath
After the Battle, Dihya chased Hassan until she reached Gabes, and Hassan fled Ifriqiya and when he reached Cyrenaica, he sent to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, "The nations of the Maghreb have no end, and none of them ever reach a conclusion. Whenever one nation perishes, another succeeds it, and they are numerous and plentiful, like grazing livestock.", Abd al-Malik answerd and orderd him to settle in Barqa, where he will stay for 5 years.For Queen Dihya, after the battle, she became the uncontested ruler of Ifriqiya for around five years, but she did not enter Kairouan, and she maid alligances with the Byzantines and splitted the land with them giving them the coasts. she relesed all the captives expect Khalid ibn Yazid al-Qaysi who was known for Honor and Bravery and handsomeness, so she took him back and adopted him.
After the battle, Valley became named, "Ouedi al-Adhara", and the river was named River of al-Balaa, after the measury and suffer muslims suffred there.