Resistance in the Desert
Part I

An Overview of the
Inhabitants of South Eastern Morocco

By Ian Croxall

The Desert People

The indigenous people of the region can be broadly categorized into three distinct groups. Those sedentary people that populated the oases and Kasars of the region, the semi nomadic pastoral communities that lived near to sedentary groups and the true nomads. In this simplified overview we will consider the sedentary agriculturists as a group compared to that of the non-sedentary pastoralist tent dwellers as another.

Looking at the map of the region, there is a distinct ethnographic delineation between the Berber speaking tribes in the region to the west of the Hammada de Guir and the Arab tribes to the east. However the transhumant (seasonal movement of livestock) practices of the pastoralist tribes caused overlapping of this boundary.

Ait ‘Atta

A Berber tribe of in excess of 50,000 people making it one of the largest tribes in Morocco. It’s territory extended from the Hammada de Guir in the east and westwards throughout the Tafilalt region.

Ait Izdig

By the late 19th century, this Berber tribe was becoming sedentary and although some elements of it continued to live in tents many had taken to the cultivation of dates and olives. There territory extended from the northern parts of the Ait ‘Atta territory, north to the Atlas Mountains around the Guir region. They controlled the caravan routs from the Tafilalt to Fez.

Ait Seghrushin

This was a Berber pastoral tribe of 12,000 centered on Talsint.

Awlad al-Nasir

A small Arab tribe of about 1,500 peoples residing south of the Ait Seghrushin around Bouanane. It contained pastoral and agricultural groups.

Bani Gil

On of the major Arab tribes, 18,000 people occupying the great Moroccan plains of the Tamlelt. They existed on a mixture of agriculture and pastoralism. Their main dependency was on sheep herding. Some of the tribe owned palm groves in the oases around Figuig.

Dawi Mani

This Arab tribe was one of the most militaristic tribes. 15,000 people subdivided into five subtribes. They were all tent dwelling nomads with a comparatively sophisticated military structure. They relied on sheep camel and goat herding. Their territory stretched across the Hammada de Guir to the lower Guir valley and the Zousfana. Many also owned date groves in the Tafilalt. Their territory in the south took them to the French frontier and they were heavily involved in raids against the invasion.

Awlad Jarir

5,000 Arab camel herders closely associated with the Dawi Mani’. Their territory was between that of the Dawi Mani’ and the Bani Gil.

More Resistance in the Desert Part I

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