Tagmadert (also Tagumadert, Tagmad(d)art, Tigumedet) is a city in the Draa River valley in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. It is the place of origin of the members of the

Saadi Dynasty The Saadi Sultanate (also rendered in English as Sa'di, Sa'did, Sa'dian, or Saadian; ar, السعديون, translit=as-saʿdiyyūn) was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of West Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was l ...

. Despite the fact that Tagmadert is indicated on most older European maps, there is some uncertainty about its exact location. According to

Charles de Foucauld Charles Eugène de Foucauld de Pontbriand, Viscount of Foucauld (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916) was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Alg ...

its location was identical to present-day Fezouata, the district directly north of the Ktawa, including the village of

Tamegroute Tamegroute (also spelled Tamgrout; Berber: ⵜⴰⵎⴳⵔⵓⵜ , Arabic: تامكروت) is a village located in the Draa River valley in southern Morocco. It historically served as a hub of learning and religion through its famous Sufi zawiya. ...

. There is a description of Tagmadert by the 17th century traveller Marmol. The name seems to have referred to both a district and a town. The town Tagmadert was founded in 1550 by

Mohammed ash-Sheikh ''Mawlay'' Mohammed al-Shaykh al-Sharif al-Hassani ( ar, محمد الشيخ الشريف الحسني) known as Mohammed al-Shaykh ( ar, محمد الشيخ) (b. 1490 – d. 23 October 1557) was the first sultan of the Saadian dynasty of Morocc ...

. It was probably destroyed during the reign of Moulay Slimane (1792–1822), possibly like

Sijilmassa , alternate_name = , image = 1886608-the ruins of Sijilmassa-Rissani.jpg , alt = , caption = Sijilmasa ruins , map_type = Morocco , map_alt = , coordinates = , location = Errachidia, Drâa-Tafilalet, Morocco , region = , type = Se ...

in 1818 by

Aït Atta The Ait Atta (Berber language: Ayt Ɛeṭṭa, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵄⵟⵟⴰ) are a large Berber tribal confederation of South eastern Morocco, estimated to number about 330,000 as of 1960. They are divided into "five fifths" (''khams khmas''), all said t ...

Berber tribes. The present village of Amezrou may have been built on its ruins. A sequia (irrigation canal) called Tagmadert still exists today in that place. Unfortunately there are no archeological records or Arabic or Berber language sources from which to deduce unequivocal conclusions about its location. The Saadi were Shurafa of Tagmadert. The first Sultan of that dynasty

was called "al Drawi at-Tagmadert". Some of the members of the Saadi Dynasty have proudly inscribed Tagmadert as their place of birth on their tombstone.Saadian funerary stele (A.D.1580) (cf. the steles of the

Saadian tombs The Saadian Tombs (, , ) are a historic royal necropolis in Marrakesh, Morocco, located on the south side of the Kasbah Mosque, inside the royal kasbah (citadel) district of the city. They date to the time of the Saadian dynasty and in particul ...

in Marrakesh) with Arabic inscription: 'This is the tomb of (..) Fatima (..) the wife of Caid Abdallah of Tamdart'. Tamdart refers to Tagmadert of the Draa valley. Also inscribed on the stele are the Quranic verses 26 and 27 of Sura 5

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References

See also