Tizi-n-Test is a small pass in the

High Atlas The High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas, is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of the Atlas Mountains. The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moro ...

mountains. A road crosses the pass, connecting

Marrakech 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 ...

and

Taroudant Taroudant (, ) is a city in the Sous in southwestern Morocco. It is situated east of Agadir on the road to Ouarzazate and south of Marrakesh. Today, it is a small market town and a tourist destination. History The Almoravids occupied the town ...

. The pass is at , where a commemorative plaque certifies that the road was laid between 1926 and 1932. The road connects

Asni Asni () is a small town in the foothills of the High Atlas mountains near Marrakesh, 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 t ...

, Ouirgane, Talaat-n-Yacoub and

Tin-Mal Tinmel (Berber: Tin Mel or Tin Mal, ) is a small mountain village in the High Atlas 100 km from Marrakesh, Morocco. Tinmel was the cradle of the Berber Almohad empire, from where the Almohads started their military campaigns against the Almo ...

. The road is particularly challenging on the 1,600 m descent from the high pass to Taroudant. The fertile valley between Ouirgane and the pass is watered by the Nfiss River. It is the traditional land of the Goundafas, one of several

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 who struggled for control of the High Atlas in the 19th century. In 1906, the rival

Glaoui Thami El Glaoui (; 1879–23 January 1956) was the Pasha of Marrakesh from 1912 to 1956. His family name was el Mezouari, from a title given an ancestor by Ismail Ibn Sharif in 1700, while El Glaoui refers to his chieftainship of the Glaoua (Glaw ...

tribe attacked the Nfiss valley and burned the

Kasbah A kasbah (, also ; , , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term in Spanish (), which is derived from the same ...

of Talaat-n-Yacoub. As a result, the Goundafa built the castle of Agadir-n-Gouf, a few kilometres outside Tin-Mal, in 1907. In 1912,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, which colonised

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 political bargains with the Berber rulers: The Glaoui leader was created Pacha of Marrakech, while the Goundafa remained in control of the High Atlas. After capturing Taroudant in 1913, the Goundafa leader was acknowledged as the effective ruler of the south.Encyclopedia entitled ''History of Morocco''.

References

{{coord, 30, 50, 40, N, 8, 22, 40, W, region:MA-13_type:mountain_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Mountain passes of Morocco Geography of Marrakesh-Safi Geography of Souss-Massa