Kabyle Mountains

Kabylia or Kabylie (; in Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ; ), meaning "Land of the Tribes" is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of the Tell Atlas mountain range and is located at the edge of the Mediterranean.

Kabylia covers two provinces of Algeria: Tizi Ouzou and Béjaïa. Gouraya National Park and Djurdjura National Park are also located in Kabylia.

Name

During the French colonization of Algeria, the French invented the term 'Kabylia', a term never used by the Arab and Berber populations of Algeria prior to the French invasion. The word 'Kabyle' is a distortion of the Arabic word ''qaba'il'' (قبائل) which has two meanings, the first one is tribes that live among sedentary populations and the second is 'to accept', which Arabs after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb used for local populations that accepted Islam.

History

Antiquity

Kabylia was a part of the Kingdom of Numidia (202 BC – 46 BC).

Middle Ages

The history of Kabylie started to appear in the classical books during the fourth century AD with the revolt of the commander Firmus and his brother Guildon against the empire.

The Vandals, a Germanic people, established a kingdom in North Africa in 435. Their rule lasted for 99 years until they were conquered by the Byzantine Empire in 534. The surviving Vandals then assimilated into the native Berber population. During the rule of the Romans, Vandals and Byzantines, the Kabyle people were some of the few Imazighen in North Africa who remained independent. During the Arab conquest of North Africa, the Kabyles were able to temporarily control and possess their mountains, It was not until 1857 that Kabylia as a whole was fully and entirely conquered and subdued by France.

Between 902 and 909 AD, after being converted to Isma'ilism and won over by Abu Abdallah's dawah, the Kutama Berbers from Little Kabylie helped contribute to the founding of the Fatimid Caliphate, whose support in the conquest of Ifriqiya resulted in the creation of the Caliphate,International Journal of Economic and Social History, Volume 8
/ref>Chroniques des années algériennes
/ref> although the ruling Fatimid dynasty was Arab. After the conquest of Ifriqiya, the Fatimids conquered the realm of the Rustamids on the way to Sijilmasa which they also briefly conquered. There the imprisoned Abdullāh al-Mahdī Billah was freed, accepted as the Imam of the movement, and installed as the first Caliph and founder of the ruling dynasty. The historian Heinz Halm describes the early Fatimid state as being "a hegemony of the Kutama and Sanhaja Berbers over the eastern and central Maghrib" and Loimeier states that rebellions against the Fatimids were also expressed through protest and opposition to Kutama rule.Muslim Societies in Africa: A Historical Anthropology
– Roman Loimeier
Indiana University Press, The weakening of the Abbasids allowed Fatimid-Kutama power to quickly expand and in 959 Ziri ibn Manad, Jawhar the Sicilian and a Kutama army conquered Fez and Sijilmassa in Morocco.
During the reign of al-Aziz Billah, the role of the Kutama in the Fatimid army was greatly weakened as he significantly reduced their size in the army and included new socio-military groups. In 969 under the command of Jawhar, the Fatimid troops conquered Egypt from the Ikhsidids, the general Ja'far ibn Fallah was instrumental in this success: he led the troops that crossed the river Nile and according to al-Maqrizi, captured the boats used to do this from a fleet sent by Ikhshidid loyalists from Lower Egypt. The general Ja’far then invaded Palestine and conquered Ramla, the capital, he then conquered Damascus and made himself the master of the city and then he moved north and conquered Tripoli. It was around this time period that the Fatimid Caliphate reached its territorial peak of 4,100,000 km2.

A Berber family emerged as formidable leaders in the unique Berber form of elected delegates form of government (through financial contribution and thus influence), the Zirid dynastys. Beyond their immediate Zirid territory (''aarch''/Congregation), another ''aarch'' and family Hammadid and its associates emerged in Kabylia with influence covering most of today's Algeria, whereas the Zirid's territory extended eastward to cover the area of modern Tunisia. Both the Hammadid and irid dynasty empires as well as the Fatimids established their rule in the Maghreb countries. The Zirids ruled land in what is now Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Spain, Malta and Italy. The Hammadids captured and held important regions such as Ouargla, Constantine, Sfax, Susa, Algiers, Tripoli and Fez establishing their rule in every country in the Maghreb region. The Fatimids conquered all of North Africa as well as Sicily and parts of the Middle East.

French colonisation and resistance

Though the region was the last stronghold against French colonization, the area was gradually taken over by the French after 1830