Doukkala (, ) is a

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

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 ...

made of fertile plains and forests. Nowadays it 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. It 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 ...

stretching from 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 ...

south of Sidi Rahal Chatai up to some 50 km further southward and the same distance eastward. The main urban centers are Sidi Smail, Sidi Bennour, Had Ouled Frej, and Zemamra. Sidi Bennour is the fastest developing center of the four. It is mainly an agricultural region, with few tourist attractions.

History

Historically, Doukkala referred to a confederation of

Amazigh Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their u ...

tribes which occupied the territory between the rivers of Oum Er-Rbia River and Tensift and from the Atlantic Ocean to Jbilate near

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 ...

. They were part of the much larger tribal confederation of

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 ...

that stretched from Anfa to Tensift and were an independent state from 744 AD to 1058 AD. The Doukkalas were a mix of majority

Masmuda The Masmuda (, Berber: ⵉⵎⵙⵎⵓⴷⵏ) is a Berber tribal confederation , one of the largest in the Maghreb, along with the Zenata and the Sanhaja. Today, the Masmuda confederacy largely corresponds to the speakers of the Tashelhit lan ...

: the Ragrâga, Hazmîra, Banû Dghûgh, Banû Mâgir, and Mushtarayya (Mouchtaraia), together with the SanHâja. The SanHâja occupied the Atlantic coast between Azemmour and south of El Jadida. When 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 ...

s under

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

in 1147, the Doukkals sided against them and in favor of the

Almoravid dynasty 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 ...

. They were subsequently defeated by al-Mu'min, and purged, with women and children being sold into slavery. Al-Mu'min brought in less fractious

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 ...

Bedouin tribes 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 Syr ...

as immigrants to settle the area, including the Banu Hilal, a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

of whom he had defeated earlier in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. Later immigrants included the al-Ma'qil. By 1250, of the Doukkala, only the Ragrâga had survived intact after their conquest and the subsequent immigration of eastern tribes. Ever since the first installation of the

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 ...

, there has been continuous linguistic and cultural mixing of both populations. It was possible to clearly distinguish the native Berber element from the Arab one as recently as the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

. However, the linguistic Arabization is now complete. When Captain James Riley (1770 AD) visited it, he said in describing it : " the provinces of Abdah and Duquella, which are entirely peopled by

Arabs 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 yea ...

living in

tent A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using g ...

s, and in a primitive or wandering state, (their tents being formed of the same materials, and pitch- ed in the same manner as those of the

on the

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

) I observed that these people were of a much lighter com- plexion than those on the desert; but that circumstance, in all probability, was owing to the climate's being more temperate; to their being less exposed to the rays of the sun, and better clothed; yet their features were nearly the same, and those of both bear a strong resemblance to those of the Barbary Jews, who also have black eyes and

noses". According to anthropologist David Montgomery Hart, the majority of the Doukkala tribal confederation are of Hilalian origin and in the 1960s they had either a sedentarized or semi-sedentarized Bedouin lifestyle preferring animal husbandry over agriculture. They also participated in fantasia also known as ''laʿb al-barud'' ("powder play"). Like with many of the large Berber tribes of Morocco like the Ait Atta and the Ait Waryaghar, they were divided into ''khams khmas'' ("five fifths"). This system was imposed on them by Makhzen for purposes of tax collection and the levying of ''harzas'' (soldiers for military expeditions). Despite this division being abandoned during the French protectorate, it remained as a guiding structural principle for Doukkalis and ''khams khmas'' is seen as a symbol of strength and power in Morocco. These tribes and the ''khoms'' are: * Khoms I: Oulad Bu Aziz * Khoms II: Oulad Bu Zerrara * Khoms III: Oulad Amar * Khoms IV: Oulad Frej, Awnat, Oulad Amran * Khoms III: Oulad Amar, Hawziya, Chtouka, Chiadma The Chiadma are related to the Chiadma and Chtouka were from the Chtouka Ait Baha before being re-located to Doukkala North of the Oum Er-Rbia River. At the end of the French protectorate (ca 1950), there lived in Doukkala 372,269

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 2,680

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

and 3,933

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

.''Guide bleu Hachette du Maroc'', 7th ed., 1950, p. 178. Hart estimated the population of the Doukkala to be 360,000 in 1960.

Geography

Doukkala is divided in three sub-regions, parallel to the seacoast. * The " Oulja" (Arabic: الولـجة), along the beach, with garden-crops. * The "Sahel" (Arabic: الساحل), some 20 km inside, a stony region, only suiting to

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

breeding. * The rich plain, with

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

s, and intensive

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

breeding. The only mountain to be seen is at the border with the plain of Rahamna called " Jbel Lakhdar" (Arabic: جبل لخضر) meaning "Green Mountain". The plain is subject to

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

. A temporary natural lake between Sidi Bennour and Larbaa Ouled Amrane called " Ouarar" (Arabic: ورار) only fills in rainy years. Its largest surface was noted in 1916, 1966 and 2008.

Gallery

File:Sugar beets thinning.jpg, Sugar beets cultivation at Sidi Smail File:Soucreye Sidi Bennour.jpg, Sugar factory at Sidi Bennour File:Mwarid tcherete.jpg, Center of a typical Doukkala village (Mwarid, Oulad Bou Hmam) File:Warar08a.jpg, Warar, a natural temporary lake, in 2008, flooding a house built in the 1970s File:Sahel Marok voye.jpg, "Sahel" sub-region, with "

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...

climbing" road

References

External links

A Directory of African Wetlands - Page 66 - Google Books
{{coord, 32, 39, N, 08, 26, W, display=title, source:cawiki Geography of Morocco Natural regions of Africa Regions of Morocco