The Chaouia () is a

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

and historical and ethno-geographical region of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in the historical region of Tamesna. It is bounded by the Oum er-Rbi' River to its southwest, the Cherrate River to its northeast, the plain of Tadla to the southeast and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

to the northwest. The region covers a land area of nearly 14 000 km². The term also refers to a tribal confederation that traditionally inhabits the region.

Etymology

The word "Chaouia" means "Land of Chaouis", transliterated in French. "Chaoui" () is an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word meaning "possessors of sheep" or "shepherds". Some groups of Chaouis claim that the term come from the Arabic term ''shwiya'' (شوية) meaning "few" despite the region now have a comparatively high population density to other regions in Morocco. Others say it is derived from ''shewa'' meaning "grilled meat" or a distortion of ''Chehawna'' which was the name of a tribal alliance.

Geography

Geographically, the Chaouia can be divided into two sub-regions: low and high. The low Chaouia being the coastal part while the high Chaouia is further inland. Soils vary in fertility: The dark tirs is prized for its high yields and is found among the Mdhakra, Ouled Hriz and Oulad said. There is also the red hamri terra rossa. Throughout Morocco's history, the Chaouia was famous for farming wheat and barley, which were exported in years of abundance from

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, Fédala or Azemmour. Chaouia sheep was also prized for its wool, which was also exported to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

where it was known as wardigha in reference to one of the tribes in the interior. Nowadays, the Chaouia is part of the

Casablanca-Settat Casablanca-Settat () is one of the twelve administrative regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 20,166 km2 and recorded a population of 7,688,967 in th2024 Moroccan census 69% of which lived in urban areas. The capital of the region is Casabl ...

administrative region.

History

Originally, the Chaouia was ruled by the

Barghawata The Barghawatas (or Barghwata, Berghouata) were a Berbers, Berber tribal confederation and religious movement that ruled a region of the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast in present-day Morocco between the 8th and 11th centuries. They belonged to the ...

until it was annexed by the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

,S. Lévy, ''Pour une histoire linguistique du Maroc'', in ''Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb occidental: dialectologie et histoire'', 1998, pp.11-26 () depopulating the area. After the

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

ruler

Abd al-Mu'min Abd al-Mu'min (c. 1094–1163) (; full name: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAlwī ibn Yaʿlā al-Kūmī Abū Muḥammad) was a prominent member of the Almohad movement. Although the Almohad movement itself was founded by Ibn Tumart, Abd al-Mu' ...

captured the town of

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

in 1147, he encouraged the settlement of

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

tribes in the area and the rest of the Moroccan coastal plains which were largely depopulated after the Almoravid conquest, including

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal () was a confederation of Arab tribes from the Najd region of the central Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa in the 11th century. They ruled the Najd, and campaigned in the borderlands between I ...

Banu Sulaym The Banu Sulaym () is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Islamic prophet Muha ...

, and Banu Ma'qil, which led to a further extension of

and an increased importance of Arab elements in the power equation of Morocco, to the point where no one could have ruled there without their co-operation. Portuguese colonists called the region Enxovía. An undated letter sent from Sheikh Yahya ben Bulisbé () of the Shawiya to the King of Portugal indicates that the Sheikh cooperated with the Portuguese and that the sultans of Fes held tenuous authority in the region. The Saadi Sultan

Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I (), often simply Abd al-Malik or Mulay Abdelmalek, (b. 1541 – d. 4 August 1578) was the Saadian Sultan of Morocco from 1576 until his death right after the Battle of al-Kasr al-Kabir against Portugal in 1578. Biogr ...

occupied the region during the Battle of Alcácer Quibir and leveraged the ''

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

'' against his nephew Abu Abdallah Mohammed who had sought the support of the Portuguese. In the early 20th century, the Chaouia carried out a strong rebellion against the French. In 1907, the French bombarded Casablanca and entered the Chaouia region before extending their control over all of

.J. Augarde, ''Le général d'Amade pacificateur de la Chaouia'', in ''Revue historique de l'armée'', n°166, 1987, pp.24-32 (ISSN 0035-3299) During the French protectorate, the Chaouia was part of the "Autonomous subdivision of Casablanca". It was then divided into three ''civilians controls'' : Chaouia-North (

), Chaouia-Center ( Berrechid) and Chaouia-South ( Settat).

Tribal composition

The Chaouia (or Shawiya) tribes come from a variety of

and

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

origins, although today they are linguistically Arabized. A French survey of Moroccan tribes published in 1915 reported that all of these tribes claimed a pure Arab origin. The Chaouia tribal confederation traditionally consists of 14 Arabic-speaking tribes:

References

Bibliography

* F. Weisberger, ''Casablanca et les Chaouia en 1900'', Ed. Impr. Réunies (Casablanca), 1935 * E. Marchand, ''Casablanca, la Chaouia'', Ed. Larose (Paris), 1918 {{Berber tribes of Morocco Regions of Morocco Geography of Morocco Arab tribes in Morocco