Sahrawi People

The Sahrawi, or Saharawi people ( ar, صحراويون '; es, Saharaui), are an ethnic group and nation native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and along the southwestern border of Algeria. They are of mixed Berber, Arab and Black African descent.

As with most peoples living in the Sahara, the Sahrawi culture is a mix of Arab and indigenous African elements. The modern Sahrawi culture consists of a Berber core and considerable Arab influences. Sahrawis are composed of many tribes and are largely speakers of the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic.

Etymology

The Arabic word ' literally means "Inhabitant of the Desert". The word Sahrawi is derived from the Arabic word ' (), meaning desert. A man is called a "Sahrawi", and a woman is called a "Sahrawiya". In other languages it is pronounced in similar or different ways:

* Berber: ''Aseḥrawi'' or ''Aneẓrofan''
* English: ''Sahrawi'' or ''Saharawi''
* Spanish: ''Saharaui'' (''saharauita'', ''saharauiya'')
* French: ''Sahraoui''
* Italian: ''Saharaui'', ''Sahraui'', ''Sahrawi'' or ''Saharawi''
* Portuguese: ''Saarauís''
* German: Sahraui(s)

History

Early history

Nomadic Berbers, mainly of the Senhaja / Zenaga tribal confederation, inhabited the areas now known as Western Sahara, southern Morocco, Mauritania and southwestern Algeria, before Islam arrived in the 8th century CE. It is not known when the camel was introduced to the region (probably in the first or second millennium BCE), but it revolutionized the traditional trade routes of North Africa. Berber caravans transported salt, gold, and slaves between North and West Africa, and the control of trade routes became a major ingredient in the constant power struggles between various tribes and sedentary peoples. On more than one occasion, the Berber tribes of present-day Mauritania, Morocco and Western Sahara would unite behind religious leaders to sweep the surrounding governments from power, then founding principalities, dynasties, or even vast empires of their own. This was the case with the Almoravid dynasty of Morocco and Andalusia, and several emirates in Mauritania.

In the 11th century, the Bedouin tribes of the Beni Hilal and Beni Sulaym emigrated westwards from Egypt to the Maghreb region. In the early 13th century, the Yemeni Maqil tribes migrated westwards across the entirety of Arabia and northern Africa, to finally settle around present-day Morocco. They were badly received by the Zenata Berber descendants of the Merinid dynasty, and among the tribes pushed out of the territory were the Beni Hassan.

This tribe entered the domains of the Sanhaja, and over the following centuries imposed itself upon them, intermixing with the population in the process. Berber attempts to shake off the rule of Arab warrior tribes occurred sporadically, but assimilation gradually won out, and after the failed Char Bouba Uprising (1644–74), the Berber tribes would virtually without exception embrace Arab or Muslim culture and even claim Arab heritage. The Arabic dialect of the Beni Ḥassān, Hassaniya, remains the mother-tongue of Mauritania and Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara to this day, and is also spoken in southern Morocco and western Algeria, among affiliated tribes. Berber vocabulary and cultural traits remain common, despite the fact that many if not all of the Sahrawi/Moorish tribes today claim Arab ancestry; several are even claiming to be descendants of Muhammad, so-called sharifian tribes ( pl. ''shorfa'' or ''chorfa'').

The modern day Sahrawi’s are a mixed ethnic group of Arabs, sub-Saharan Africans & diverse Berbers. The people inhabit the westernmost Sahara desert, in the area of modern Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara, and parts of Algeria. (Some tribes would also traditionally migrate into northern Mali and Niger

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