Tiaret () or Tahert () is a major city in northwestern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

that gives its name to the wider farming region of Tiaret Province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

in the western region of the Hautes Plaines, in the Tell Atlas, and about from the Mediterranean coast. It is served by Abdelhafid Boussouf Bou Chekif Airport.

Etymology

The name means "Lioness" in the Berber language, a reference to the Barbary lions that lived in this region.

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

ian place names like

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

(''Wahran'') which means "lion", and Souk Ahras which means "Market of Lions" have the same etymological source.

Population

The town had a population of 178,915 in 2008. The town covered around 20.086.62 km².

Infrastructure and industry

A 1992 study by the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis reported significant areas contaminated by industrial pollution, and growing squatter settlements on the periphery. The region is predominantly one of agriculture. There is a large airfield with a tower and terminal at Abdelhafid Boussouf. Tiaret has also been home to Ibn Khaldun University since 1980. The Institute of National Studies of Tiaret holds 25,000 volumes in its library.

Politics

The province suffered massacres (the largest being the Sid El-Antri massacre in 1997), killings, and bombings during the Algerian Civil War, though less so than areas closer to

. The Africa Institute reported in a May 2004 monograph that Tiaret's more "arid and mountainous landscape has facilitated terrorist activities". The

MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base (TKB) was an online portal containing information on terrorist incidents, leaders, groups, and related court cases. It was active from September 2004 to March 2008 and is now defunct, but the group profiles that we ...

reports that Tiaret "is a frequent site of attacks by the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)" (now known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). The GSPC was "believed to have close ties to

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

" (''Paris AFX News Agency'', 13 July 2005) and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ( 3 July 2005), and is reported to be active in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(, 15 July 2005).

History

The province has been inhabited since antiquity, and there are numerous megalithic monuments. It served as a Roman station and fort, Tingartia. Near Tiaret are the jedars, which are ancient

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

s. The edifices demonstrate that the area was inhabited during the

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

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 ...

tribes that could build in stone. Tiaret grew up as a site under the domination of small Berber tribal kingdoms; the first of these being the Rustamid dynasty between 761 and 909 when Tiaret served as the capital of the area. However, this capital may have been west of the present-day Tiaret. It was first founded by Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam, an Ibadi theologian from Greater Iran. Tiaret was said to be relatively free-thinking and democratic, being a centre for scholarship that permitted a wide range of sects and movements, notably the Mu'tazila. There were many

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 ...

living in the area until at least the 10th century, including the scholar and doctor Judah ibn Kuraish who became the doctor to the

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

of Fes. Tiaret was captured by the Fatimids in 909. Tiaret occupies a strategic mountain pass at , and was thus a key to dominating the central

. Later, from the start of the 8th century, it was the key northern terminus of the

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n branch of the slave trade. As such, it offered a lucrative income from taxes on the trade, and was a desirable prize. The Rustamid empire, which during the reign of Abdurrahman (766–784) and his son Abdul Wahab (784–823) extended over the greater part of the modern Algeria, was known as the Ibadite Empire from Abdallah ibn Ibad, the founder of the sect to which Abdurrahman belonged. Seven princes of the Rustamite house succeeded Abdul Wahab until they were overthrown by the

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

general Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i in 909. From the year 911 Tiaret was fought over by a number of tribes, being first captured by Massala ibn Habbus of the Miknasas in the year 911, in alliance with the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, i ...

. Finally, in 933, it was in the hands of the Fatimids. After 933 Tiaret ceased to be the capital of a separate state. Most of the population was banished to Ouargla and then escaped to the inhospitable

M'zab The M'zab, or Mzab (Mozabite language, Mozabite: ''Aghlan'', ), is a natural region of the northern Sahara Desert in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. It is located south of Algiers and has approximately 360,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). Geolog ...

. From 933 it was administered as part of the

Kingdom of Tlemcen The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen () was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached ...

, and in the 16th century fell to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. In 1843 it fell to the French after they defeated Emir Abdelkader El Djezairi. The modern town of Tiaret is built around a French redoubt of 1845. The new town attracted many

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

s from France and the area flourished. A

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

arrived in 1889, connecting the town to Mostaganem; today, this rail line is defunct.

Archeological attractions

south-southwest of Tiaret are the sepulchral monuments known as the Jedars. The name is given to a number of sepulchral monuments placed on hill-tops. A rectangular or square podium is in each case surmounted by a pyramid. The tombs date from the 5th to the 7th century, and lie in two distinct groups between Tiaret and Frenda. At Mechra-Sfa ("ford of the flat stones"), a peninsula in the valley of the river Mina not far from Tiaret, are said to be "vast numbers" of megalithic monuments.

Climate

In Tiaret, there is a Mediterranean climate. In winter there is more rainfall than in summer. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Csa. The average annual temperature in Tiaret is . About of precipitation falls annually.

Notes

External links

Tiaret seen from the air

Tiaret city plan

Old photos and postcards of French Tiaret
{{Authority control Communes of Tiaret Province Province seats of Algeria