Rif al-Magrib y al-Andalus - Ahmed Tahiri

[Botermes]

Dan is dat aan jou omdat te toetsen gezien jouw fascinatie voor de joodse component, laat het ons maar weten als je er aan uit bent.

Als afsluiting van deze avond heb ik nog een leuk on-topic anekdote voor je in petto.
Het absolute dieptepunt tussen al maghreb en al andalus, is toen de eerste Riffijnse migranten in Nederland, Indonesiërs aanzagen voor Andalusiërs alleen omdat die naam daar en beetje op lijkt: indonesië > andalusië en ze bovendien gedeeltelijk islamitisch zijn.
Ma dazrid abarkan nni zi Andalusia, min iga ? Ahya andalusia, a familia.. Dat soort uitspraken kan ik me nog goed herinneren bij de Marokkaanse slager vroeger, in de achterkamer waar, er in besloten kring, attay werd gedronken en gekletst werd. Met mijn vader kon ik daar dan even zitten en onder het genot van een glaasje attay, luisteren naar wat er allemaal verteld werd. Oh wat een goeie ouwe tijd was dat, die 90's.

[buɛluz]

Dan is dat aan jou omdat te toetsen gezien jouw fascinatie voor de joodse component, laat het ons maar weten als je er aan uit bent.

Klopt het een beetje wat Senor Canardo zegt over jou en je subjectiviteit bij "onwaarschijnlijke" claims?

Als afsluiting van deze avond heb ik nog een leuk on-topic anekdote voor je in petto.
Het absolute dieptepunt tussen al maghreb en al andalus, is toen de eerste Riffijnse migranten in Nederland, Indonesiërs aanzagen voor Andalusiërs alleen omdat die naam daar en beetje op lijkt: indonesië > andalusië en ze bovendien gedeeltelijk islamitisch zijn.
Ma dazrid abarkan nni zi Andalusia, min iga ? Ahya andalusia, a familia.. Dat soort uitspraken kan ik me nog goed herinneren bij de Marokkaanse slager vroeger, in de achterkamer waar, er in besloten kring, attay werd gedronken en gekletst werd. Met mijn vader kon ik daar dan even zitten en onder het genot van een glaasje attay, luisteren naar wat er allemaal verteld werd. Oh wat een goeie ouwe tijd was dat, die 90's.

Senor Canardo's abuelo had het altijd over die Andalusiers met hun pittige eten.... :)

[Botermes]

Klopt het een beetje wat Senor Canardo zegt over jou en je subjectiviteit bij "onwaarschijnlijke" claims?

Die vraag kun je beter stellen aan diegenen die dat soort claims maken.

[3ich]

Senor Canardo el Heretico bevestigt noch ontkent het hebben van een hidden agenda waarbij er gewerkt wordt naar werelddominantie in de naam van Lucifer.   :D

Ach man, WTF weet jij daar nou van?

Je denkt dat je grappig bent.... Dat terwijl dit een serieuze zaak is!

[3ich]

Wat is er eigenlijk bekend over de joden in de Rif? Ik heb wel gehoord over een christelijke stam die bij Beni Ansar zou zijn.

De messi7 is ook een 'Jood/Herbreeuwer.'

Veel Joden waren en zijn nog steeds in het zuiden van Marokko.

Hier: kijk dit en leer! Marokko is de enigste land die zo tolerant was en is tegen over de Joden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXC91Jnqp9U

Joden van Marokko part 1.mpg

[Chatt in de wildernis]

Wat is er eigenlijk bekend over de joden in de Rif?

Google op ,onder andere, de naam 'Ayache' en aanschouw de joodse stamgenoten van de Ayth (Bou) Ayache. 

[buɛluz]

Die vraag kun je beter stellen aan diegenen die dat soort claims maken.

De boodschap die Senor Canardo probeert over te brengen bij jou is dat je in de afwezigheid van historische bronnen - zoals uit de periode tussen Romeinse en Islamitische tijdperk - je moet proberen zoveel mogelijk je oordelen uit te stellen bij het onderzoeken van dit soort historische claims en moet focussen op het bewijs wat op tafel ligt.   

[buɛluz]

Ach man, WTF weet jij daar nou van?

Je denkt dat je grappig bent.... Dat terwijl dit een serieuze zaak is!

Ze3ma serieus genoeg om andere forumleden te waarschuwen voor de "hidden agenda" van Senor Canardo?

De messi7 is ook een 'Jood/Herbreeuwer.'

Veel Joden waren en zijn nog steeds in het zuiden van Marokko.

Hier: kijk dit en leer! Marokko is de enigste land die zo tolerant was en is tegen over de Joden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXC91Jnqp9U

Joden van Marokko part 1.mpg

Alsof jij (of jouw soennitische rolmodel(len) wat dat betreft) überhaupt weet wat tolerantie of vreedzame coëxistentie met joden daadwerkelijk betekent?


Jij bent hier degene die pas echt grappig is!



Ps. Btw. het is "het enige land" en niet "de enigste land"  :)

[buɛluz]

Google op ,onder andere, de naam 'Ayache' en aanschouw de joodse stamgenoten van de Ayth (Bou) Ayache.

Hola Chatt!

Senor Canardo is al eerder een bekendere joodse historicus uit Marokko met de naam "Ayache" tegengekomen:

Ayache, Germain

Germain Ayache (1915â€"1990) was born into a Jewish family in Berkane, in northeastern Morocco near the Algerian border. His family had French citizenship, obtained under the Crémieux Decree after his grandfather spent time in Algeria on business at the end of the nineteenth century. Educated in Berkane, Oujda, Rabat, and Bordeaux, Ayache earned his university teaching qualification (agrégation) in literature and was assigned to teach in Casablanca at the Lycée Lyautey (renamed Mohammed V after independence). In 1936, he joined the Communist Party and was active in recruiting …

http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/ayache-germain-SIM_0002640

[Botermes]

Het koninkrijk van Nekor en, it's on and offset, is hier niet of nauwelijks echt behandeld geweest. De gemiddelde Riffijn weet hier geen snars van dus werd het eens tijd daar wat aan te doen. Al die zinloze afleidingen weerhouden ons er van dat te doen, zie je dat niet..

In 688, under Okba, they reached the Atlantic,1 and shortly afterward
the invasion of Spain took place. These Arabs who came as the first Islamic invaders of
Morocco were men of good family and of high culture. The Arabic which they spoke was
of Classical type, and their standards of literacy and Koranic learning were high. It was
this type of Arab culture, brought by the first wave of invaders (who were not Bedawin),
that became the foundation of the high civilizations of Fez, Tetwan, and the cities of
Andalusia.

Explorers and missionaries rather than colonists, they travelled for the most part with-
/out women, and did not hesitate to marry into the families of the Berbers among whom
they found themselves. Thus their offspring were as much Berber as Arab; and before
many generations one may well imagine that the Berber blood dominated, although the
Arab culture was maintained in the cities with little diminution.2 Thus their descendants
were less Arab in blood than the Bedawin who came after them, but more Arab than they
in the sense that they were more deeply steeped in Islamic culture. The effect of this early
groupjm the Berbers was not unfavorable. The Berbers took oyer Islam, but kept to their
old language and to a great extent to their old manner of living, incorporating the new and
the old into a firm blend wich has in several areas survived until today.although in-other
parts of Morocco the advent of Bedawin  in later times has broken it up.

THE KINGDOM OF NEKOR
Such influences came to the Rif largely through the agency of one man and his descend-
ants, and a study of the history of this family may be found useful when the time comes to
attempt to unravel the cultural problems of the present-day Rif.
In narrating this history I can do no better than paraphrase the account given by el
Bekri,* an historian writing in the eleventh century, since all subsequent accounts are based
on his.

Saleh ibn Mansur. a Himyarite. established himself in the central of the rif in the
reign of the Khalifa el Welid ibn Abd el-Melek, about the year 710. He made his home at
the port of Temsaman, near Bedkun, situated on the Wed el-Bakar, near bedkun,situated
on the wed el bakar.

He converted the Berbers of the, surrounding tribes but these new converts, soon tiring of the restrictions
imposed upon them by their new religion, renounced it and drove Saleh out of the  country.
They then took as their chief one er-Rondi, a Berber of the tribe of Nefza, who had been in
Spain, and who relapsed with them into heathenism.Tiring of him, however, they decided
to reënter Iand call Saleh back to them. Saleh remained in the region until his
death, and was buried at Agta, a village on the Temsaman coast.

edit vuthghmas: ' de rot op en kom toch maar terug theorie !'.

Saleh married, among others, a Senhajan woman, and had by her 2 sons Moatasem
and Idris. Abd es-Samed, his third son, was borne by another wife. El Motasem succeeded
Saleh by popular acclaim, and, dying shortly after his accession, was succeeded by his
nephew, Said ibn Idris.

This Said, the grandson of Saleh, built the city of Nekor five miles from the sea on the
western bank of the River Nekor, oh top of a hill which offered facilities for defence. This
city became the capital of the kingdom of Nekor, wich the descendants of the family were
destined to rule  for three centuries more.

An important market, which had been established
nearby by Saleh, was moved to the town, and gave it promise of commercial prosperity.
- In 858-859 Nekor was invaded bv a piratical band of Normans, who sacked and de-
stroyedthe town, and after eight days departed, taking with them those of the inhabitants
who had not fled. Among the prisoners were Ama t-er-Rahman and Khanula, two grand-
daughters of el Motasem ibn Saleh, who were ransomed and sent home by the Imam Mo-
hammed ibn Abd er-Rahman, the fifth Omeiyad sovereign of Spain.

Said ibn Idris, in whose reign this misfortune occurred, did not die without further
troubles. The Branes tribe of Berbers, perhaps the same Branes who today consider them-
selves part of the Senhaja, revolted, electing a certain Segguen as chief. Segguen won over
other tribes, and the rebels attacked the city of Nekor itself; but at this juncture Said or-
ganized a sally and defeated them so badly that they entered into submission once more
without further trouble.

When Said died he was succeeded by his son Saleh II, who no sooner than in power had
to fight his brother Idris, who had stirred Gzennaya and Beni Urriaghel into revolt. The
two armies met on Mt. Kuin, in Gzennaya, and Idris was completely victorious, except
that Saleh escaped. Idris marched on to Nekor and demanded admittance as king. The
officer whom Saleh had left in charge defended the place vigorously and refused to let Idris
in until he should bring proof that Saleh was dead. During the night Saleh entered by
stealth, and in the morning the governor let Idris in, saying that he was now sure of Salen's
death. No sooner had Idris entered, however, than he was seized and locked up in the
palace. Saleh was unwilling to put him to death, but at length acceded to the entreaties of
his ally, Kasem the Lord of Za, and had him killed by a page, since no one else was willing
to do it.

Saleh's next difficulty was with the Meknassa, perhaps the ancestors of the inhabitants
of the villages of Meknassa Fokania, and Meknassa Takhtania, today situated directly
south of the Gzennaya. The Meknassa having refused to pay taxes, Saleh had let loose in
their country an ass bearing a letter in the feed bag on its back. The Meknassa found the
letter and read it, discovering it to be full of threats. Fearing Saleh's punishment, they put
the amount of overdue taxes on the ass's back, along with a load of fine cloth from Merv, and
led the ass back to Saleh, who forgave them.

When Saleh died his son Said II succeeded to the kingdom and to the troubles which
usually beset its rulers. Hardly had he taken up office when the slaves of his family, led by
his brother Obeid Allah and his uncle Abu Ali er-Rida, revolted and attacked him in his
palace. With the help of his wives and attendants he drove them out, and later put down
the rebellion, killing all the leaders but his brother and uncle, whom he imprisoned, later
sending Obeid Allah to Mekka for life.

Among those he killed was his cousin el Aghleb, whereupon another cousin, a certain
Sedeat-Allah ibn Harun, became angry and in return started a revolt among the Beni
Isliten of Temsaman, without Said's knowing of his participation. When Said heard of the
revolt, he set out with Sedeat-Allah to crush it, but Sedeat Allah betrayed him, going over
to the rebels with all his men. Said fled to Nekor and was besieged there. Finally, however,
Said won, and Sedeat-Allah remained in hiding in Temsaman. Said killed Sedeat-Allah's
brother and burned his houses, in true Riflian style, and later pardoned Sedeat-Allah and
let him return to court. Sedeat-Allah then entered the country of the Botouia and Beni
Urtedi. From these peoples he obtained possession of the Garet fortress of Kolw&Jara,
whence he made raids on the territory of the Marnissa and Zenata. Later he came back to
Nekor and remained as a faithful retainer of Said. During this time the sister of Said
married a sherif of lengthy pedigree, who came to live in the country and established his
progeny there.

Up to this time, and indeed throughout the reign of their dynasty, the family of Saleh
had been orthodox Mohammedans of the old school, following literally the precepts of the
Malekite rite. Through this adherence to orthodoxy they had remained in the good graces
of the Omeiyad khalifas of Spain, one of whom, as has been related, ransomed the princesses
of Nekor after the disastrous raid by the Normans in the time of the first Said.
Although their orthodoxy kept the kings of Nekor in the good graces of Spain, it aroused
against them the ire of the heretical Fatemid khalifas of Kairwan. Obeid Allah esh-Shiai,
the khalifa, sent Said a poem in which he threatened to destroy his kingdom if he should
not submit to Fatemid doctrine and power. Said called in an able poet, who wrote a pun-
gent reply which offended the khalifa so much that he sent out Messala ibn Habbus, the
governor of Tehert, to invade the domain of Nekor and attack Said. In 917 Messala ad-
vanced on Nekor and took up his position at a place called Nesaft, a day's march from
Nekor.

Said marched out against him and fought three days without being defeated. Then
Hamd ibn el Ayesh, a valiant Riffian in his forces, a native of the tribe of Ituweft, which
may have been the same as the present Beni Itteft, attempted to break through the enemy's
lines and assassinate Messala. His plan failed, and he was taken prisoner. When Messala
was about to kill him, he offered to support Messala in return for his life, and led the
Fatemid army through a weak side of Said's line, whereupon Said's troops fled. Said sent
his family out to the Isle of Alhucemas, and with a few of his retainers fought until he was
killed. Nekor was sacked, and the women and children taken prisoners. Said's head, and the
heads of those of his family who had been killed, were taken to the Fatemid khalifa's court
and exhibited.

His children and the other members of his family who had escaped went to Spain, where
they were well received by the Omeiyad sovereign Abd er-Rahman en-Nasr, who provided
them with what they required and let them remain in Malaga, awaiting an opportunity to
return home.

Messala spent six months overrunning the territory of Nekor and then he departed,
leaving one of his officers named Delul in charge. Before long the Fatemid soldiers stationed
with Delul began to leave, until soon he had but a small group at his command. Said's three
sons, Idris, el Motasem, and Saleh, heard this and prepared to return. Each set sail at the
same time in a different boat, with the agreement that whoever should land first would be
king. Saleh, the youngest one, landed first, on the roadstead of Temsaman and was ac-
claimed king. His brothers when they landed acknowledged him without controversy. He
marched on Delul, captured him and his men, and crucified them all along the banks of the
Nekor. Abd er-Rahman ibn Mohammed of Cordova sent Saleh gifts of jewels, clothing,
and arms, and had the news of the victory announced throughout Spain.

Saleh III died after a twenty years' reign and was succeeded by his grandson el-
Mowayed, who was attacked by Musa ibn Abu '1 Afiya and was killed. In 929-930
Nekor was again destroyed, and thisrime permanently.

Later Abu Ayub Ismail the great-grandson of the first Paid through another line, took
ovefThe command and rebuilt Nekor. establishing in it a new population, and restoring the
market-day. In 935 Sandal, the Negro leader of the Fatemid forces, seeking another force
which under Meisur, another Negro, had been lost, approached Nekor and wrote to Ismail
demanding his submission. Ismail shut himself up in the castle of Agri and wrote Sandal
that he was willing to submit. Sandal sent messengers asking Ismail to come to his camp,
but when he learned that Ismail had put these messengers to death he advanced and occu-
pied the fortress of Naseft, the place in which Messala had killed Said ibn Saleh. After eight
days of fighting Sandal took Agri, killing Ismail and most of those with him.
Sandal set up a Ketaman Berber named Mermazu as governor of Nekor, and departed
for Fez, which city he had heard that Meisur, whom he had originally set out to find, was
besieging.

The inhabitants of Nekor then returned, having chosen a member of the family of Saleh
as their ruler. He was Musa ibn er-Rumi, who had previously lived among the Beni
Isliten of Temsaman. Musa ibn er-Rumi took back Nekor, killed Mermazu, and sent his
head to the emir of Cordova.

Two years after the coming of Sandal, Musa ibn er-Rumi was expelled from Nekor by
another member of the royal family, Abd es-Semia, and went, with his brother and other
relations, to Spain, where members of the family, survivors from previous expulsions, were
already living in Pechina. His cousin Jorthem ibn Ahmed at the same time went to Malaga.
In 947-948 Jorthem was recalled to Nekor as king, and retained his office until 971. The
rule passed successively to several of his descendants, until in 1019-20 the Azdaja conquered
them and forced them to reembark to Malaga. After the Azdaja had left, the descendants
of Jorthem returned to Nekor, or rather to el Mezemma, its seaport. Later Yala ibn Fotuh
the Azdaji drove from the country all the members of this family. In the year in which el
Bekri wrote, a.d. 1067-08, Nekor still belonged to the descendants of Yala ibn Fotuh.
This is all that we know of the history of the kingdom of Nekor. Ibn Khaldun, writing
several centuries later, merely copied el Bekri,1 and did not state what events occurred there
after the year in which el Bekri wrote.*

About six hundred years later a Frenchman, Sieur Roland Frejus, landed at Alhucemas
and crossed the Rif by way of the River Nekor, Beni Tuzin, Tafersit, and the Garet. He
afterwards returned to Alhucemas and spent some time there.* Frejus says that a certain
Sheikh Amar commanded part of the Boutoya, the rest of which region, as well as Temsa-
man, was under the suzerainty of Sheikh Arras of "Albouzema," his brother-in-law and
enemy.4 Sheikh Arras lived in "Albouzema," otherwise known as El Mezemma, the port
of Nekor, situated on the beach somewhat to the eastward of the present Ajdir.* On his
ride into the interior Frejus stopped at Nekor, three leagues from the sea,6 but does not say
whether it was then a flourishing town or a ruin, as it is today. At any rate, El Mezemma
must have been more important than Nekor, for when the Filali Sultan Mulay er-Rashid
punished Sheikh Arras, his father-in-law, for not assisting him personally in the siege of Fez,
he destroyed el Mezemma,7 but no mention is made of his destroying Nekor, which must
therefore have been already demolished, since no one in history had ever before passed by
an opportunity to knock it down.This event took place in 1666; ^therefore the most that we know concerning the final
abandonment of Nekorjs that it occurred probably between 1068 and 1666.

The extent of the territory "included in the kingdom of Nekor and the names of the
tribes which bounded it are clearly stated in el Bekri. On the east he places the country of the
Zuagha, about five days' journey from Nekor and neighboring the Jerawa of el Hasan ibn
Abi '1 Aish. Near by are the Matmata, people of Kebdana, the Marnissa of the White Hill,
the Ghassasa, who inhabit Mt. Herek, and the Beni Urtedi of Kolwe" Jara. On the west the
territory of Nekor extended to the country of the Beni Merwan, a people who made up part
of the Ghomara, and touched on another Ghomaran tribe, the Beni Homeid, famous for its
horses, and also on the Mestassa and the Senhaja. Behind these peoples he placed the
Aureba and the Band of Ferhun, the Beni Ulid, the Zenata of Taberida, the Beni Irnian,
and the Beni Merasen of the band of Kasem lord of Za and of the "hill called Taurirt." *
The list of these outlying peoples, as well as those on the borders of the kingdom, includes
many known today.

The Zuagha are now considered purely Algerian, but may in the days of Nekor have
reached as far west as the Muluya. The Kebdana, of course, are still in their place; the
Marnissa are now farther west than their order in the list would indicate; the Ghassasa were
probably a group of what are now called the Galiya, and the Beni Urtedi, nomadic Berbers,
in the Garet. Kolwe* Jara, their stronghold, is said to have been one day's journey beyond
the River Kert, and a day's journey likewise from the Muluya.3 Therefore Kolwe* Jara can
be roughly located by finding a place where the two rivers are two days' march apart, and
locating the middle of that distance. A line from the Kert to the Muluya, passing through
the wells of Hassi Wensga, in the Beni Bu Yahyi, constitutes a two days' march, and Hassi
Wensga is exactly one day's march from either river. At Hassi Wensga there are said to be
the ruins of an ancient fortress. The wells of Hassi Wensga furnish the only water for many
miles around in the arid waste in which it is located; a castle in that place would have the
advantage over its besiegers through its control of the water supply.

El Bekri places the Ghomara to the west of, but not under the sway of, the kingdom of
Nekor. Mestassa likewise was on the border, and the Senhaja lay to the west of it. Today
the Senhajan tribe of Beni Gmil touches the tribe of Mestassa, thus presenting an unbroken
line of Senhaja and Mestassa from the Wergha country to the Mediterranean. If, then, the
Ghomara bordered on the kingdom of Nekor,8 there must have been a gap between the
Senhaja and Mestassa; but el Bekri may not have meant it literally, since it is really but a
short distance from the junction of the Beni Gmil and Mestassa to the Ghomara.
Of the tribes said to be beyond the border tribes, the Beni Ulid, today forming part of the
Senhaja of the Wergha, are still to be reckoned with. We know little of the Aureba, a name
usually associated with Algeria, or of the Band of Ferhun, although in the Werghan tribe
of Beni Wenj in today is a mountain cave of great size known as the ifri n Ferhun, or cave
of Ferhun. Neither Beni Irnian nor Beni Merasen are names familiar today, although Za is
now the name of a village of Beni Zerwal of the Jebala and the "hill called Taurirt" might
be any hill, since in Berber taurirt means hill. The most important place today called
Taurirt is the French fortress and wireless station on the road from Guercif to Ujda, and
this may also be the hill mentioned in Sallust's Jugurtha.* If Kasem, lord of Za, held sway
all the way from Taurirt beyond the Muluya to Beni Zerwal, he must have been a potentate
indeed. As a matter of fact, his influence on the court of Nekor was great enough to per-
suade the second Saleh to put to death his brother Idris. The Zenata are listed as occupying
the territory to the south of the Garet.

The tribes which I have so far mentioned were border tribes of the kingdom of Nekor,
and tribes beyond the borders. The tribes which figure most prominently as subject to the
longs were Temsaman, Beni Urriaghel, and Gzennaya. Meknassa, Branes, and Beni Itteft
have likewise been mentioned as tributary.

El Bekri lists as the harbors dependent upon Nekor, Muluya, Herek, Garet, Marsa 'd
Dar Auktis, Wed el Bakar, and el Mezemma. Muluya was apparently at the mouth of that
river; Herek, bearing the same name as a mountain before mentioned, was apparently some-
where along the shoreline of the Galiya; Garet was no doubt at the mouth of the Kert;
Marsa 'd Dar Auktis, according to el Bekri, was near the Mountain of Temsaman; Wed el
Bakar, now Marsa Sidi Hasein, was at the mouth of the river bearing that name; and el
Mezemma, the actual port of Nekor, was on the Bay of Alhucemas.1 It is interesting that
in this early account the important harbor and city of Melilla is not mentioned, wherefore
one must conclude its Islamic settlement to have been of later date; Carthaginians and
Romans may well have occupied it earlier.

Three other ports are mentioned, but not as belonging to Nekor. These were Bades,
Bakuia, and Balish, the last-named belonging to the Senhaja.1 Today Bokoya is a tribe and
Bades a ruin, nor have the Senhaja any outlet upon the sea.

Fl Bekri has mapped out a Rif not radically different in tribal designations from what it
is today, the chief difference being in the eastern and Garet section. Beni Tuzin, Tafersit,
and Beni Ulishk had not yet taken on their present appellations; Melilla had not been
built, nor were the Galiya known as such; Beni Said was called Butuia, a term sometimes
expanded to include a much larger region than that of the present Beni Said, and the no-
mads of the Garet, dominated then by Kolwe' Jara, had not adopted their modern names.
The Senhaja and Ghomara to the west seem to have occupied much the same territory they
hold today, although the tribes now lumped together as Senhaja el Ghuddu, Werghan
Senhaja, or, in this volume, Western Arabophone Senhaja, are not designated as Senhajan
in origin or affiliation.

The civilization of Nekor seems to have been a counterpart of that of Omeyad Spain
rather than of anything in the Magheb. The reigning sovereigns were learned in the
Malekite rite and led the prayer publicly in the mosque of the city.3 Koranic learning must
have been highly developed and its influence on the three nuclear tribes of Gzennaya, Beni
TJrriaghel, and Temsaman strong. Said ibn Saleh built on the banks of the Ghis a mosque
rivalling that of Alexandria, and today, on the same site or nearby, stands the sanctuary of
Sidi Yussuf, in which before the Riffian war three hundred or more students applied them-
selves to the Koran and magical lore.

Although the descendants of Saleh carried on the traditions of their ancestor in religious
and intellectual matters. they could not have avoided becoming more and more Riffian in
blood an general matter of life, for there is but one record of a fresh infusion of Arab
blood into a line which was half Berber to begin with, and the contacts with the rest of the
Arab world were few and, except those with Spain, bloody and unsought. We see them
quarrelling among themselves and facing constant uprisings; we see the facile shiftings of
loyalties and alliances, the high premium placed upon strategy and trickery, the practice of
burning the houses of foemen defeated or driven off in a feud. These habits are distinctly
Riffian in character.

OTHER EARLY CENTERS
Nekor, although the chief source of Arab influence on the Rif during this early period,
was by no means the only such city in the Rif. Bades,1 the ruins of which now confront the
Pefion de Velez, and Melilla * were important in their time, and there were a number of
smaller towns along the coast.
Unlike Nekor, Bades antedated the Moslem invasions, having been built, as Marmol
suggests,1 by the Goths. Bades was a city of some seven hundred houses, occupied by fisher-
men and shipbuilders. The lord of Velez (Bades) kept a navy of thirty galleys, wherewith
to resist attack and to raid the coast of Spain. He likewise held sway over the mountain
Berbers behind the town, who came down to defend it in time of need. Marmol cites many
battles between the men of Bades and the Spaniards, and Spanish raids on the stronghold
itself.1

In 1508 Bades fell to the Spaniards, and in 1522 the Turks took it away from them, keep-
ing it until 1564, when the Spaniards seem to have regained control of it.4 The Spaniards
did not occupy the city, which fell into ruins at some subsequent date. During recent times
the Spanish government has maintained a prison camp and trading post on Pefion de Velez, a
small stony island just off the site of Bades, and this post has been one of the three prime
gates of entry for articles of European manufacture into the Rif, the others being the Isle
of Alhucemas and Melilla.

The nature of Bades' population is left somewhat in doubt, although from Marmol's de-
scription of it one would judge it to have been Berber, excepting for a mellah containing one
hundred houses of Jews, which he does not fail to mention.1 Even the identity of the Lord
of Valez is left in doubt. Bades may well have exerted an Arabizing influence on the sur-
rounding tribes through its extensive trading contacts with the outside world.
Melilla was the last of the three great centres from which trade influences may have been
diffused. It is a very old city, having, as we have seen,8 probably been built by the Phoe-
nicians. It was occupied by a family called Beni Urtedi, who although the nominal inhabi-
tants of the place were not always in command.8 In 926-927 Abd er Rahman, the Omeyyad
ruler of Spain, captured it, and fortified it to serve as a stronghold for his ally Musa ibn
Abu el ' Afia'. A century and a half later, however, the original Beni Urtedi seem to have
come back into control of their own city, for at that time they invited Mohammed ibn Idris,
a member of the Idrisite family, to come over from Spain and be their ruler, which he did.8
After many serious battles the Spaniards finally captured Melilla in 1497, and have kept it
ever since.8 

[buɛluz]

Het koninkrijk van Nekor en, it's on and offset, is hier niet of nauwelijks echt behandeld geweest. De gemiddelde Riffijn weet hier geen snars van dus werd het eens tijd daar wat aan te doen. Al die zinloze afleidingen weerhouden ons er van dat te doen, zie je dat niet..

Goddamit!

Had je niet op z'n minst die typefouten eruit kunnen halen en wat alinea structuur aan kunnen brengen voor de "gemiddelde Riffijn"?

En belangrijker: denk je dat de gemiddelde Riffijn niet geïnteresseerd zou zijn in de pre-islamitische geschiedenis van Nekor?

[Botermes]

Is gedaan, jongen.

[Botermes]

En belangrijker: denk je dat de gemiddelde Riffijn niet geïnteresseerd zou zijn in de pre-islamitische geschiedenis van Nekor?

Ik merk er anders bar weinig van, althans in mijn omgeving en ik neem het op de koop toe dat dat overal wel ongeveer het geval is, don't you think ?

Ok, these type of books have been around long before we were born, right ? Not that it's all true but it nevertheless gives us data to analyse. Somehow these books were so, like out of reach due to the negative enviremont surrounding us, created by : La systema babylonia, me entiendes cabron ?

[Mr Miyagi]

Google op ,onder andere, de naam 'Ayache' en aanschouw de joodse stamgenoten van de Ayth (Bou) Ayache.

Wil je zeggen dat de Ait Bouyache een joodse oorsprong hebben of begrijp ik het verkeerd?

[buɛluz]

Senor Canardo's reconstructie van de samenvatting gegeven door Coon, aangevuld met informatie uit het boek van Ahmed Tahiri en uit het boek van al Bakri in het Arabisch:

In 688, under Okba, they reached the Atlantic, and shortly afterward the invasion of Spain took place. These Arabs who came as the first Islamic invaders of Morocco were men of good family and of high culture (waarbij roofbuit en slavernijhandel leitmotif waren voor de islamitische invasie van Tamazgha). The Arabic which they spoke was of Classical type, and their standards of literacy and Koranic learning were high. It was this type of Arab culture, brought by the first wave of invaders (who were not Bedawin) that became the foundation of the high civilizations of Fez, Tetwan, and the cities of Andalusia.

Explorers and missionaries rather than colonists, they travelled for the most part without women, and did not hesitate to marry into the families of the Berbers among whom they found themselves. Thus their offspring were as much Berber as Arab (valse premis, waarbij er gegeneraliseerd wordt om een valse Arabische afkomst aan de Salih dynastie toe te kunnen kennen); and before many generations one may well imagine that the Berber blood dominated, although the Arab culture was maintained in the cities with little diminution. Thus their descendants were less Arab in blood than the Bedawin who came after them, but more Arab than they in the sense that they were more deeply steeped in Islamic culture. The effect of this early group the Berbers was not unfavorable. The Berbers took over Islam, but kept to their old language and to a great extent to their old manner of living, incorporating the new and the old into a firm blend wich has in several areas survived until today although in other parts of Morocco the advent of Bedawin in later times has broken it up.

THE KINGDOM OF NEKOR

Such influences came to the Rif largely through the agency of one man and his descendants, and a study of the history of this family may be found useful when the time comes to attempt to unravel the cultural problems of the present-day Rif. In narrating this history I can do no better than paraphrase the account given by el Bekri, an historian writing in the eleventh century, since all subsequent accounts are based on his (al Bakri heeft zijn beschrijving gebaseerd op het boek Kitab fi Akhbar Nakur - Mohammed b. Youssef al Warraq).

Saleh ibn Mansur, a Himyarite Amazigh van de Nefza stam uit Ifriqiya (= Tunesie), established himself in the central of the rif in the reign of the Khalifa el Welid ibn Abd el-Melek, about the year 710 (In het jaar 709 heeft Salih de territoriale concessierechten ontvangen van het kalifaat, maar hij had zich al in 693 gevestigd in regio Boudinar in Temsaman). He made his home at the port of Temsaman, near Badkun, situated on the Wed el-Bakar Wadi el Kabir (= Guadalquivir = Ighzar Ameqran = de Grote Rivier).

edit Senor Canardo: het jaar 699 na Chr wordt als startjaar gegeven voor de politieke carriere van Salih b. Mansour in de Rif regio.

He converted the Berbers of the surrounding tribes (Nefza / Luwata; Ghomara; Senhaja al Branes; Meknassa; Zenata ahl Tabrida), but these new converts, soon (pas in 738 na Chr.) tiring of the restrictions imposed upon them by their new religion, renounced it and drove Saleh out of the  country. They then took as their chief one Dawud er-Rondi, a Berber of the tribe of Nefza, who had been in Spain (in Serrania de Ronda), and who relapsed with them into heathenism kharijitisch-sufri heterodoxie.Tiring of him, however, they decided to reënter Iand call Saleh back to them. Saleh remained in the region until his death, and was buried at Agta Iqti (exacte locatie van graftombe = 35.196381, -3.540380), a village on the Temsaman coast.

edit vuthghmas: 'de rot op en kom toch maar terug theorie!'.
edit Senor Canardo: 'de malikitische contra-revolutie': het mislukken van de Grote Amazigh Opstand in de Rif regio.

Saleh married, among others, a Senhajan woman, and had by her 2 sons Moatasem (al Mu3tasim b. Salih b. Mansur) and Idris (Idris b. Salih b. Mansur). Abd es-Samed (Abd al Samad b. Salih b. Mansur), his third son, was borne by another wife. El Motasem succeeded Saleh by popular acclaim, and, dying shortly after his accession, was succeeded by his nephew, Said ibn Idris (Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur). This Said, the grandson of Saleh, built the city of Nekor five miles from the sea on the western bank of the River Nekor, on top of a hill which offered facilities for defence. This city became the capital of the kingdom of Nekor, which the descendants of the family were destined to rule  for three centuries more.

An important market, which had been established nearby (locatie bij Azru n Tasrith) by Saleh, was moved to the town, and gave it promise of commercial prosperity (Handelsroute, die sub-Sahara met Europa verbond = bilad Sudan - Sijilmassa - Nekor - Pechina / Malaga - Cordoba). In 858-859 Nekor was invaded by a piratical band of Normans, who sacked and destroyed the town, and after eight days departed, taking with them those of the inhabitants who had not fled. Among the prisoners were Ama t-er-Rahman and Khanula (Amat al Rahman + Khan3ula = dochters van Wafiq b. al Mu3tasim b. Salih b. Mansur), two granddaughters of el Motasem ibn Saleh, who were ransomed and sent home by the Imam Mohammed ibn Abd er-Rahman, the fifth Ummayad sovereign of Spain.

Said ibn Idris, in whose reign this misfortune occurred, did not die without further troubles. The Branes tribe of Berbers, perhaps the same Branes who today consider themselves part of the Senhaja, revolted, electing a certain Segguen (Sekken / Msekken) as chief. Segguen won over other tribes (Ghomara), and the rebels attacked the city of Nekor itself; but at this juncture Said organized a rally and defeated them so badly that they entered into submission once more without further trouble (De opstand van Sekken had een sjiitisch-zaydi + mu3tazili karakter).

When Said died he was succeeded by his son Saleh II (Salih b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur), who no sooner than in power had to fight his brother Idris, who had stirred Gzennaya and Beni Urriaghel (Igzennayen + Ait Waryagher) into revolt. The two armies met on Mt. Kuin, in Gzennaya, and Idris was completely victorious, except that Saleh escaped. Idris marched on to Nekor and demanded admittance as king. The officer whom Saleh had left in charge defended the place vigorously and refused to let Idris in until he should bring proof that Saleh was dead. During the night Saleh entered by stealth, and in the morning the governor let Idris in, saying that he was now sure of Saleh's death. No sooner had Idris entered, however, than he was seized and locked up in the palace. Saleh was unwilling to put him to death, but at length acceded to the entreaties of his ally, Kasem the Lord of Za (Qassem al Wasnani, heerser over regio van Sa3 + al Qudia (= Tawrirt) bij de stammen van de Meknassa), and had him killed by a page, since no one else was willing to do it.

Saleh's next difficulty was with the Meknassa, perhaps the ancestors of the inhabitants of the villages of Meknassa Fokania, and Meknassa Takhtania, today situated directly south of the Gzennaya de stammenconfederatie van de Meknassa lag oostelijker dan hier wordt aangegeven, namelijk ten zuiden van de Nefza sub-stam Ait Yaznassen en in het stroomgebied van de rivier Malwiya (Moulouya). The Meknassa having refused to pay taxes, Saleh had let loose in their country an ass bearing a letter in the feed bag on its back. The Meknassa found the letter and read it, discovering it to be full of threats. Fearing Saleh's punishment, they put the amount of overdue taxes on the ass's back, along with a load of fine cloth from Merv (stad in Khorassan, die op de Zijderoute lag), and led the ass back to Saleh, who forgave them.

When Saleh died his son Said II (Sa3id b. Salih b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur) succeeded to the kingdom and to the troubles which usually beset its rulers. Hardly had he taken up office when the slaves of his family al Saqaliba = geimporteerde slaven uit Slavische landen (= Oost-Europa) woonachtig in Qariat al Saqaliba (= dorp van de Slaven, gelegen net buiten de stad Nekor), led by his brother Obeid Allah (3ubaid Allah b. Salih b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur) and his uncle Abu Ali er-Rida (Abu 3ali al Rida b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur), revolted and attacked him in his palace. With the help of his wives and attendants he drove them out, and later put down the rebellion, killing all the leaders but his brother and uncle, whom he imprisoned, later sending Obeid Allah to Mekka for life.

Among those he killed was his cousin el Aghleb (al Aghleb b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Saleh b. Mansur), whereupon another cousin, a certain Sedeat-Allah ibn Harun (Se3adat Allah b. Harun b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Saleh b. Mansur), became angry and in return started a revolt among the Beni Isliten (Ait Yasliten) of Temsaman, without Said's knowing of his participation. When Said heard of the revolt, he set out with Sedeat-Allah to crush it, but Sedeat Allah betrayed him, going over to the rebels with all his men. Said fled to Nekor and was besieged there. Finally, however, Said won, and Sedeat-Allah remained in hiding in Temsaman. Said killed Sedeat-Allah's brother (Mimoun) and burned his houses, in true Riflian style, and later pardoned Sedeat-Allah and let him return to court. Sedeat-Allah then entered the country of the Botouia and Beni Urtedi (Batiwiya + Ait Wartrden). From these peoples he obtained possession of the Garet fortress of Kolwe Jara (Qal3at Djaret),  whence he made raids on the territory of the Marnissa and Zenata. Later he came back to Nekor and remained as a faithful retainer of Said. During this time the sister of Said married a sharif of lengthy pedigree (Ahmed b. Idris b. Mohammed b. Suleiman b. Abdallah b. Hussein(?) b. Hassan b. Ali b. Abu Talib), who came to live in the country and established his progeny there.

Up to this time, and indeed throughout the reign of their dynasty, the family of Saleh had been orthodox Mohammedans of the old school, following literally the precepts of the Malekite rite (= soennitisch-maliki). Through this adherence to orthodoxy they had remained in the good graces of the Omeiyad khalifas of Spain, one of whom, as has been related, ransomed the princesses of Nekor after the disastrous raid by the Normans in the time of the first Said. Although their orthodoxy kept the kings of Nekor in the good graces of Spain, it aroused against them the ire of the heretical sjiitisch-isma3ili Fatemid khalifas of Kairwan. Obeid Allah esh-Shiai, the khalifa (3ubayd Allah al Mahdi = 1e kalief van de Fatimiden), sent Said a poem in which he threatened to destroy his kingdom if he should not submit to Fatemid doctrine and power. Said called in an able poet (een dichter uit Toledo, Andalusie), who wrote a pungent reply which offended the khalifa so much that he sent out Messala ibn Habbus, the governor of Tehert (Tahert / Tiahert), to invade the domain of Nekor and attack Said. In 917 Messala advanced on Nekor and took up his position at a place called Nesaft Tsaft (de plaatsnaam Tsaft is nog steeds bekend bij de de Ait Tuzin), a day's march from Nekor.

Said marched out against him and fought three days without being defeated. Then Hamd ibn el Ayesh (Hmed ibn al 3ayache), a valiant Riffian in his forces, a native of the tribe of Ituweft, which may have been the same as the present Beni Itteft (Ait Yetteft), attempted to break through the enemy's lines and assassinate Messala. His plan failed, and he was taken prisoner. When Messala was about to kill him, he offered to support Messala in return for his life, and led the Fatemid army through a weak side of Said's line, whereupon Said's troops fled. Said sent his family out to the Isle of Alhucemas (Thazrot n Nekor), and with a few of his retainers fought until he was killed. Nekor was sacked, and the women and children taken prisoners. Said's head, and the heads of those of his family who had been killed, were taken to the Fatemid khalifa's court and exhibited.

His children and the other members of his family who had escaped went to Spain, where they were well received by the Omeiyad sovereign Abd er-Rahman en-Nasr, who provided them with what they required and let them remain in Malaga, awaiting an opportunity to return home. (De dynastie van Salih wordt een proxy in de Koude Oorlog tussen de 2 grootmachten: soennitisch Ummayaden versus sjiitische Fatimiden).

Messala spent six months overrunning the territory of Nekor and then he departed, leaving one of his officers named Delul in charge. Before long the Fatemid soldiers stationed with Delul began to leave, until soon he had but a small group at his command. Said's three sons, Idris, el Motasem, and Saleh, heard this and prepared to return. Each set sail at the same time in a different boat, with the agreement that whoever should land first would be king. Saleh, the youngest one  (Salih b. Sa3id b. Salih b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur (bijnaam al Yatim = de Wees), landed first, on the roadstead of Temsaman and was acclaimed king. His brothers when they landed acknowledged him without controversy. He marched on Delul, captured him and his men, and crucified them all along the banks of the Nekor. Abd er-Rahman ibn Mohammed of Cordova sent Saleh gifts of jewels, clothing, and arms, and had the news of the victory announced throughout Spain.

edit Senor Canardo: 'de judaskus': de Umayyaden tonen zich van hun goede kant bij het horen van het goede nieuws, dat hun Fatimidische tegenstanders gekruisigd zijn door Salih de Wees.

Saleh III died after a twenty years' reign and was succeeded by his grandson el-Mowayed (generatie wordt overgeslagen, Salih de Wees wordt eerst opgevolgd door zijn zoon Abdel Badi3 van 927-929 en vanaf 929 - 932 door zijn kleinzoon al Mo2ayed), who was attacked by Musa ibn Abu '1 Afiya (Musa ibn Abi al 3afiya, leider van de Meknassa) and was killed. In 929-930 Nekor was again destroyed, and this time permanently.

edit Senor Canardo: 'de dolkstootlegende': Terwijl Musa ibn Abi al 3afiya de aanval inzette over land, vielen de Umayyaden vanuit de rug aan. Hun zeevloot voerden amfibische operaties uit, waarbij meer dan 3.000 soldaten bij de haven van al Mazamma aan land gaan. Ook werd de havenstad Malila (Melilla) ingenomen door de Umayyaden. 

Later Abu Ayub Ismail the great-grandson of the first Said through another line (Abu Ayub Isma3il b. Abd al Malik b. Abd al Rahman b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur), took over the command and rebuilt Nekor establishing in it a new population, and restoring the market-day (Abu Ayub Isma3il versterkt ook de stadsmuren van Nekor en bouwt hierbij de 4 stadspoorten = Bab Soleiman; Bab Ait Waryagher; Bab al Yahud; Bab al Mosella). In 935 Sandal, the Negro leader of the Fatemid forces, seeking another force which under Meisur, another Negro, had been lost, approached Nekor and wrote to Ismail demanding his submission. Ismail shut himself up in the castle of Agri Ikra and wrote Sandal that he was willing to submit. Sandal sent messengers asking Ismail to come to his camp, but when he learned that Ismail had put these messengers to death he advanced and occupied the fortress of Naseft, the place in which Messala had killed Said ibn Saleh. After eight days of fighting Sandal took Agri, killing Ismail and most of those with him. Sandal set up a Ketaman Berber named Mermazu (Marmazu van de Ketama stam) as governor of Nekor, and departed for Fez, which city he had heard that Meisur, whom he had originally set out to find, was besieging.

The inhabitants of Nekor then returned, having chosen a member of the family of Saleh as their ruler. He was Musa ibn er-Rumi (Musa b. al Mu3tasem b. Muhamed b. Qara b. el Mu3tasem b. Salih b. Mansur), who had previously lived among the Beni Isliten of Temsaman. Musa ibn er-Rumi took back Nekor, killed Mermazu, and sent his head to the emir of Cordova.

Two years after the coming of Sandal, Musa ibn er-Rumi was expelled from Nekor by another member of the royal family, Abd es-Semia (Abd al Sami3 b. Djarthum b. Idris b. Salih b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur), and went, with his brother and other relations, to Spain, where members of the family, survivors from previous expulsions, were already living in Pechina. His cousin Jorthem ibn Ahmed (Djarthum b. Ahmed b. Muhamed b. Zaydat Allah b. Sa3id b. Idris b. Salih b. Mansur) at the same time went to Malaga. In 947-948 Jorthem was recalled to Nekor as king, and retained his office until 971. The rule passed successively to several of his descendants (van 971 - 982 werd Djarthum opgevolgd door zijn zoon Abd al Sami3 en deze wordt van 982 - 1019 weer opgevolgd door zijn zoon Muhamed), until in 1019-20 the Azdaja conquered them and forced them to reembark to Malaga. After the Azdaja had left, the descendants of Jorthem returned to Nekor, or rather to el Mezemma, its seaport. Later Yala ibn Fotuh the Azdaji (3ari b. al Futu7 al Azdadji) drove from the country all the members of this family. In the year in which el Bekri wrote, a.d. 1067-08, Nekor still belonged to the descendants of Yala ibn Fotuh (3ari werd van 1031 - 1039 opgevolgd door zijn zoon Youssef en deze wordt weer door zijn zoon 3iz opgevolgd van 1039 - 1080). This is all that we know of the history of the kingdom of Nekor. Ibn Khaldun, writing several centuries later, merely copied el Bekri,1 and did not state what events occurred there after the year in which el Bekri wrote.*

About six hundred years later a Frenchman, Sieur Roland Frejus (vergezeld met een joodse tolk genaamd Yacoub Pariente), landed at Alhucemas and crossed the Rif by way of the River Nekor, Beni Tuzin, Tafersit, and the Garet. He afterwards returned to Alhucemas and spent some time there. Frejus says that a certain Sheikh Amar commanded part of the Boutoya, the rest of which region, as well as Temsaman, was under the suzerainty of Sheikh Arras of "Albouzema," his brother-in-law and enemy.4 Sheikh Arras lived in "Albouzema," otherwise known as El Mezemma, the port of Nekor, situated on the beach somewhat to the eastward of the present Ajdir. On his ride into the interior Frejus stopped at Nekor, three leagues from the sea,6 but does not say whether it was then a flourishing town or a ruin, as it is today. At any rate, El Mezemma must have been more important than Nekor, for when the Filali Sultan Mulay er-Rashid punished Sheikh Arras, his father-in-law, for not assisting him personally in the siege of Fez, he destroyed el Mezemma, but no mention is made of his destroying Nekor, which must therefore have been already demolished, since no one in history had ever before passed by an opportunity to knock it down.This event took place in 1666; therefore the most that we know concerning the final abandonment of Nekorjs that it occurred probably between 1068 and 1666 (Nekor is 1080 verwoest door al Murabitun = Almoraviden).

The extent of the territory "included in the kingdom of Nekor and the names of the tribes which bounded it are clearly stated in el Bekri. On the east he places the country of the Zuagha (Zuwagha), about five days' journey from Nekor and neighboring the Jerawa (stad Djarawa = machtscentrum van de Zuwagha) of el Hasan ibn Abi '1 Aish (Hassan b. 3isa b. Abi al 3ic). Near by are the Matmata, people of Kebdana (Icebdanen), the Marnissa (verbastering van het Latijn = Maurensis) of the White Hill (al Qudia el Beyda2), the Ghassasa (Ighsassen), who inhabit Mt. Herek (Adrar n Gourougou), and the Beni Urtedi of Kolwe" Jara. On the west the territory of Nekor extended to the country of the Beni Merwan, a people who made up part of the Ghomara, and touched on another Ghomaran tribe, the Beni Homeid, famous for its horses, and also on the Mestassa and the Senhaja. Behind these peoples he placed the Aureba (Awraba) and the Band of Ferhun (Fer7un), the Beni Ulid (Ait Walid), the Zenata of Taberida, the Beni Irnian (Ait Yernayen), and the Beni Merasen (Ait Merasen / Ait Rasin) of the band of Kasem lord of Za and of the "hill called Taurirt." (Tawrirt) The list of these outlying peoples, as well as those on the borders of the kingdom, includes many known today.

The Zuagha are now considered purely Algerian (Zuwagha maakten van oudsher deel uit van de stammenconfederatie van Dihya / Kahina = Djarawa = Adrar n Awras), but may in the days of Nekor have reached as far west as the Muluya. The Kebdana, of course, are still in their place; the Marnissa are now farther west than their order in the list would indicate; the Ghassasa were probably a group of what are now called the Galiya (Iqer3iyen), and the Beni Urtedi, nomadic Berbers, in the Garet. Kolwe* Jara (Qulu3 Djara), their stronghold, is said to have been one day's journey beyond the River Kert, and a day's journey likewise from the Muluya.3 Therefore Kolwe* Jara can be roughly located by finding a place where the two rivers are two days' march apart, and locating the middle of that distance. A line from the Kert (rivier Kart = ighzar n Carth) to the Muluya, passing through the wells of Hassi Wensga (7assi Wenzgha), in the Beni Bu Yahyi, constitutes a two days' march, and Hassi Wensga is exactly one day's march from either river. At Hassi Wensga there are said to be the ruins of an ancient fortress. The wells of Hassi Wensga furnish the only water for many miles around in the arid waste in which it is located; a castle in that place would have the advantage over its besiegers through its control of the water supply.

El Bekri places the Ghomara to the west of, but not under the sway of, the kingdom of Nekor. Mestassa likewise was on the border, and the Senhaja lay to the west of it. Today the Senhajan tribe of Beni Gmil (Ait Gmil) touches the tribe of Mestassa, thus presenting an unbroken line of Senhaja and Mestassa from the Wergha country to the Mediterranean. If, then, the Ghomara bordered on the kingdom of Nekor,8 there must have been a gap between the Senhaja and Mestassa; but el Bekri may not have meant it literally, since it is really but a short distance from the junction of the Beni Gmil and Mestassa to the Ghomara. Of the tribes said to be beyond the border tribes, the Beni Ulid, today forming part of the Senhaja of the Wergha, are still to be reckoned with. We know little of the Aureba, a name usually associated with Algeria  (De Awraba maakten van oudsher deel uit van de oude stammenconfederatie van Kusayla = Senhaja al Branes, in latere tijden ook geassocieerd met de opkomst van het rijk van de Idrissiden), or of the Band of Ferhun, although in the Werghan tribe of Beni Wenj in today is a mountain cave of great size known as the ifri n Ferhun, or cave of Ferhun. Neither Beni Irnian nor Beni Merasen are names familiar today, although Za is now the name of a village of Beni Zerwal of the Jebala and the "hill called Taurirt" might be any hill, since in Berber taurirt means hill (verbastering van het Tamazight en het Latijn woord voor heuvel = ta3roth = Tawrirt = al Qudia = la Alcudia). The most important place today called Taurirt is the French fortress and wireless station on the road from Guercif to Ujda, and this may also be the hill mentioned in Sallust's Jugurtha.* If Kasem, lord of Za, held sway  all the way from Taurirt beyond the Muluya to Beni Zerwal, he must have been a potentate indeed. As a matter of fact, his influence on the court of Nekor was great enough to persuade the second Saleh to put to death his brother Idris. The Zenata are listed as occupying the territory to the south of the Garet.

The tribes which I have so far mentioned were border tribes of the kingdom of Nekor, and tribes beyond the borders. The tribes which figure most prominently as subject to the longs were Temsaman (Ait Yasliten), Beni Urriaghel, and Gzennaya. Meknassa, Branes, and Beni Itteft have likewise been mentioned as tributary.

El Bekri lists as the harbors dependent upon Nekor, Muluya, Herek, Garet, Marsa 'd Dar Auktis, Wed el Bakar, and el Mezemma. Muluya (Akkas) was apparently at the mouth of that river; Herek, bearing the same name as a mountain (Hark / Gourougou) before mentioned, was apparently some-where along the shoreline of the Galiya; Garet was no doubt at the mouth of the Kert (Kart / Djaret); Marsa 'd Dar (Addar), Auktis (Uftis), according to el Bekri, was near the Mountain of Temsaman; Wed el Bakar, now Marsa Sidi Hasein (de haven van Sidi Hssein klopt niet, dit moet zijn de haven van Temsaman = nabij Badkun), was at the mouth of the river bearing that name; and el Mezemma, the actual port of Nekor, was on the Bay of Alhucemas.1 It is interesting that in this early account the important harbor and city of Melilla is not mentioned, wherefore one must conclude its Islamic settlement to have been of later date; Carthaginians and Romans may well have occupied it earlier (Rusadir).

Three other ports are mentioned, but not as belonging to Nekor. These were Bades, Bakuia, and Balish, the last-named belonging to the Senhaja. Today Bokoya (Ibeqoyen) is a tribe and Bades a ruin, nor have the Senhaja any outlet upon the sea.

Fl Bekri has mapped out a Rif not radically different in tribal designations from what it is today, the chief difference being in the eastern and Garet section. Beni Tuzin (Ait Tuzin), Tafersit, and Beni Ulishk (Ait Ourichek) had not yet taken on their present appellations; Melilla had not been built (de stad Malila is in 710 na Chr gebouwd door een leider van de Ait Yefren), nor were the Galiya known as such; Beni Said (Ait Sa3id) was called Butuia (Batiwiya), a term sometimes expanded to include a much larger region than that of the present Beni Said, and the nomads of the Garet, dominated then by Kolwe' Jara (Qulu3 Djaret = Qal3at = Iqer3iyen), had not adopted their modern names. The Senhaja and Ghomara to the west seem to have occupied much the same territory they hold today, although the tribes now lumped together as Senhaja el Ghuddu, Werghan Senhaja, or, in this volume, Western Arabophone Senhaja, are not designated as Senhajan in origin or affiliation.


To be continued...