The Chaouia ( ar, الشاوية) is an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

tribal confederation made up of

tribes, and a

historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing soc ...

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 t ...

. It is bounded by the Oum er-Rbi' River to its southwest, the Cherrate River to its northeast, the plain of

Tadla Tadla is a historical and geographical region of Morocco, located in the center of the country, north of the High Atlas mountain range and west of the Middle Atlas. It is the region of origin of the eponymous collection of tribal, semi-nomadic pas ...

to the southeast and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the northwest. The region covers a land area of nearly 14 000 km².

Etymology

The word "Chaouia" means "Land of Chaouis". "Chaoui" is an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

As Ibn Khaldoun said: (The people of Chaouia do possess sheeps (chaate) and cows as livestock, and their wealth is pretty good based on that). History of Ibn Khaldun, part 2 page. 15 word meaning "sheeps possessors or shepherds".

Geography

Geographically, the Chaouia can be divided into two sub-regions: low and high. The low Chaouia being the coastal part while the high Chaouia is further inland. Soils vary in fertility: The dark tirs is prized for its high yields and is found among the Mdhakra, Ouled Hriz and Oulad said. There is also the red hamri terra rossa. Throughout Morocco's history, the Chaouia was famous for farming wheat and barley, which were exported in years of abundance from Casablanca, Fédala or

Azemmour Azemmour or Azammur ( ar, أزمور, azammūr; ber, ⴰⵣⵎⵎⵓⵔ, azemmur, lit=wild olive tree) is a Moroccan city, lying at the Atlantic ocean coast, on the left bank of the Oum Er-Rbia River, 75 km southwest of Casablanca. Etymo ...

. Chaouia sheep was also prized for its wool, which was also exported to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

where it was known as wardigha in reference to one of the tribes in the interior. Nowadays, the Chaouia is part of the Casablanca-Settat administrative region.

History

Originally, the Chaouia was ruled by the Barghawata until it was unified to

by the Almoravids,S. Lévy, ''Pour une histoire linguistique du Maroc'', in ''Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb occidental: dialectologie et histoire'', 1998, pp.11-26 () depopulating the area. After the

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

ruler

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 mov ...

captured the town of Marrakesh in 1147, he encouraged the settlement of Bedouin

tribes in the area and the rest of the Moroccan coastal plains which were largely depopulated after the Almoravid conquest, including

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal ( ar, بنو هلال, translit=Banū Hilāl) was a confederation of Arabian tribes from the Hejaz and Najd regions of the Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to North Africa in the 11th century. Masters of the vast plateaux of t ...

, Banu Sulaym, and Banu Ma'qil, which led to a further extension of

and an increased importance of Arab elements in the power equation of Morocco, to the point where no one could have ruled there without their co-operation. In the early 20th century, the Chaouia carried out a strong rebellion against the French. In 1907, the French bombarded Casablanca and entered the Chaouia region before extending their control over all of

.J. Augarde, ''Le général d'Amade pacificateur de la Chaouia'', in ''Revue historique de l'armée'', n°166, 1987, pp.24-32 (ISSN 0035-3299) During the French protectorate, the Chaouia was part of the "Autonomous subdivision of Casablanca". It was then divided into three ''civilians controls'' : Chaouia-North ( Casablanca), Chaouia-Center (

Berrechid Berrechid ( ar, برشيد, ber, ⴱⴰⵔⵛⵉⴷ, baršid) is a town and municipality in Berrechid Province of the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco. It recorded a population of 136,634 inhabitants in the 2014 Moroccan census The 2014 Moroc ...

) and Chaouia-South (

Settat Settat ( ar, سطات, siṭṭāt, ber, ⵥⴻⵟⵟⴰⵜ, ẓeṭṭat) is a city in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakesh. Settat is located by road south of the centre of Casablanca, roughly an hour's drive. It is the ...

Tribal composition

The Chaouia tribal confederation traditionally consists of 14 Arabic-speaking tribes:

References

Bibliography

* F. Weisberger, ''Casablanca et les Chaouia en 1900'', Ed. Impr. Réunies (Casablanca), 1935 * E. Marchand, ''Casablanca, la Chaouia'', Ed. Larose (Paris), 1918 {{Berber tribes of Morocco Regions of Morocco Geography of Morocco Arab tribes in Morocco