Aghmat (

Tashelhit , now more usually known as Tashelhit , is a Berber language spoken in southwestern Morocco. The endonym is , and in recent English publications the name of the language is often rendered ''Tashelhit'', ''Tashelhiyt'' or ''Tashlhiyt''. In Moroc ...

: ''Aɣmat'', ''Āghmāt''; pronounced locally ''Ughmat, Uɣmat'') was an important commercial medieval

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 ...

town in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It is today an archaeological site known as "Joumâa Aghmat". The city is located approximately 30 km south-east of

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

on the

Ourika ''Ourika'' is an 1823 novel by Claire de Duras, originally published anonymously. Overview ''Ourika'' is a story based on the life of a woman who was purchased as a child (in or around 1786) by the Chevalier de Boufflers, the colonial admini ...

road. The initial "a" of the name may be unvocalized, and the name may sometimes be spelled "Ghmat", "Ghmate" or even the French-style "Rhmate" (as it appears in the ''

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

''). According to a

legend, Aghmat was populated by Christian Berbers when it was conquered in 683 by the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

forces of

Uqba ibn Nafi ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī al-Qurashī ( ar, عقبة بن نافع بن عبد القيس الفهري القرشي, ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī), also simply known as Uqba ibn Nafi, was an Arab general ser ...

, a general of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

in Syria. However, this story first surfaces almost 700 years after that date, and many historians give it no credibility. It is directly contradicted by one of the earliest Persian historians,

al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and ...

. who states that

Musa bin Nusair Musa ibn Nusayr ( ar, موسى بن نصير ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) served as a Umayyad governor and an Arab general under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa (Ifriqiya), and direct ...

conquered the

Sous The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) ( ar, سوس, sūs, shi, ⵙⵓⵙ, sus) is an area in mid-southern Morocco. Geologically, it is the alluvial basin of the Sous River (''Asif n Sus''), separated from the Sahara desert ...

and erected the mosque at Aghmāt.

Early history

After the death of

Idris II Idris bin Idris ( ar, إدريس بن إدريس) known as Idris II ( ar, إدريس الثاني) (August 791 – August 828), was the son of Idris I, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty in Morocco. He was born in Walīlī two months after the de ...

in 828, Morocco was divided among his sons. Aghmat became capital of the Souss region under the

Idrisid The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids ( ar, الأدارسة ') were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid and ...

prince Abd Allah.

Ibn Abi Zar Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Abī Zarʿ al-Fāsī ( ar, أبو الحسن علي بن أبي زرع الفاسي) (d. between 1310 and 1320) is the commonly presumed original author of the popular and influential medieval history of Morocco known as ...

, ''

Rawd al-Qirtas ''Rawḍ al-Qirṭās'' ( ar, روض القرطاس) short for ''Kitāb al-ānīs al-muṭrib bi-rawḍ al-qirṭās fī ākhbār mulūk al-maghrab wa tārīkh madīnah Fās'' ('', The Entertaining Companion Book in the Gardens of Pages from the Ch ...

'', annotated Spanish translation by A. Huici Miranda, Valencia, 1964 When the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

invaded from the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

under Abd Allah ibn Yasin, Aghmāt was defended by Laqūt, leader of the

Maghrawa The Maghrawa or Meghrawa ( ar, المغراويون) were a large Zenata Berber tribal confederation whose cradle and seat of power was the territory located on the Chlef in the north-western part of today's Algeria, bounded by the Ouarsenis to ...

tribe. Laqūt was defeated and the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that s ...

army entered the city on 23 Rabi II 450 (27 June 1058).

Ibn Idhari Abū al-ʽAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʽIḏārī al-Marrākushī ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد ابن عذاري المراكشي) was a Moroccan historian of the late-13th/early-14th century, and author of the famous '' Al-Bayan al- ...

, ''

Al-bayan al-mughrib ''Kitāb al-bayān al-mughrib fī ākhbār mulūk al-andalus wa'l-maghrib'' (''Book of the Amazing Story of the History of the Kings of al-Andalus and Maghreb'') by Ibn Idhāri (var. Ibn Athari) of Marrakech in the Maghreb (now Morocco) ...

'' Part III, annotated Spanish translation by A. Huici Miranda, Valencia, 1963 One of the wealthiest of Aghmāt's citizens was Laqūt's widow,

Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyat Zaynab an-Nafzāwiyyah ( ar, زينب النفزاوية) (fl. 1075), was a Berber woman of influence in the early days of the Almoravid Berber empire which gained control of Morocco, Algeria, and parts of Spain. She was married to Yusuf ibn Tas ...

, who married the

leader

Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar Abu Bakr ibn Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Turgut, sometimes suffixed al-Sanhaji or al-Lamtuni (died 1087; ar, أبو بكر بن عمر) was a chieftain of the Lamtuna Berber Tribe and Amir of the Almoravids from 1056 until his death. He is credited t ...

and placed her considerable wealth at his disposal. After Abu-Bakr returned to the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

in 1071, Zaynab married his successor

Yusuf ibn Tashfin Yusuf ibn Tashfin, also Tashafin, Teshufin, ( ar, يوسف بن تاشفين ناصر الدين بن تالاكاكين الصنهاجي , Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn Naṣr al-Dīn ibn Tālākakīn al-Ṣanhājī ; reigned c. 1061 – 1106) was l ...

. By 1068/1069, the population of the city had grown considerably, and Abu-Bakr decided to construct a new capital. He founded

in 1070, after which Aghmāt declined. The Almoravids continued to use it as a convenient backwater in which to exile people. These included Al Mutamid, former king of

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

and Córdoba and noted poet. His tomb remains a place of pilgrimage to this day. Aghmat was also the place of exile where

Abdallah ibn Buluggin Abdallah ibn Buluggin (), full name:ʿAbd Allāh ben Buluggīn ben Bādīs ben Ḥabūs ben Zīrī (1056–after 1090), also known as "Al-Muzaffar" (the conqueror), was the grandson of Badis ben Habus and the last Zirid ruler of the Taifa of Gra ...

, the former king of

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, wrote his memoirs. In the years 1126, 1127 and again in 1130, the city saw a number of battles between the

sultan

Ali ibn Yusuf Ali ibn Yusuf (also known as "Ali Ben Youssef") () (born 1084 died 26 January 1143) was the 5th Almoravid emir. He reigned from 1106–1143. Biography Ali ibn Yusuf was born in 1084 in Ceuta. He was the son of Yusuf ibn T ...

and the

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...

army led by

Ibn Tumart Abu Abd Allah Amghar Ibn Tumart ( Berber: ''Amghar ibn Tumert'', ar, أبو عبد الله امغار ابن تومرت, ca. 1080–1130 or 1128) was a Muslim Berber religious scholar, teacher and political leader, from the Sous in southern M ...

and

Abd al-Mu'min Abd al Mu'min (c. 1094–1163) ( ar, عبد المؤمن بن علي or عبد المومن الــكـومي; full name: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAlwī ibn Yaʿlā al-Kūmī Abū Muḥammad) was a prominent member of the Almohad move ...

. Following a general rout of Almoravid forces throughout Morocco and Algeria,

entered Aghmāt without a fight on the middle day of

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

541 (27 June 1146). Beaumier, writing in 1860, stated the town still had a population of 5500, of whom 1000 were Jews.

Earlier economy

Al Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī ( ar, أبو عبيد عبد الله بن عبد العزيز بن محمد بن أيوب بن عمرو البكري), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1 ...

, writing in the 11th century on the eve of the

rise to power, described Aghmāt as a flourishing city where 100 cattle and 1000 sheep were slaughtered for sale in the Sunday

souk A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, such as in the W ...

(market). The inhabitants elected their own leader. Strictly speaking there were two Aghmāts: the commercial and political center was known as "Aghmāt Wurīka", and 8 miles distant from that was "Aghmāt Aylan" which was closed to outsiders. The town was served by the seaport of Qūz on the Atlantic coast three days journey west.

Modern history

On 18 November 1950, during the French occupation of Morocco, a group of Moroccan nationalists associated with the

Istiqlal Istiqlal ( ar, اِسْتِقْلال, istiqlāl) means ''independence'' and may refer to: Political parties *Azərbaycan Milli İstiqlal Partiyası or Azerbaijan National Independence Party, political party in Azerbaijan *Harakat Al-Istiqlal or In ...

party held a demonstration at the tomb of

Al-Mutamid Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن جعفر; – 14 October 892), better known by his regnal name Al-Muʿtamid ʿalā ’llāh (, "Dependent on God"), was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 870 t ...

. This was brutally suppressed by police acting under orders from Boujane, the

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

of the local Mesfioua tribe. Subsequent actions became one of the major irritants between Boujane's superior, the powerful

Pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

of Marrakech

T'hami El Glaoui Thami El Glaoui ( ar, التهامي الكلاوي; 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 hi ...

, and the King of Morocco Mohammed V, which eventually led to the king's brief overthrow.Abdessadeq El Glaoui, ''Le Ralliement. Le Glaoui, Mon Père'' () The archaeological ruins visible today consist of part of the city walls,

hammam A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...

, parts of some houses and

qanat A qanat or kārīz is a system for transporting water from an aquifer or water well to the surface, through an underground aqueduct; the system originated approximately 3,000 BC in what is now Iran. The function is essentially the same across ...

s (irrigation canals), and some hundred metres or so of the city ramparts. The tomb of

is marked by a contemporary

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

. It was erected in 1970 and has a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

in the Almoravid style.

References

{{reflist

External links

* Moroccan Government web page for the sitebr>A modern pilgrimage to the tomb of Al-Mutamid
Al Haouz Province Archaeological sites in Morocco Former populated places in Morocco Former capitals of Morocco