The Hassane is a name for the traditionally dominant warrior

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

of the Sahrawi-

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

areas of present-day

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

, southern

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 ...

and

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

. Although lines were blurred by intermarriage and tribal re-affiliation, the Hassane were considered descendants of the

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 ...

Maqil The Banu Ma'qil () is an Arab nomadic tribe that originated in South Arabia. The tribe emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa with the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes in the 11th century. They mainly settled in and around the Saharan ...

tribe

Beni Hassan Beni may also refer to: Characters *Beni Gabor, a character in the 1999 film ''The Mummy'' * Benimaru Nikaido, fan nickname of a character in ''The King of Fighters'' People Given name *Beni (Australian musician), Australian musician and di ...

(hence the name). They held power over Sanhadja

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 ...

-descended zawiya (religious) and znaga (servant) tribes, extracting from these the horma tax in exchange for armed protection. Occasionally, such as in the case of the important Reguibat tribe,

Zawāyā The Zawaya are tribes in the southern Sahara who have traditionally followed a deeply religious way of life. They accepted a subordinate position to the warrior tribes, whether Arab or Berber, who had little interest in spreading Islam. The Zaway ...

Berber groups would rise to Hassane status by growing in power and prestige and taking up armed raiding; they would then often Arabize culturally to fit the prevailing image of Hassane tribes as original Arabs. A good example of a Hassane tribe is the

Río de Oro Río de Oro (, Spanish for "River of Gold"; , , often transliterated as ''Oued Edhahab'') is the southern geographic region of Western Sahara. It was, with Saguia el-Hamra, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of S ...

-centered Oulad Delim, which is considered as among the purest descendants of the Beni Hassan.

See also

References

Further reading