THE ARAB CONQUEST 165smvivors took refuge in Ceuta under his deputy Balj ibn Bishr, and
then persuaded the governor of Al-Andalus, 'Abd aI-Malik ibn Qa~an
to permit them to cross into Spain. 'Abd aI-Malik ibn Qatan had been
governor in the years 733 to 737 and had then been dismissed and
imprisoned. His successor 'Uqba ibn al-I:Iajjaji had had to face a
Berber revolt in Spain linked to the uprising in Mrica, but had died
in 641/2 before it could be suppressed. Cut off from Damascus, the
Arab leaders in Al-Andalus had reinstated Ibn Qa~an as governor,
and he was only too willing to receive the help that the transfer of
Balj's forces from Ceuta seemed to offer, but required Balj to agree
not to remain in Spain once the Berber threat had been dealt with.
However, once the Berber revolt had been crushed, Balj and his
Syrian army refused to leave. Conflict broke out in 742. Balj seized
power in Cordoba, executing ibn Qatan, only to be killed in a battle
against the latter's son a month later.
A full scale civil war then seems to have erupted in Al-Andalus,
between the Qays or Syrian army of Balj, now led by Ta'laba ibn
Salama, and the Spanish Arabs, who were aided by a contingent from
North Mrica, led by 'Abd al-Ral).man ibn I:Iabib, a descendant of the
legendary 'Uqba ibn Nafi'. The Mricans blamed the Syrians for the
defeat of Kultum and the killing in the battle of a number of promi-
nent North Mrican Arab leaders, including 'Abd al-Ral).man ibn
I:Iabib's father. The conflict was suppressed in 743 when the caliph
appointed a new governor of Egypt and Ifriqiya and sent him with
new forces both to end the Berber revolts and to restore order amongst
the Arabs. A new governor was also sent into Spain in the person of
Abu al-Kathir, who managed to send Ta'laba ibn Salama and some of
his followers back to Syria and 'Abd aI-Rahman ibn I:Iabib and his
back to Mrica.
The effects of this re-assertion of caliphal power proved short-lived,
and in the longer term had only succeeded in alienating support.
When chaos broke out in Syria following the murder of Walid II in
744, the authority of the governors in both Egypt/Ifriqiya and Al-
Andalus was undermined.^39 A revolt broke out in Cordoba, leading to
further civil war. A local leader, Tuaba ibn Yazid, took power in 746,
and on his death the following year was succeeded by Yiisuf ibn 'Abd
al-Ral).man al-Fihri, who had commanded the Arab forces in southern
France in the 730s and was related to 'Abd ar-Ral).man ibn I:Iabib,
who had just established an independent regime in North Mrica.
Both of these movements, in Spain and in Mrica, represented local,