Doukkala () is a
tribal confederation of mostly
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, ...
origin,
and is also a
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 an ...
of
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 A ...
made of fertile plains and forests. Nowadays it is part of the
Casablanca-Settat
Casablanca-Settat ( ar, الدار البيضاء - سطات, ad-dār al-bayḍāʾ - siṭṭāt; ber, ⴰⵏⴼⴰ - ⵙⵟⵟⴰⵜ, anfa - sṭṭat) is one of the twelve administrative regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 20,166 km² ...
administrative region.
The region is a
plain
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...
stretching from 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 ...
south of
Sidi Rahal Chatai up to some 50 km further southward and the same distance eastward. The main urban centers are
Sidi Smail
Sidi Smail is a small town and rural commune in El Jadida Province of the Casablanca-Settat
Casablanca-Settat ( ar, الدار البيضاء - سطات, ad-dār al-bayḍāʾ - siṭṭāt; ber, ⴰⵏⴼⴰ - ⵙⵟⵟⴰⵜ, anfa - sṭ� ...
,
Sidi Bennour,
Had Ouled Frej ,
Khemis Zemamra . Sidi Bennour is the fastest developing center of the four. It is mainly an agricultural region, with few tourist attractions.
Etymology
According to
Mohamed Chafik, the name Doukkala is derived from the concatenation of two Berber words ''Idu'' means under and ''kal'' means surface, corresponding to its flat landscape and also its position compared to the
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through ...
in contrast to
Jbel Toubkal (highest peak in Morocco).
History
Originally, Doukkala referred to a confederation of
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 (1913–19 ...
tribes which occupied the territory between the rivers of
Oum Er-Rbia River and
Tensift and from the Atlantic Ocean to
Jbilate near present-day
Marrakesh
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 ...
. They were a mix of majority
Masmuda
The Masmuda ( ar, المصمودة, Berber: ⵉⵎⵙⵎⵓⴷⵏ) is a Berber tribal confederation of Morocco and one of the largest in the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and the Sanhaja. They were composed of several sub-tribes: Berghoua ...
: the Ragrâga, Hazmîra, Banû Dghûgh, Banû Mâgir, and Mushtarayya (Mouchtaraia), together with the
Sanhaja
The Sanhaja ( ber, Aẓnag, pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen; ar, صنهاجة, ''Ṣanhaja'' or زناگة ''Znaga'') were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Man ...
who occupied the Atlantic coast between Azemmour and south of El Jadida. They were part of the larger tribal confederation of
Barghawata
The Barghawatas (also Barghwata or Berghouata) were a Berber tribal confederation on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, belonging to the Masmuda confederacy. After allying with the Sufri Kharijite rebellion in Morocco against the Umayyad Caliphate ...
that stretched from
Anfa to
Tensift, an independent state from 744 AD to 1058 AD, however this area was largely depopulated after 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 s ...
conquered it in 1058.
When the
Almohads
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 ...
under
Abd al-Mu'min captured the town of
Marrakesh
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 ...
in 1147, the Doukkala sided against them and in favor of the
Almoravid dynasty. They were subsequently defeated by Abd al-Mu'min, and purged, with women and children being sold into slavery.
Abd al-Mu'min subsequently encouraged the settlement of
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...
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, ...
tribes in the area and the rest of the Moroccan coastal plains,
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 ...
and
Banu Ma'qil,
which led to a further extension of
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 ...
and an increased importance of Arab leadership in Morocco
to the point where no one could have ruled there without their co-operation.
By 1250, only the Ragrâga was the only
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 (1913–19 ...
tribe that had survived intact after their conquest by the migration of Arab tribes.
At the end of the
French protectorate (ca 1950), there lived in Doukkala 372,269
Muslims
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 ...
, 2,680
Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (20 ...
and 3,933
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
.
[''Guide bleu Hachette du Maroc'', 7th ed., 1950, p. 178.]
Geography
Doukkala is divided in three sub-regions, parallel to the seacoast.
* The "Oulja" (Arabic: الولـجة), along the beach, with garden-crops.
* The "Sahel" (Arabic: الساحل), some 20 km inside, a stony region, only suiting to
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...
breeding.
* The rich plain, with
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...
s, and intensive
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...
breeding.
The only mountain to be seen is at the border with the plain of
Rahamna called "
Jbel Lakhdar" (Arabic: الجبل الاخضر) meaning "Green Mountain".
The plain is subject to
flooding. A temporary
natural lake between
Sidi Bennour and
Larbaa Ouled Amrane called "
Ouarar" (Arabic: ورار) only fills in rainy years. Its largest surface was noted in 1916, 1966 and 2008.
Gallery
File:Sugar beets thinning.jpg, Sugar beets cultivation at Sidi Smail
File:Soucreye Sidi Bennour.jpg, Sugar factory at Sidi Bennour
File:Mwarid tcherete.jpg, Center of a typical Doukkala village (Mwarid, Oulad Bou Hmam)
File:Warar08a.jpg, Warar, a natural temporary lake, in 2008, flooding a house built in the 1970s
File:Sahel Marok voye.jpg, "Sahel" sub-region, with "anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is t ...
climbing" road
References
External links
A Directory of African Wetlands - Page 66 - Google Books
{{Arab tribes of Morocco
Geography of Morocco
Natural regions of Africa
Arab tribes in Morocco