Isoprusia tafilaltana fossil trilobite Maroc

Tafilalt or Tafilet (), historically

Sijilmasa Sijilmasa (; also transliterated Sijilmassa, Sidjilmasa, Sidjilmassa and Sigilmassa) was a medieval Moroccan city and trade entrepôt at the northern edge of the Sahara in Morocco. The ruins of the town extend for five miles along the River Ziz ...

, is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), 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 ...

, centered on its largest

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment

Etymology

There are many speculations regarding the origin of the word "Tafilalt", however it is known that Tafilalt is a

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 ...

word meaning "jug", which is specifically a pottery jar used to store water.

History

Although previous settlements existed, especially during the Roman period, the first continuously inhabited town in the area after the spread of Islam was

, founded by the

Midrarid dynasty The Midrarid dynasty () was a Berber dynasty that ruled the Sijilmasa region in Morocco from their capital of Sijilmasa, starting in the late 8th or early 9th century to 976/7. History The exact origin or date of foundation of the Midrarid dyna ...

. It was on the direct caravan route from the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

, and attained a considerable degree of prosperity. In the 17th century, the

Alawi dynasty The Alawi dynasty () – also rendered in English as Alaouite, Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning dynasty. They are an Arab Sharifian dynasty and claim descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his ...

of Morocco first achieved political ascendancy in Tafilalt, and in 1606, Sultan

Zidan Abu Maali Zidan Abu Maali () (died September 1627; or Muley Zidan) was the embattled Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1603 to 1627. He was the son and heir of Ahmad al-Mansur by his wife Lalla Aisha bint Abu Bakkar, a lady of the Chebanate tribe. He ruled on ...

hid in Tafilalt, where he made a profit off of gold mined in the area, built an army, eventually taking control of the city 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 ...

. A few years later in 1610,

Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli (; 1560–1613), born in Sijilmasa, was a Moroccan Imam and the Sufi leader of a revolt (1610–13) against the reigning Saadi Sultan Zidan Abu Maali in the south of Morocco in which Ibn Abi Mahalli proclaimed himself Mahdi ...

also built up an army in the Tafilalt area and took Marrakesh back for himself, but lost control after Sidi Yahya ben Younes liberated the city for Zidan. A decade after this, a revolutionary movement arose in Tafilalt against the ruling sultan, but was repressed after four months of skirmishes. Later, Tafilalt was a major center of the Dila'ites. In 1648, a custom was established by Moorish sultans of Morocco sending superfluous sons or daughters who would not inherit titles or power to Tafilalt. Medieval traveler

Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

wrote about visiting Sijilmasa (near Tafilalt) in the fourteenth century on his journey from Fez to Mali, " the country of the blacks". It was later destroyed in 1818 by the

Aït Atta The Ait Atta () are a large Berber tribal confederation or "supertribe" of south eastern Morocco. They are divided into "five fifths" (''khams khmas''), all said to descend from the forty sons of their common ancestor Dadda Atta. These fifths are ...

, but its ruins remain, including two gateways. The first European to visit Tafilalt in the modern era was

René Caillié Auguste René Caillié (; 19 November 1799 – 17 May 1838) was a French explorer and the first European to return alive from the town of Timbuktu. Caillié had been preceded at Timbuktu by a British officer, Alexander Gordon Laing, Major Gordon ...

(1828), and later

Gerhard Rohlfs Gerhard Rohlfs (July 14, 1892 – September 12, 1986) was a German linguist. He taught Romance languages and literature at the universities in Tübingen and Munich. He was described as an "archeologist of words". Biography Rohlfs was born i ...

(1864). English writer W. B. Harris described Tafilalt in a journal after his visit.

Geography

Entirely located along the

Ziz River The Ziz River ( ' or ') is a river in the south of Morocco and Algeria. It has its source in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco and flows into the Sahara Desert in Algeria. Although water flow is intermittent along the Ziz riverbed, its water ...

, the oasis was, before mechanized transport, ten days' journey south of Fez and

Meknes Meknes (, ) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravids as a military settlement, Mekne ...

, across the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

. It is known for its

dates Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...

Notable residents

It was the birthplace of the famed Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, known as the "

Baba Sali Yisrael Abuhatzeira (; 26 September 1889 – 8 January 1984), known as the Baba Sali (; ; ) was a leading Moroccan Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist who was renowned for his ability to work miracles through his prayers. His burial place in Netiv ...

" (, , lit. "Praying Father"), (1889–1984).

In literature

''Mercenaries of Hell'' (original title ''Pokol zsoldosai''), a novel by the famous Hungarian author

Jenő Rejtő Jenő Rejtő (29 March 1905 - 1 January 1943) was a Hungarian interwar journalist, pulp fiction writer and playwright, famous in Hungary for his books and novellas - adventure and detective novels and parodies of these genres, characterized b ...

takes place in the village and surrounding area. Mentioned in The Manuscript Found at Saragossa by Jan Potocki in The Story of Emina and her Sister Zubeida.

References

External links

{{Authority control Oases of Morocco Alawi dynasty Geography of Drâa-Tafilalet Ramsar sites in Morocco