COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Berbervrouw uit de Midden Atlas TMnr 10028644

Zayanes ( (singular), (plural); ) are 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 ...

population inhabiting the

Khenifra Khenifra () is a city in northern central Morocco, surrounded by the Atlas Mountains and located on the Oum Er-Rbia River. National Highway 8 also goes through the town. The population, as of a 2019 census, was 228,567. History Khenifra has been ...

region, located in the central

Middle Atlas The Middle Atlas (Amazigh: ⴰⵟⵍⴰⵚ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵎⴰⵙ, ''Atlas Anammas'', Arabic: الأطلس المتوسط, ''al-Aṭlas al-Mutawassiṭ'') is a mountain range in Morocco. It is part of the Atlas mountain range, a mountainous regio ...

mountains of

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 ...

. Zayanes tribes are known for their attachment to ancestral land and for their tenacity as warriors, especially during the colonization, led by

Mouha ou Hammou Zayani Mouha Ou Hammou Zayani (), by his full name: Mohammed ou Hammou ben Akka ben Ahmed, also known as Moha Ou Hamou al-Harkati Zayani (c.1863 – 27 March 1921) was a Moroccan Berber military figure and tribal leader who played an important role i ...

. Thus they have prevented many invaders from easily seizing Khénifra. Despite the French defeat in the

Battle of El Herri The Battle of El Herri (also known as Elhri) was fought between France and the Berber Zaian Confederation on 13 November 1914. It took place at the small settlement of El Herri, near Khénifra in the French protectorate in Morocco. The battl ...

, 13 November 1914, the colonizers were determined not to abandon the fight against the Zayanes, but concerned French troops in invading Morocco in coming face to face with the Zayanes.

Geography

The tribes of Zayanes live in the

mountain range in the area of Khénifra. The Zayanes belong to a large tribe that twice a year wanders toward , where the climate is milder in contrast to Adrar where the winter is very severe. The Zayanes speak

Central Atlas Tamazight Central Atlas Tamazight or Atlasic (native name: ''Tamazight'' ; ) is a Berber languageCentral Atlas Tamazight may be referred to as either a Berber language or a Berber dialect. As Berber languages have some degree of mutual intelligibility, ...

(''Tazayit''), which is one of the

Berber languages The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berbers, Berber communities, ...

. The Zayanes enjoy goat's and ewe's milk as well as

Ahriche In Moroccan cuisine, Ahriche (ⴰⵃⵔⵉⵛ) is a dish eaten by the tribes of Zayanes and Khénifra. The name is derived from the Berber word for stick; this is in reference to the dish's manner of cooking. It is a dish of tripe usually consist ...

. The latter is a dish of tripe, usually consisting of ganglion, caul, lung or heart of an animal wound with intestines on a stick of oak and cooked on hot coals.

References

General references

*Abes, M. (1915) ''Les izayanes d'Oulmès''. ''Archives Berbères''. *Amarir, O. (1975) ''La poésie marocaine amazighe''. *Aspignon, R. (1946) ''Etude sur les coutumes des tribus zayanes''. éd. Moynier,, Casa. * Basset, André. (1955) ''La littérature Berbère''. La Pléiade. *Ben Daoud, O. I. (1917) ''Notes sur le pays zayan''. ''Archives Berbères''. *Berger, F. (1929) ''Moha Ouhammou le zayani''. éd. Atlas. *Berger, F. ''Mouha ou Hammou Azaii''. *Bernie, G. (1945) ''Moha Ouhammou, guerrier berbère''. éd. Gautey, Casa. * Chafik, Mohamed. (2000) ''Trente trois siècle de l'histoire des imazighen''. Boukili éd. (3e éd.) *Chafik, Mohamed. "''La poésie amazighe et la résistance armée dans le Moyen Atlas et l'Est du Haut Atlas''". ''Revue de l'Académie du Royaume'', no. 4, 1987. * Camps, Gabriel. (1980) ''Berbères aux marges de l'histoire''. éd. Espérides. *Guennoun, S. (1933) ''La montagne berbère, ou les Ait Oumalou''. Rabat: éd. Oumnia. *Guennoun, S. (1934) ''La voix des monts, Mœurs de guerres berbères''. Rabat: éd. Oumnia. *Guillaume, Général A. (1946) ''Les berbères marocains et la pacification de l'Atlas Central (1912–1933)''. Julliard. Berber peoples and tribes Berbers in Morocco Moroccan tribes {{Morocco-stub