Kingdom of Ouarsenis
Romano-Berber kingdom
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The Kingdom of Ouarsenis (also known as the Kingdom of the Djeddars)[2] is the name of a Romano-Berber kingdom located in what is present-day Algeria. The existence of the kingdom was proposed by the French historian Christian Courtois in his 1955 book Les Vandales Et L'Afrique, based on two comments made by the Eastern Roman historian Procopius and the existence of the Jedars.[3][4] It is likely that this kingdom's capital city was Tiaret.[1][5]
Kingdom of Ouarsenis | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 430–735 | |||||||||
Map of the Romano-Berber Kingdoms, according to the French historian Christian Courtois. Number 2 is the Kingdom of Ouarsenis. | |||||||||
| Status | Rump state of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom | ||||||||
| Capital | Tiaret[1] | ||||||||
| Common languages | Berber, African Romance Latin | ||||||||
| Religion | Christianity[1] | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
| Historical era | Medieval | ||||||||
• Collapse of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom | 430 | ||||||||
• Annexed by Umayyad Caliphate | 735 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Algeria | ||||||||
The existence of this kingdom, however, is far from certain: The French archaeologist Gabriel Camps, for instance, has argued that Courtois' "Kingdom of Ouarsenis" was but a part of a larger kingdom that included most of Mauretania Caesariensis.[6][7] Other scholars, such as those writing for the Encyclopédie berbère, have further questioned why Courtois dubbed it the "Kingdom of Ouarsenis" when the kingdom was likely centered not around the Ouarsenis, but instead the mountainous Frenda area.[8]