Kingdom of Altava
Kingdom of Altava | |||||||||
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| 578–708 | |||||||||
Map of the Romano-Berber Kingdoms, according to the French historian Christian Courtois. Number 1 is the Kingdom of Altava. | |||||||||
| Status | Rump state of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom | ||||||||
| Capital | Altava | ||||||||
| Common languages | Berber, African Romance Latin | ||||||||
| Religion | Christianity | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 578-670s | (Unknown) | ||||||||
• 670s | Sekerdid | ||||||||
• 680-690 | Caecilius | ||||||||
| Historical era | Medieval | ||||||||
• Collapse of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom | 578 | ||||||||
• Annexed by Umayyad Caliphate | 708 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Algeria Morocco | ||||||||
| History of Algeria |
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The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Christian Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria. The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. During the reign of Aksel, it extended from Volubilis in the west to the Aurès and later Kairaouan and the interior of Ifriqiya in the east. This Kingdom collapsed following Eastern Roman military campaigns to decrease its influence and power after Garmul invaded the Exarchate of Africa.
The collapse of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom lead to the rise of several petty berber kingdoms in the region, including the Kingdom of Altava, which was centered on the capital of the older kingdom. The kingdom continued to exist in the Maghreb until the conquest of the region by the Umayyad Caliphate in the seventh and eighth centuries.