CHAPTER III
The Conquest of Barḳah and Zawîlah
Barḳah makes terms. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from ʿAbdallâh ibn-Hubairah:—After reducing Alexandria, ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi led his army intent upon the conquest of al-Maghrib [Mauritania] until he arrived in Barḳah, the chief city of Anṭâbulus,[1] whose inhabitants made terms on a poll-tax of 13,000 dînârs to be raised as the price of those of their children whom they desired to sell.[2]
Bakr ibn-al-Haitham from ʿAbdallâh ibn-Hubairah:—After investing and fighting the people of Anṭâbulus and its city, Barḳah,[3] which lay between Egypt and Ifrîḳiyah [Africa == Tunis], ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi made terms with them, stipulating that they pay a poll-tax which might include the price of those of their children whom they desired to sell. ʿAmr wrote a statement to that effect.
Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from Isḥâḳ ibn-ʿAbdallâh ibn-abi-Farwah:—The inhabitants of Barḳah used to send their kharâj to the governor of Egypt without having anyone come to urge them for it.[4] Their land was the most fertile land of al-Maghrib, and it never saw an insurrection.
Al-Wâḳidi states that ʿAbdallâh ibn-ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi used to say, " Had it not been for my possessions in al-
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