These two tribes were the most notable in their resistance to French Colonialism in the region. Their combined territories where the object of French annexation to Algeria in 1900. The Dawi Mani’ were Arabs and the Ait Atta Berbers. They shared many common attributes that distinguished them form other tribes, Arab and Berber in the region. Although they both subsisted mainly through transhumant pastoralism they also engaged in caravan trading and in date and palm agriculture to a degree. Despite the involvement in agriculture, they remained nomadic tent dwellers. By the end of the 19th century the Dawi Mani’ were relying more on agriculture, therefore their attitude to outsiders became more defensive in nature. Contrastingly the Ait Atta were less involved in agriculture and expanding aggressively, attacking any weakness they encountered to expand their tribal lands. Dawi Mani The Dawi Mani were descended for the Ma ‘qil Arab tribes who migrated to the region form Egypt in the 11th century. The Dawi Mani believed that their military success was due to their adoption of the Khams Khmas (five fifths). The Khams Khmas was essentially the dividing of the tribes into five sub tribes each of which fielded its own military corps commanded by a ca’id. The five sub tribes were the: Awlas abu ‘Anan; Awlad bil Giz; Awlad Yusif; Awlad Jallul; Idarasa The fifth represented the highest level of sub grouping within the tribe but each fifth was divided into a number of clans, each of which were further divided into family lineages. The head of each fifth claimed direct ancestry from ‘Addi al-Mani’ who legend had it was the original ancestor of the Dawi Mani in the 13th century. Other tribes in Morocco adopted the Khams Khmas but none placed as much military importance on it as the Dawi Mani. Other tribes seem to have evolved it more as a socio- political unit rather than a military tactical system. It seems unlikely that “five fifths” would have proved to be an intrinsically more successful military system than that of say “four fourths” or whatever. Much like carrying a talisman, if it brought military success, they were inclined to believe it was the system that led to the success. The Dawi Mani believed that the successful rallying of the fifths in battle was the key to their success. If they were only able to rally three of the fifths for action, their resolve was much lower. The public consensus was therefore that in times of military necessity, all of the warriors of all five fifths must be brought together. Any spoils of battle were divided amongst the fifths proportionately to the number of warriors in each fifth that had taken part. The warriors within each fifth fought together in its own corps under the command of its ca’id. The tribal war party as a whole were under the command of an ad hoc Warlord called a Sheik who was elected by the fifths for the duration of the battle or war. The Sheik had absolute military authority for the duration of his election. While the Sheiks position was temporary, that of the ca’id was often a lifetime position. There was no overall “chieftain” of the tribe, but a representative assembly from each fifth called a Jama’a. Each Jama’a was typically comprised of an adult from each of the lineage’s within each clan and comprised the wisest and most influential men. Over and above the Sheik, elected for a military command, was the tribal “military police” system known as the Ait ‘Arabin, the people of forty. This was itself commanded by a Sheik who had command only of his “forty warriors”. This was a permanent organization whose members were provided equally by all of the fifths. The Ait ‘Arabin could conduct punitive raids on any of the fifths that failed to provide the proper number of warriors for battle. The most successful direction of expansion of the Dawi Mani up to the nineteenth century had been to the south and east towards the Tuat. They displaced the Ghananma, a small Arab tribe who had been the political overlords of a group Kasars in the Zousfana valley, known as the Beni Goumi. The last raising of the fifths for battle prior to the arrival of the French was as a retaliatory raid in 1885 on the Ghananma who had attacked one of the Kasars now controlled by the Dawi Mani. At other times the Dawi Mani formed coalition war parties with the Ait Atta and the Ghananma and attacked the Kasars in the Tuat region from which they then extracted protection money. They continued to exact tribute from these kasars up to the end of the nineteenth century. These types of missions seemed to remain the specialty of certain groups within the tribe who became adept at it. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, this expansion of the Dawi Mani had ceased and they controlled immense areas of territory throughout the Zousfana valley. This ranged as far as the Plain of Tamlelt in the north, the Hammada de Guir in the west and the Tuat in the east and south. Awlad Jarir There was another tribe sometimes described by the Dawi Mani as the Sixth Fifth, the Awlad Jarir. This was another Arab tribe of about 5,000 with as many as 1,000 warriors. The Awlad Jarir formed a very close association of the Dawi Mani. Despite their comparative small size, they were never subordinate nor dependents of the Dawi Mani but allies sharing equally in the spoils of war. They formed a mutual defense pact with the Dawi Mani to defend attacks from neighboring tribes. The Awlad Jarir were divided into two constituent tribes, the ‘Asasa who were comprised of 10 lineage’s in three clans, and the Mulfalha of 7 lineage’s of a single clan. Their territory was between Figuig and Bechar. They were particularly adept at camel rearing and were renowned as professional raiders with this skill being a specialty of the members of the ‘Asasa clan. Inter tribal warfare was a permanent occupation and internal tribal disputes were very common. Tribal leaders were often required to mediate disputes but when such mediation was unsuccessful then feuds could break out. These would often last for years and in some cases for generations. However, when outside influences required it, such as the French invasion, these disputes could be put aside and tribes would band together in a pan tribal harka. A massive pan tribal harka was almost realized in the early part of the 20th century but never quite materialized. The degenerating political infrastructure of the Makhzan did little to congeal the efforts, as did the lack of a suitable charismatic leader. The Ait ‘Atta A huge Berber tribe of some 50,000 people who could summon as many as 8,000 warriors at the end of the 19th century. The Ait ‘Atta had their own version of the Five Fifths. Being neighbors of the Dawi Mani, it is quite likely that they borrowed their structural make up from them. They believed as did the Dawi Mani, that the Khams Khmas was a source of power within the tribe and help maintain its cohesion. There was however considered to be a difference in the purpose of the Khams Khmas to the Ait ‘Atta than to the Dawi Mani. By the end of the 19th century, no specific military significance remained to the fifths within the Ait ‘Atta as it once may have done. It now served as a political unit within the tribe for the annual election of a supreme chief, the Amghar. He served as mediator between the fifths, but also led the tribe in time of war. Unlike the Dawi Mani fifths that chose their own leader (ca’id) who might remain in power indefinitely, the Ait Atta elected this supreme leader on a yearly basis. In a yearly rotation each fifth produced a candidate. The fifth that provided the candidate for that year did not vote but allowed the other fifths to vote on the candidate. This was to prevent emergence of power grabbing by tyrants. The military unity of the Dawi Mani was not as notable amongst the Ait ‘Atta lacking as they were the formal military interrelationships between the fifths. They were however, a formidable military power and towards the end of the 19th century they had reigned with more than 300 years as the preeminent Berber tribe undergoing almost constant aggressive expansion. When the Ma’qil Arabs arrived in Morocco in 11th century, the Berber tribes were forced to disperse. Some of these displaced tribes formed a political federation under the leadership of a warlord called Dadda ‘Atta from whom the Ait ‘Atta claim descendancy. This federation held together, resisting the Arab invasion and by the 17th century it had started to expand aggressively in pre-Saharan Morocco. It expanded through conquest and forceful occupation of the neighboring lands and on some occasions, ‘Atta war parties numbered warriors in their thousands. These large war parties were formed for specific raids or battles and were disbanded soon afterwards. Due to the aggression of the Ait ‘Atta, a defensive alliance of other Berber tribes was formed in an attempt to check the advance. This federation, the Ait Afalman (“people who seek peace”) engaged in small skirmishes and raid defenses against the Ait ‘Atta on into the 20th century. At times huge battles were fought. A French explorer, Charles de Foucauld received reports of a battle in 1884 that involved 8,600 Ait ‘Atta and 12,700 of the Ait Mirghad, part the Yaflaman federation. He reports casualties 1,600 for the Ait ‘Atta and 400 for the Mirghad. When de Foucauld was leaving, they were preparing for another battle over the Ait ‘Attas seizure of Kasars in the Wad Gheris valley. Due to the pressure from the Yafalman federation the Ait ‘Atta expanded south and east. They gained overloardship of the Kasars that they absorbed into their territory. How the inhabitants of these kasars were treated was dependent on how they responded to the attack. Those who offered no resistance were often treated comparatively well and were often allowed to keep their belongings and property (but were of course required to pay tribute and taxes). Those who resisted may have had their possessions confiscated and turned out into the desert or simply killed outright. The working classes of the Kasars were left unhindered, as they were required to work for their new masters. The Ait ‘Atta were the most aggressive indigenous tribe at the time of the arrival of the French in the region. They believed themselves considerably superior to the agriculturists of the Kasars whom they despised as ones who worked with dirt. Military Tactics The tactics of Ait ‘Atta and the Dawi Mani against the French were essentially the same. They often combined their war parties for attacks against the French. War parties would seek out French re-supply missions and stalk them at some distance. They would lay in wait and then open fire from long range, force the French to deploy, then ride off again and await them further on. They would do this, sometimes for days to wear them down. Finally their attacks would get closer, the horsemen charging in firing, riding back to reload then riding in again. Again, this was intended to wear down the French until it was considered the right moment and they would then attempt to charge home using sword, or occasionally spears used thrown or as a lance. On other occasions stealth was attempted as at the partial victory at Timimoun. At other times, weakness would be sought out as at the total victory at El Moungar. While a re-supply column was being attacked in this way, the destination fort may be under siege. There was little opportunity for them to take fortified blockhouses, which began to be protected by machineguns and artillery by the turn of the century. It was not unknown for captured machine guns and occasionally artillery to be used, but this was rare, and no means of re-supplying ammunition, other than raiding for it was available. Uniforms and Clothing No uniform was used by Moroccans peoples except by small special units of the Makhzan or in rare isolated units who were often pretenders to the throne. The Arab and Berber tribes fought in their native costumes. For Arabs these were predominantly white, but contrasted with colored sashes. Berber tribes tended to be a little more colorful. Lighter cloth with dark vertical colored stripes of greens, reds and blues, but also dark brown or gray cloth with stripes of brighter colors. Decorative silken braids were often hung over the back and shoulders, while the large shash was wound around the head and could also be wrapped in contrasting silk cloths. Leather trappings, such as scabbards, belts, bandoleers and horse harnesses would be of leather that ranged from sand to brown to black. This was often ornately decorated with metal buckles and studs. Horses were often decorated with colorful ornately patterned blankets, draped in colorful fabric bards and hung with tassels. More Resistance in the Desert Part I Introduction Invasion of Tidikelt The Resistance Ferments Problems of Supply Overview of the Inhabitants of SE Morocco Military and Political System of Dawi Mani' and Ait Atta Kasar Inhabitants Native Firepower in the Desert French Forces in North Africa Part II [Courier 81] Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #80 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com