42
votes
How kind were the Muslim occupations of North Africa?
The history is a bit sketchy about this period. The most well-known early source, Ibn Abd al-Hakam Conquest of Egypt and North Africa and Spain, was written in 870. Being written about two centuries ...
- 7,100
39
votes
Accepted
Why did the Allies Invade French North Africa?
There were a number of factors that led to the Allied invasions in North Africa in November 1942. Most of these factors were military, but the political element also cannot be ignored. 1942 was an ...
- 77.3k
28
votes
Why didn't the Moroccans try to explore and conquer the New World?
I believe I found the answer in Wikipedia's article on the Marinid dynasty; quite simply the dynasty was in decline from the 13th century; in the 15th century (OP's reference period), the decline was ...
MCW♦
- 34.2k
22
votes
Why didn't the Moroccans try to explore and conquer the New World?
Citing Ezad Azraai Jamsari / Mohamad Zulfazdlee Abul Hassan Ashari, The Marinid Naval Force According to Historical Perspective (Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 5 No. 29 | Doi:10.5901/...
- 14.2k
19
votes
How kind were the Muslim occupations of North Africa?
This Jewish source characterizes Muslim rule in Spain during the Middle Ages as being "kind" by contemporary standards, but not by modern standards. Jews and Christians in Spain lived in a "second ...
- 104k
17
votes
Accepted
How important was the Suez Canal to the Allies during WWII?
The Suez Canal was important mostly to the British, but it was very important to them. They needed to move large amounts of raw materials to Britain, where their industries were, and move the products ...
- 32.1k
15
votes
Does the Ottoman Empire count as a colonial power?
Colonialism in its strict and historic sense means the practice of settling a large number of colonists in subject countries, as did the British in North America, Ireland, Southern Africa, Australia, ...
- 9,694
14
votes
Accepted
Were North African silver certificates actually printed in 1935?
Were they actually printed in 1935 and reserved for a niche use like this, ...
No, since the '1935' does not relect the date it was printed, but the year it was designed.
At the time in most ...
- 9,935
12
votes
Why did European writers and artists continue to depict the Moors as being black skinned, even though they were mostly Berbers and Arabs
The "Moors" were a very diverse group.
The first invading "Moors" were Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, the Berbers being descended from the Moors of Classical antiquity and thus probably mostly ...
- 19.4k
11
votes
Why did Christianity disappear in North-Western Africa?
The decline of Christianity in the Maghreb is related to the Arab conquest and the rule of Muslim governors. An important step in that decline was the rule of Almoravids and Almohads, under which most ...
- 3,801
10
votes
Why didn't the Moroccans try to explore and conquer the New World?
From the 15th to 20th centuries, the Moroccans had a love-hate relationship (but mostly the former) with the Ottoman Empire. For most of that period, they could get trade goods from India and the rest ...
- 104k
10
votes
Was there a state or kingdom in the Maghreb of North Africa that predates the founding of Carthage?
Not really, no.
Carthage itself started out as a Phoenician colony, along with Utica probably in the 8th Century BC. The Phoenicians themselves were a Northwest Semitic people whose language was ...
- 122k
10
votes
Accepted
From Twitter: When did Islamic literacy fall behind?
One cannot be literate without books to read, and regardless on one's religious beliefs The Bible is one of the great works of literature of Western civilization. The invention of the printing press ...
- 72.5k
10
votes
Accepted
WWII: What navy controlled the Mediterranean during the North African Campaign?
The British Navy by-and-large had control of the Mediterranean. However, there were some caveats.
The successful German invasions of Greece and Crete showed that land-based command of the air trumped ...
- 122k
10
votes
Accepted
Did the deity "Horus" pre-date "Horus-Aha"?
The short answer is that we don't know for certain. Our understanding of the early evolution of the Egyptian pantheon is limited by the paucity of early texts. What we can say is neatly summarised ...
- 77.3k
9
votes
Does the Ottoman Empire count as a colonial power?
The French and British rule of their areas is generally called colonial rule, the Ottoman rule isn't.
Actually, that's not quite right. You can see the Ottomans listed here at the side of other "well ...
9
votes
Does the Ottoman Empire count as a colonial power?
The Ottoman Empire, like China, did not fit the "classic" definition of colonial power.
The European countries are considered "colonists" because they colonized or settled lands far from their ...
- 104k
9
votes
Libya: Did Gaddafi forbid locks in private homes and order people to swap jobs?
Much of that seems exaggerated (as you'd expect for a book portraying a young child's point of view).
Gaddafi imposed restrictions on private property but never totally abolished it. Law 4 in 1978 ...
- 594
9
votes
Stonehenge-like olive presses?
He's probably talking about structures like this one at Senam Semana in Roman Tripolitania:
You can see the superficial resemblance to the Stonehenge trilithons:
image source Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0 ...
- 77.3k
7
votes
Why were Morocco and Tunisia made a French protectorate, but Algeria annexed as part of France?
Timing was a major factor.
The French invasion of Algeria in 1830 (with the excuse that the Dey had touched the French consul with a fan) was in a period shortly after the Napoleonic wars when ...
- 2,856
7
votes
Did the Moors and Arabs, "Muslims," who invaded Europe, ie "Spain," help the evolution of civilizations of Europe?
The actual question that was posed on here five years ago now was whether “the Moors and Arabs, ‘Muslims’ who invaded Europe, i.e. Spain” helped the “evolution of civilisations of Europe”. The answer ...
- 9,694
7
votes
Accepted
When did blackouts occur in Cairo during WW2?
We can indeed nail down a date for this:
CAIRO LIGHTS GO UP
FIRST CAPITAL TO END BLACK-OUT
By an order of the Military Governor, published last night, the black-out in Cairo ends to-day, and full ...
- 9,122
7
votes
Accepted
What was this king/ warrior's exact name (AGATHOFLIS)
Turns out it was a typo. In Arabic language, the letters فـ 'Fa' and قـ 'Qaf' share the same cursive writing, with Qaf having one additional point.
The king is Agathocles of Syracuse.
In the Wikipedia ...
- 241
6
votes
Accepted
Through what developments did Sweden end up in war in northern Africa in early 1800's?
This is a difficult topic to find good sources for, because this war is largely forgotten in Sweden. It was not a very dignified affair, and was overshadowed by the catastrophic defeat in the Finnish ...
- 5,613
5
votes
Is there a reason beyond the simple textbook explanation as to why the Allied forces chose to fight the Axis powers in North Africa during WWII?
The Axis fought in North Africa because the Allies attacked them. No particularly deep analysis needed there, although it's worth mentioning that, unlike the Allies, the Axis forces never simply ...
- 14k
5
votes
Accepted
Which lame moor was the namesake of Rancho Moro Cojo?
The book Historic Spots in California: Fifth Edition
claims the term moro was used to indicate anything black, and
that tradition says that a lame black horse gave the name to this
particular ...
- 41.5k
5
votes
Why does Spain have enclaves in Morocco?
Long story short:
Ceuta was conquered by Portugal in 1415, and was "transferred" to Spain in 1640. Melilla was "acquired" in 1497. Other minor places like Vélez de la Gomera was conquered in 1508. So ...
- 491
5
votes
Why were Morocco and Tunisia made a French protectorate, but Algeria annexed as part of France?
It has something to do with their past ruling system before colonization like Hubert Lyautey who served in French Algeria as a colonial administrator and the one who suggesting the protectorate of ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible