Lalla Zuhayra of Al-Mamlakati Al-Murnakus (Berber)

A Concept drawing for the Maghrebi/Berber/Moorish Woman Warrior as part of the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited which aims to portray Women Warriors of various cultures in a fictitious historical settings based on AD 800s - AD 1400s era of warfare. Lalla Zuhayra represents the Medieval Maghreb power that ruled Modern day Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, or in medieval setting, The Moors and the Northern African Muslim power.

Inspired by the music - Shazeef by Bustan Abraham Essemble



The History of the Islamic Western front is somewhat different and unique that that from central Arabia and Eastern Front like Transxonia and Persia, since the land that stretched along the north-African coast were ruled by the indigenous Berber people, whom the Arabs referred to as Imaziyen. In the wake of great Islamic Expansions in the 7th century, the Berbers converted to Islam and became the major driving force in expanding the Muslims border as far as Iberia (Andalusia). However, Local conflict and tensions with the Arabs led to the establishment of native berber dynasties  independent from the seat of power of the caliphate and their successors.



In here, Princess Zuhayra binti Muzzamadin of the House of Itberin, is depicted in a rather stylized, expensive and intricate clothing, with similarly decorated headdress to reflect the thick clothing that the Berber people normally wear, projecting her image as a noble princess from the ruling dynasty. Though not shown here, she would be wearing either padded cloth, or chainmail underneath her thick robe, as well as metal cap on her head wrapped in turban for protection. Her weapons are pretty simple, more for defensive rather than offensive, with sword hung from the shoulder (common to early Muslim soldiers), as well as an ornate dagger.

I tried to experiment in drapperies as well as detailed architecture. Unfortunately, the Moorish style arches are less than refined and the fold of her clothing may be be abit too less detailed. The lack of chainmail or armor gave me a opportunity to focus more on the background and her clothing, which in my opinion, less tedious but more challenging to make

Women who ruled in power and fought in battle were perhaps no stranger to the Berber world. One of the famous figure was Kahitna, a 7th century Berber Queen that ruled numidia, led and fought against the Muslims in their conquest of northern africa. Though her story mayu be mixed with myth and legend, her descendant converted to Islam after her death, and participated in the Invasion of iberia. Apart from her, Berber society uphold the position of women, out of which, mother occupies the highest respect. This tradition continued well after they adopted Islam as their religion.







The Warriors of Western Muslim world, which composed mainly the Berber people, often referred to as the Moors after their invasion of Spain, is rather tricky one to depict. First of all, they are not Arabs (Semitic) but rather, a group of Afro-Asiatic people that inhabited the northern part of Africa. Nevertheless, when the Muslims came to their land, they adopted some of the customs, the religion as well as the language of the Arab, though the indigenous Berber language still remains distinct and unique to this day.

Their origin is somewhat still speculated, but historians believed that the Maghreb world had been inhabitted by the berber people since 10,000 BCE. subsistence and pastoral farming grew somewhere arounf 6000 BCE and from there on, the land was ruled by several Berber dynasties, before their unification under King Masinissa somewhere in 3rd century BCE under the kingdom of Numibia. Several foreigners came in contact with them during the classical antiquity, several of them includes the Polynesian, Greeks, Romans, Hand Vandals. Interestingly enough, the Berber people still maintained their distinct image, and i suppose their foreign neighbors preferred to left them alone during the classical antiquity.

However, it all changed when Islam came to the region in the 7th century and left a profound mark on the Berber people. The religion itself had penetrated every layer of the Berber society but the process of "arabization" was a rather lenghty and complex that only solidified well only after 12th century. Some of the berber people participated and lead the invasion of Iberia, establishing the Muslim rule in Spain, better known as Al-Andalus. The rest, ruled the northern coast of of africa, like that of the Moorish Almohad and Almoravid dynasty of Mauretania, the Hafsids of Tunisia, and the Ziyannids of Algiers. Some of them also invaded Sicily and established their own independent emirates in the island, before being expelled by the Christians.

Although the Berber people embraced Islam dearly in the medieval period, historically speaking, they despised the Arabs who came into their land. Intially, the relationship was cordial and the Berber people quickly adopted the new religion, custom and language but it gets worst after awhile, especially after the Caliphate of the Ummayads. The Berbers received discriminatory treatment, often being regarded as second-class citizens by the Arabs, that too, after taxing them heavily. Worst of all, many of the Berber people were actually enslaved by the Arabs, something that became a trade commodity even well into the early modern world. This resulted in several revolts and rise of Berber dominions over the Maghreb world, whose rulers were independent from the influence and decree of the successive Caliphates. This tensions were also felt in Andalusia as well, which was responsible for some of the conflicts that caused the disintegration of al-Andalus into smaller, weaker taifas kingdoms that became easy target for the Christian Iberians to overcome in their reconquista.