natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

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 ...

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

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

.

Geography

Tuat lies to the south of the

Grand Erg Occidental The Grand Erg Occidental (, al-ʿIrq al-Gharbī al-Kabīr), (also known as the Western Sand Sea) is the second largest erg in northern Algeria after the Grand Erg Oriental. It covers an area of approximately . The sand dunes in the erg are formed ...

, to the east of the

Erg Chech The Erg Chech (), is a large erg in southwestern Algeria and northern Mali. Geography It is an almost uninhabited part of the greater Sahara Desert, an inhospitable desert region with long, extremely hot summers and short, very warm winters. The E ...

and to the south west of the

Tademaït Tademaït is a natural region in the Sahara Desert right in the centre of Algeria. It is located north of In Salah and south of the Grand Erg Occidental in the Adrar District of Adrar Province, El Ménia District of Ghardaïa Province and the n ...

plateau. It contains a string of small oases strung out along the eastern edge of the Wadi Messaoud, a continuation of the Wadi Saoura. The oases extend over a distance of 160 km from the district of Bouda in the north to

Reggane Reggane (from Berber "Argan"; ) is a town and commune, and the capital of Reggane District, in Adrar Province, central Algeria. Reggane lies in the Sahara Desert near an oasis. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 20,402, up from 14 ...

in the south. The largest town in the region is Adrar, 20 km southeast of Bouda. Adrar was established by the French after their conquest in 1900 and had a population of 43,903 in 2002. Associated with each oasis are small walled villages called '' ksour'' (singular ''ksar'' or ''gsar''). There are also some forts (''

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 ...

s''), most of them abandoned. Ksar Aghlid - Timimoune

There is almost no rainfall in the region and agriculture depends on

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

from an enormous

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

in the Continental intercalaire, a layer of porous

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

deposited between the

Moscovian Moscovian may refer to: *An inhabitant of Moscow, the capital of Russia *Something of, from, or related to Moscow *Moscovian (Carboniferous) The Moscovian is in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timescale a stage (strat ...

and the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

periods that extends over 600,000 km², an area that includes parts of Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. It forms the deeper of the two aquifers of the

North Western Sahara Aquifer System North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

(NWSAS). Tuat is situated at the southwestern boundary of the Continental Intercalary where the aquifer lies only 2–6 m below the surface. The oases contain 700,000-800,000 date palms (''

Phoenix dactylifera ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

'') in an area of 4,500 hectares. The palm groves are irrigated by a system of ''

foggara A qanāt () or kārīz () is a water supply system that was developed in ancient Iran for the purpose of transporting usable water to the surface from an aquifer or a well through an underground aqueduct. Originating approximately 3,000 years a ...

s'', traditional gravity catchment systems which consist of a tunnel constructed with a gentle uphill gradient from the low ground near the ''wadi'' into the aquifer under the nearby higher ground. Vertical access holes every 10–20 m along the tunnel provide ventilation and facilitate construction and maintenance. Many of the ''foggaras'' are over a kilometre in length. They typically provide flow rates of between 2 L/s and 3 L/s. In 1963 the region of Tuat contained 531 ''foggaras'', of which only 358 were functioning. The total combined flow rate was approximately 2000 L/s. Foggaras are expensive to construct and to maintain. As they collapse they are often not repaired. Instead, water is obtained from vertical wells and electric pumps allowing grain to be grown using a

center pivot irrigation Center-pivot irrigation (sometimes called central pivot irrigation), also called water-wheel and circle irrigation, is a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. A circular area ...

system. A single well can provide 30 L/s to 50 L/s of water. In addition to water, the rock beneath Tuat contains pockets of natural gas.

Sonatrach Sonatrach (; ) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is known today to be the largest company in Africa with 154 subsidiaries, and often referred as the first African oil "major". In 2021, Sonatrach was the seven ...

, the Algeria state-owned oil company, collaborates with foreign companies in joint ventures to exploit these gas reserves. Sonatrach and the China National Oil & Gas Exploration & Development Corporation (CNODC) have constructed a refinery near the village of Sbaa, 40 km north of Adrar. This refinery began operating in 2006. Separate projects led by

Gaz de France Gaz de France (GDF) was a French company which produced, transported and sold natural gas around the world, especially in France, its main market. The company was also particularly active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other Europea ...

(GDF Suez) and

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

are both scheduled to start supplying gas in 2013. A pipeline is being built to connect to

Hassi R'Mel Hassi R'Mel (, Berber language: Ḥasi Eṛṛmel) is a town in Algeria located near the 18th largest gas field worldwide. Hassi R'Mel is located in Laghouat Province northwest of Ghardaïa. It is the capital of Hassi R'Mel District. Hassi R'Me ...

. To the north of Tuat is Gourara, a similar region also containing oases with date palms irrigated by ''foggaras''. The largest town,

Timimoun Timimoun () is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Timimoun Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate o ...

, is 162 km north east of Adrar.

History

Saad asserts that Tuat may have been founded by the

Malinke Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family (itself, possibly linked to the Niger–Congo ...

of the

Mali Empire The Mali Empire (Manding languages, Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or ''Manden ...

, based on information from

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...

traditionalists and the fact that Tuat always had settlers representing him in Timbuktu. The Tuat oases were important in the trans-Saharan trade because of their location at the northern end of the

Tanezrouft The Tanezrouft () is a natural region located along the borders of Algeria and Mali, west of the Hoggar Mountains. Along with the Libyan Desert it is one of the most desolate and most arid parts of the Sahara Desert. This area has no permanent ...

route.

Reggane Reggane (from Berber "Argan"; ) is a town and commune, and the capital of Reggane District, in Adrar Province, central Algeria. Reggane lies in the Sahara Desert near an oasis. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 20,402, up from 14 ...

is around 1150 km north of the town of

Gao Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an imp ...

and a similar distance from

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...

. Caravans from the

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

would continue northwards to towns such as

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 ...

or

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

. Tuat was a key stopping point on one of the major routes of the

trans-Saharan slave trade The trans-Saharan slave trade, also known as the Arab slave trade, was a Slavery, slave trade in which slaves Trans-Saharan trade, were mainly transported across the Sahara. Most were moved from sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa to be sold to ...

which brought enslaved people from sub-Saharan Africa via Timbuktu. ISS020-E-27139 - View of Algeria

It would be occupied by the

Fatimids 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 ...

in 958 during the capture of Sijilmasa, who would establish a

ksar Ksar or qṣar (), in plural ksour or qsour (), is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers (Amazigh). The equivalent Berber languages, Berber term used is ' ( ...

by the name of "Tin Ziri", which would then be passed onto the

Zirids The Zirid dynasty (), Banu Ziri (), was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from what is now Algeria which ruled the central Maghreb from 972 to 1014 and Ifriqiya (eastern Maghreb) from 972 to 1148. Descendants of Ziri ibn Manad, a military leader of th ...

after the

Fatimids 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 ...

moved their capital to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. the Zirids found it difficult to defend the ksar, mostly due to the distance. The ksar would be destroyed by the Maghrawa. The oases are not mentioned by any of the early Arabic geographers, but it appears that

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 ...

lived in the oases at an early date as a tombstone discovered in a village of the Bouda region has an inscription in Hebrew with a date of 1329. The earliest written reference to Tuat is by

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 ...

. He visited Bouda in 1353 after crossing the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

from

Takedda Takedda was a town and former kingdom located in present-day Niger. The archaeological site at Azelik wan Birni is believed to be the ruins of ancient Takedda. History Takedda was founded by the Sanhaja, a Berber tribal confederation inhabiting ...

in present-day

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, a distance of 1390 km. He travelled with a large caravan that included 600 slave girls. He wrote: Ibn Battuta stayed in Bouda for a few days and then continued on to Sijilmasa with a caravan. Bouda, as well as Sijilmasa, Timbuktu and Gao, are marked on the 1375

Catalan Atlas The Catalan Atlas (, ) is a medieval world map, or mappa mundi, probably created in the late 1370s or the early 1380s (often conventionally dated 1375), that has been described as the most important map of the Middle Ages in the Catalan language, ...

of Abraham Cresques. At some point Bouda was abandoned and replaced by

Tamentit Tamentit ( is a town and communes of Algeria, commune of Fenoughil District in Adrar Province in southcentral Algeria. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 9481, up from 7912 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 1.9%. Until the ...

as the main ''ksour'' of the region. Tamentit was more centrally situated and perhaps easier to defend. The Arabic geographer and historian

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

(born Tunis 1332, died Egypt 1406) provides a description of Tuat, a place he had not visited himself, in his '' Kitab al-ibar'':

One of their homelands lies three stages to the south of Sijilmāsa and is called Tuwāt. It consists of 200 ''qușūr'' strung out from west to east, of which the most easterly is called Tamanțīt, nowadays a flourishing place and a point of departure for merchants who pass to and fro between the Maghrib and the land of Māli of the Sūdān. ... The town of Būdā, the most westerly of these ''qușūr'', used to be the point of departure for Wālātan, the outpost of the Mālī territory, but it was abandoned when the bedouin Arabs from the desert of the Sūs took to acts of brigandry on the highway and molesting the caravans. They left that place and followed the route to the land of the Sudān by way of Tamanțīt.

Note that in reality Adrar is 540 km southeast of Sijilmasa, considerably more than the three stages mentioned by Ibn Khaldun. Also, the oases are strung out from north-northwest to south-southeast rather than from west to east. We learn more about Tuat from a letter written in Latin in 1447 by the Italian Antonio Malfante from 'Tueto' to a merchant in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Malfante describes a village which is believed to have been

Tamentit Tamentit ( is a town and communes of Algeria, commune of Fenoughil District in Adrar Province in southcentral Algeria. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 9481, up from 7912 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 1.9%. Until the ...

: "This locality is a mart of the country of the Moors, to which merchants come to sell their goods: gold is carried hither, and bought by those who come up from the coast. This place is De Amament

amentit The Duat or Tuat (Ancient Egyptian: Hieroglyph: 𓇽 romanized: dwꜣt) is a concept in ancient Egyptian mythology involving death. It is most often seen as a realm where people go after they die. Due to linguistic shifts within Ancient Egypt, th ...

and there are many rich men here. The generality, however, are very poor, for they do not sow, nor do they harvest anything, save the dates upon which they subsist. They eat no meat but that of castrated camels, which are scarce and very dear." He also comments on the Jewish population: "There are many Jews, who lead a good life here, for they are under the protection of the several rulers, each of whom defends his own clients. Thus they enjoy very secure social standing. Trade is in their hands, and many of them are to be trusted with the greatest confidence." The

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of the Ziyyanid dynasty of

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

, Abu Hammu II (1359-1389) took refuge in the

Gourara Tuat, or Touat (), is a natural region of desert in central Algeria that contains a string of small oasis, oases. In the past, the oases were important for Camel caravan, caravans crossing the Sahara. Geography Tuat lies to the south of the Gr ...

region where he was well received. The sultan stayed there a while before reconquering

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

from the

Merinids The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berbers, Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian P ...

in a ''

ksar Ksar or qṣar (), in plural ksour or qsour (), is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers (Amazigh). The equivalent Berber languages, Berber term used is ' ( ...

'' near a sebkha in

Timimoun Timimoun () is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Timimoun Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate o ...

(dubbed «Capital of the Gourara»). The ksar in question still bears the sultan's name, ''Tal n Hammu.'' Through tribal alliances, the Ziyyanids had a certain influence over the Touat. From the start of the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

, political relations between the region were established with 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 ...

. According to a Touati source, quoted by Alfred Georges Paul Martin, a French officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, a text written by a certain al-Amuri recites a conflict in

1435 Year 1435 ( MCDXXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1435th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 435th year of the 2nd millennium, the 35th year of the 15th century, and the 6t ...

opposing a group of nomads (Ouled Ali Ibn Hariz) and the Jews of Tamantit. The nomads bought some

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 ...

on credit and refused to pay for them, the Jews of Tamantit called upon the sultan of Tlemcen, Abū l-‘Abbās Aḥmad al-‘Akil (

1430 1430 (Roman numerals, MCDXXX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 7 – Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, marries Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Po ...

-

1466 Year 1466 ( MCDLXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events * The Kingdom of Georgia collapses into anarchy, and fragments into rival states of Kartli, Kakheti, Imereti, Samtskhe-Saatabago and a number of pr ...

), the sultan sent a small expedition to end the conflict. Around 1490, encouraged by Muhammad al-Maghili, a

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

scholar from

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

, the Moslem population of Tamentit destroyed the Jewish

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

and forced the Jews to move elsewhere.

Early modern period

Following the expeditions of the tribes of

Tafilalt Tafilalt or Tafilet (), historically Sijilmasa, is a region of Morocco, centered on its largest oasis. Etymology There are many speculations regarding the origin of the word "Tafilalt", however it is known that Tafilalt is a Berber word meaning ...

in the Tuat region in 1578, the dignitaries of the oasis implored the intervention of the

Beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the I ...

of Algiers. The Tuat-Gourara called upon the Beylerbey of Algiers since

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

had been annexed by the

Regency of Algiers The Regency of Algiers was an Early modern period, early modern semi-independent Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman province and nominal Tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Afr ...

. Ottoman efforts to gain control over Tuat misfired in 1578, by the Turks of Algiers, and 1582, by the Turks of Tripoli. Sometime between 1583 and 1588 the forces of the Moroccan Saadi Sultan

Ahmad al-Mansur Ahmad al-Mansur (; 1549 – 25 August 1603), also known by the nickname al-Dhahabī () was the Saadi Sultanate, Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1578 to his death in 1603, the sixth and most famous of all rulers of the Saadis. Ahmad al-Mansur was an ...

took control of the Tuat and the Gourara oases. The Moroccan conquest of Tuat stopped Ottoman expansion into the Sahara, which had started with the occupation of the oasis of

Ouargla Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, ) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune of Ouargla had ...

in 1552 and the

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

in 1577, and secured the Moroccan advance toward the south. The area remained politically dependent upon Morocco but the sovereignty of the

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

sultans became almost nominal. Following the 1579 Algerian expedition, the tribes also continued to pay tribute to Hassan Veneziano and the rest of the Algerian Deys until the fall of the Regency of Algiers in 1830. The Alawite Sultan of Tafilalt, Sidi Muhammed ibn Sharif embarked on an eastern Saharan expedition and conquered Tuat first in 1645 and again in 1652, at which point he assigned his ''

qaid Qaid ( ', "commander"; pl. ', or '), also spelled kaid or caïd, is a word meaning "commander" or "leader." It was a title in the Normans, Norman kingdom of Sicily, applied to palatine officials and members of the ''curia'', usually to thos ...

s'' to the oasis, who was then accepted as suzerain as far east as Aougrout. Beginning in 1692, during the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail, and for one hundred years after, Gourara-Tuat-Tidikelt was administered by a succession of Moroccan governors. Faced with constant rebellion throughout his empire, Sultan Moulay Slimane recalled his governor from Gourara-Tuat-Tidikelt in 1796.

Late modern period

In 1800, the Tuat population agreed to pay taxes when Moulay Slimane granted them local autonomy, preferring to entrust the administration of their territory to a local council of notables. Prior to

1830 It is known in European history as a rather tumultuous year with the Revolutions of 1830 in France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. Events January–March * January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) ...

, the Tuat population paid tribute to the

Dey of Algiers This is a list of the Beylerbeys, Pashas and Deys of the Regency of Algiers: Beylerbeys of the Regency of Algiers (1517–1588) Pashas (1577–1659) * Dely Ahmed 1586–1589 * Hızır Pasha 1589–1591 * Hadji Shaban Pasha 1591–1593 * Mu ...

, but stopped during the Algerian wars. Prior to 1890, the Saharan oases were a part of what was known as the ''bled es-siba'', regions that were nominally Moroccan but which had not submitted to the authority of the central government. Sultan Moulay Hassan decided to reinstate the old Moroccan administration in Gourara-Tuat-Tidikelt. The first Moroccan envoys reached the Saharan oases in 1889 and in 1890. In 1891 Moulay Hassan called on the oasis peoples to begin paying taxes, thus formalizing the recognition of his suzerainty. That same year the Tuat and the oases which lay along the

Oued Saoura Oued Saoura is an intermittent river, or wadi, formed from the confluence of the Oued Guir and Oued Zouzfana at Igli, forming the Saoura valley. While in the past the flow of the river was steady and plentiful, in recent years it has diminished ...

were placed under the authority of the son of the Moroccan ''

khalifa ''Khalifa'' or ''Khalifah'' (; commonly "caliph" in English) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups ...

'', who resided in the

Tafilalt Tafilalt or Tafilet (), historically Sijilmasa, is a region of Morocco, centered on its largest oasis. Etymology There are many speculations regarding the origin of the word "Tafilalt", however it is known that Tafilalt is a Berber word meaning ...

. Then, in 1892, a complete administrative organization was established in all of the Gourara-Tuat-Tidikelt. In the 1890s, the French administration and military called for the annexation of the Tuat, the Gourara and the Tidikelt, a complex that had been part of the Moroccan Empire for many centuries prior to the arrival of the French in Algeria. According to

Alfred Le Chatelier Frédéric Alfred Le Chatelier (23 November 1855 – 9 August 1929) was a French soldier, ceramicist and Islamologist. He spent most of his military career in the French African colonies. After leaving the army he was involved in a project to bu ...

, French soldier, ceramicist and Islamologist, Tuat, at any moment of history, had not been an integral part of Morocco. The inhabitants never depended from them more than a few years. On every occasion they would affirm their independence and free themselves of any religious vassalage. In 1893, the French government authorized

Jules Cambon Jules-Martin Cambon (5 April 1845 – 19 September 1935) was a French diplomat and brother of Paul Cambon. As the ambassador to Germany (1907–1914), he worked hard to secure a friendly détente. He was frustrated by French leaders such as Ray ...

to occupy the Gourara and the Tidikelt, letting him go so far as to gather his forces at

El Golea El Menia () is an oasis town and Communes of Algeria, commune, and capital of El Ménia District, in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. The former name is El Goléa (); together in Arabic, the two names mean ''Impregnable Castle''. According to the 20 ...

, then only rescinded the order at the very last moment when his troops were about to depart. The actual intervention in the Gourara-Tuat-Tidikelt did not take place until the very end of 1899. The military contingent escorting the mission quickly routed the Saharans and took advantage of the opportunity to occupy the oasis of

In Salah Ain Salah, officially Aïn Salah (), is an oasis town in central Algeria and the capital of In Salah Province and In Salah District. It was once an important trade link in the trans-Saharan caravan route. As of the 2008 census, it had a popula ...

. An armed conflict opposed the French 19th Corps

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 ...

and Algiers divisions to the Aït Khabbash, a faction of the Aït Ounbgui ''khams'' of 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 ...

confederation. The conflict ended by the annexation of the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt complex to

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 ...

by France in 1901.Claude Lefébure
''Ayt Khebbach, impasse sud-est. L'involution d'une tribu marocaine exclue du Sahara''
, in: Revue de l'Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée, N°41-42, 1986. Désert et montagne au Maghreb. pp. 136-157: « les Divisions d'Oran et d'Alger du 19e Corps d'armée n'ont pu conquérir le Touat et le Gourara qu'au prix de durs combats menés contre les semi-nomades d'obédience marocaine qui, depuis plus d'un siècle, imposaient leur protection aux oasiens » Under French rule, the area was known as the "''Territoire des oasis sahariennes''". During 1903, attacks on the lines of communication by local tribes caused the French troops to suffer serious losses. To punish the tribes the town of

Figuig Figuig or Figig is an oasis town in eastern Morocco near the Atlas Mountains, on the border with Algeria. The town is built around an oasis of date palms, surrounded by rugged, mountainous wilderness. Modernization has somewhat raised the stan ...

was bombarded by the French on 8 June. On the following 2 September a band of nomads attacked the escort of a convoy going to

Taghit Taghit () is a town and commune in Taghit District, Béchar Province, in western Algeria. The town is an oasis watered by the underground Oued Zousfana, which runs along beside the dunes of the Grand Erg Occidental. According to the 2008 cens ...

at a place called ''El Mungar''. After maintaining the fight for over seven hours the French were reinforced and their attackers drew off. Out of 115 combatants the French lost 38 killed and 47 wounded. To consolidate their position the French authorities determined to connect the oases with the Algerian Sahara proper by carriage roads and railways.

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About the Gourara region which lies to the north of Tuat. {{Authority control Geography of Adrar Province Natural regions of Africa Historic Jewish communities in North Africa Jews and Judaism in Algeria Date palm orchards

Geography

History

Early modern period

Late modern period

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links