The horma was a tribute paid by subservient

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

s to their protectors in traditional Sahrawi- Moorish society in today's Mauritania and

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. The powerful Hassane warrior tribes would extract it from low- caste

Znaga The Sanhaja ( ber, Aẓnag, pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen; ar, صنهاجة, ''Ṣanhaja'' or زناگة ''Znaga'') were once one of the largest Berbers, Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zenata, Zanata and Masmuda con ...

tribes, where each member was forced to personally pay an overlord in the dominant tribe. The forms and rates of horma varied throughout the region and through history, and was normally dependent on the relations of strength between the tribes involved. It could be paid in

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 ma ...

, goods or services.

* Hodges, Tony (1983), ''Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War'', Lawrence Hill Books () * Mercer, John (1976), ''Spanish Sahara'', George Allen & Unwid Ltd () *Pazzanita, Anthony G. and Hodge, Tony (1994), ''Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara'', Scarecrow Press () * Thompson, Virginia and Adloff, Richard (1980), ''The Western Saharans. Background to Conflict'', Barnes & Noble Books () Society of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Society of Mauritania Arab culture Berbers in Mauritania Berbers in Western Sahara {{ethno-stub

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