Mzab (Moroccan tribe)

Mzab (Arabic: مزاب) is a tribal confederation south of Casablanca in Morocco, part of the Chaouia.[1][2][3] The bulk of Mzab are of Arabized Berber origins while the rest are of Hilalian Arab origins.[4] The Moroccan Mzab are not to be confused with the Algerian Berber tribe that has the same name (see M'zab). Mzab is Arabic for the Mozabite people.

Not to be confused with the Algerian Berber tribe of the same name, M'zab. For other uses, see Mzab (disambiguation).

Located in the historical breadbasket of Morocco (the Chaouia), Mzab's land is mostly used for wheat production, but is also famous for sheep husbandry[5] (Sardy is the most common sheep race). Mzab's land is also nicknamed Al-'Alwa (Arabic: العلوة) which means height in Arabic because it's a plateau, which is part of the phosphate plateau that produces most of Morocco's highly prized mineral phosphate ore. The capital of Mzab is Ben Ahmed.

Mzab is divided into many smaller tribes, the most important of which are:

  • Ben Ahmed (Capital)
  • Sidi Hajjaj
  • Hamdawa حمداوة
  • Oulad Mrah
  • Khzazra الخزازرة
  • Oulad Jabi
  • Oulad Fares اولاد فارس
  • Beni Brahim بني براهيم
  • Maarif المعاريف
  • Mkhalkhliya المخلخلية
  • Oulad Belbagi اولاد بلباجى
  • Beni Arif بني عريف

There was also a Jewish presence in Mzab, but all Jews left in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly to Israel. The Mellah الملاح and the Hajraat الحجرات (rocks in Arabic) still testify of this presence. Jewish tourists from amongst the Moroccan diaspora still visit the Hajraat sites every year. The site is a few kilometres from the Shrine of Sidi Mohamed El Fekkak, where an annual "Moussem" harvest festival is hosted.[6]

References
  1. "The moroccan ethnic groups of Morocco". 2012-09-25. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Mouliéras, Auguste (1905-01-01). Une tribu Zénète anti-Musulmane au Maroc: les Zkara (in French). A. Challamel. p. 54.
  3. Hart, David M. (2014-05-12). Tribe and Society in Rural Morocco. Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 9781135302542.
  4. Ruxton, Ian. The Diaries of Sir Ernest Mason Satow, 1889-1895: Uruguay and Morocco. p. 409. ISBN 978-0-359-28131-2.
  5. Miège, Jean Louis (1962-01-01). Le Maroc et l'Europe, 1830-1894: Les difficultes (in French). Presses Universitaires de France. p. 61.
  6. "Sidi Mohammed el Fekkak shrine, Chaouia-Ouardigha, Morocco".
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