ATLAS MOUNTAINS (NORTH AFRICA)

Berber village in the Atlas Mountains, courtesy Photorator

The great Atlas Mountain range in northwestern Africa has long been the homeland (today under Arab occupation) of the indigenous Berber tribes of the Blida, Chenaoui, Chenoua, Chleuh, Kabyle, Sanhaja, Zayane, and the Zenata. It stretches about 1600 miles from the west of Morocco, through northern Algeria, to northern Tunisia and is divided as follows:

The Anti-Atlas, extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest of Morocco toward the northeast to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the city of Tafilalt (altogether a distance of approximately 310 miles). In the south it borders the Sahara. The easternmost point of the anti-Atlas is the Jbel Saghro range flanked on its northern border by the High Atlas and includes the Djebel Siroua, a massif of volcanic origin. The Jebel Bani is a much lower range running along the southern side of the Anti Atlas.

The High Atlas, in central Morocco rises in the west at the Atlantic coast and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. It has several peaks over 2 ½ miles above sea level including the highest summit in North Africa, Toubkal at 13,671 feet, and further east,  Ighil m'Goun (13,356 ft) the second major summit of the range. At the Atlantic and to the southwest, the range drops abruptly and makes a transition to the coast and the Anti-Atlas range. To the north, in the direction of Marrakesh, the range descends less abruptly. On the heights of Ouarzazate the massif is cut through by the Draa Valley which opens southward. From there, the local Berbers would cultivate the high plains of the Ourika Valley. Near Barrage Cavagnac there is a hydroelectric dam that has created the artificial lake Lalla Takerkoust. The lake also serves as a source of fish for the local fishermen.

The Middle Atlas, is completely in Morocco and is the northernmost of the main three Atlas ranges. The range lies north of the High Atlas, separated by the Moulouya and Oum Er-Rbia rivers, and south of the Rif mountains, separated by the Sebou River. To the west are the main coastal plains of Morocco with many of the major cities and, to the east, the high barren plateau that lies between the Saharan and Tell Atlases. The high point of the range is the Jbel Bou Naceur.

The Tell Atlas range is over 930 miles in length, and stretches from Morocco, through Algeria to Tunisia. It parallels the Mediterranean coast. Together with the Saharan Atlas to the south it forms the northernmost of two more or less parallel ranges which gradually approach one another towards the east, merging in eastern Algeria. The area immediately to the south of this range is the high plateau of the Hautes Plaines, with lakes in the wet season and salt flats in the dry.

The Saharan Atlas of Algeria is the eastern portion of the Atlas mountain range. Though not as high as the High Atlas, they are far more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs to the north of them and closer to the coast. The highest peak in the range is the 7,336 ft high Djebel Aissa. They mark the northern edge of the Sahara Desert. The mountains see some rainfall and are better suited to agriculture than the plateau region to the north.

The Aures Mountains are an eastern continuation of the Atlas Mountain System that lies to the east of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria. They have a lower elevation than the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. The highest peak in the Aurès mountain range is Djebel Chélia in Khenchela Province at 7638 feet above sea level. The Belezma Range is a northwestern continuation of the Aures Mountains located where the Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas come together. Its main summits are Djebel Refaa (7146 feet) and Djebel Tichaou (7008 feet). Historically, the Aurès Mountains served as a refuge for the Berbers, forming a base of resistance against the foreign occupation of the Roman Empire, the Vandals, the Byzantine Empire, the Arabs, and later, the French.

In ancient times, the kings of Numidia would be buried in the Madghacens in the city of Batna, today, located in northeastern Algeria. The Madghacens were the royal mausoleums, believed to be named after the ancient King Madghacen, common ancestor of the Botri Berbers as well as the Zenata Berbers who became the main inhabitants of the Aures region.

Even though North Africa was invaded and occupied by the Muslim Arabs in the early 8^th century during the reign of the Umayyad caliphs, the Zenata, were among the earliest tribes to adopt Islam, in the 7^th. The Berbers of the Sousse region also adopted Islam, but gradually and not at the expense of their traditional language, culture and religious customs which they held on to to varying degrees. Eventually, the land that became known as Morocco, came under Umayyad rule but their rule was tenuous due to Berber resistance. In 739 AD an Umayyad Arab army was utterly destroyed twice by the Moroccan Berbers at the battle of the Nobles, and the battle of Bagdoura in the Middle Atlas. In 789 AD, with the approval of the locals, a former Umayyad Arab courtier established the Idrisid dynasty that ruled in Fez. It lasted until 970 AD, as various petty states vied for control over the ensuing centuries. From the 9th century, Sanhaja tribes were established in the Middle Atlas range, in the Rif Mountains and on the Atlantic coast of Morocco and large parts of the Sanhaja, such as the Kutâma, were settled in the central and eastern parts Algeria (Kabylia, Setif, Algiers, Msila) and also in northern Niger. They played an important part in the rise of the Arab Fatimid dynasty.

In the mid-11th century, a group of Sanhaja chieftains returning from the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) invited the theologian Ibn Yasin to preach among their tribes. Ibn Yasin united the tribes in an alliance with the Berber Almoravid caliphate under Yusuf ibn Tashfin, subsequently establishing what we know today, as Morocco. From Morocco, they conquered western Algeria and Al-Andalus (part of present-day Spain).  

The Berber Almohad caliphate was founded by Ibn Tumart, a member of the Masmuda tribal confederation of southern Morocco. Around 1120, the Almohads first established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains. In 1359 Hintata tribesmen from the High Atlas came down and occupied Marakesh, ancestral Almohad capital, which they would govern independently until 1526. 

Beginning in the 16^th century, the Ottoman Empire ruled much of North Africa. During this time, a group a Spanish Muslim refugees settled among the Ouled Soltan of the Blida area. The Zenaga tribes, believed to be descended from the Zenata or Sanhaja, would often suffer exploitation at the hands of the Arabs as either semi-sedentary agriculturalists and fishermen or as Marabouts (religious Muslim leaders and scholars). The Kabyle, on the other hand, were relatively independent of outside control. They lived primarily in three different kingdoms: the Kingdom of Kuku which stretched from the Atlas Mountains to the southern plains of Algiers, the Kingdom of Ait Abbas, and the principality of Aït Jubar. These areas were gradually taken over by the French during their colonization beginning in 1857, despite vigorous resistance. Such Kabyle leaders as Lalla Fatma n Soumer would lead in the resistance even as late as Mokrani's rebellion in 1871. But due to French colonization, many Kabyle emigrated to other areas in and outside Algeria. Over time, immigrant workers also went to France. But resistance against the French continued, especially by the Zayanes of Khenifra in the Middle Atlas under their warrior leader Mouha ou Hammou Zayani. Thus they succeeded in preventing many invaders from seizing Khénifra. Despite the French defeat in the Battle of El Herri, November 13, 1914, the colonizers were determined not to abandon the fight against the Zayanes.

Since Algeria gained independence in 1962, tensions have arisen between Kabylie and the central Arab government on several occasions. With the spread of the Berber Spring in the 1980s, the Berbers sought to reaffirm their roots. In 1980, protesters engaged in several months of demonstrations in Kabylie demanding the recognition of Berber as an official language. In June and July 1998, their demonstrations turned violent after the assassination of singer Matoub Lounes and the passage of a law requiring use of Arabic in daily life. Afterwards, the Kabyle endured years of abuse by the police which culminated in April 2001 (called the Black Spring) when a young Kabyle, Masinissa Guermah, was murdered by the police and major riots among the Kabyle ensued. At the same time, organized activism produced the Arouch, and neo-traditional local councils. Eventually, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika conceded and granted them some human rights.

Today, the bulk of the Berber population in North Africa have been confined to the Atlas Mountains. Among their main cities and towns are Ouarzazate, Tafilalt, Blida, Batna, Tizi-Ouzou, Tipaza, Khenifra, Barrage Cavagnac, Tahannaout, Amizmiz, Imlil, Tin Mal, Setif, M’sila and Ijoukak.