Berber Revolt tax-collectors finally broke Berber patience. It is reported that following Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab's instructions to extract more revenues from the Berbers, Omar ibn al-Moradi, his deputy governor in Tangiers, decided to declare the Berbers in his jurisdiction a 'conquered people' and consequently set about seizing Berber property and enslaving persons, as per the rules of conquest, the 'caliphal fifth' was still owed to the Umayyad state (alternative accounts report he simply doubled their tribute). This was the last straw. Inspired by the Sufrite preachers, the North African Berber tribes of western Morocco - initially, the Ghomara, Berghwata and Miknasa
Berber Revolt Habib somewhere in the outskirts of Tangiers After a brief skirmish with the Arab column, Maysara abruptly ordered the Berber armies to fall back to Tangier. The Arab cavalry commander Khalid ibn Abi Habiba did not give pursuit, but just held his line south of Tangier, blockading the Berber-held city, while awaiting the reinforcements from Habib's Sicilian expedition. In this breathing space, the Berber rebels got reorganized and undertook an internal coup. The Berber tribal leaders swiftly deposed (and executed) Maysara and elected the Zenata Berber chieftain, Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati as the new Berber 'caliph'. The reasons for Maysara's