Arris (; ) is a commune in the Batna wilaya in eastern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Geography

Location

The Arris commune's jurisdiction is located in the Southwest of the Batna wilaya.

Arris Localities

The Arris commune is made up of 15 neighborhoods: * Afra * Anza Ahmed * Aourdaddam * Arris * Bouyeghiel * Dechera El Hamra * Khenguet Zerouala * Khenguet Zidane * Laraddam * Merj Hamed * Ras Draa * T'Zaouket * Tamayoult * Tibhirine

Physical Geography

The city of Arris is located at an altitude of 1100 m in the highlands of Oued El Abiod, between the Djebel Zellatou to the east, Djebel Ichmoul to the north (Aïn Tinn pass at 1800 m), and Djebel El Azreg to the west.

Human Geography

Arris is connected to

Biskra Biskra () is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about from Algiers, southwest of Batna, Algeria, Batna and north of Touggourt. It is nickna ...

and Batna by Route Nationale 31, which passes through the Aïn Tinn pass; a secondary route connects Arris to Baâli (Teniet El Abed) in the valley of Oued Abdi.

Toponymy

''Arris'' means "white lands" or "lion cub" in the Chaoui Berber language spoken in the

Aurès Mountains The Aures Mountains (, known in antiquity as ) are a subrange of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria. The mountain range gives its name to the mountainous natural and historical region of the Aurès. Geography The Aures mountains are the ...

History

Antiquity

The city is very ancient. Arris was the capital of the

Gaetuli Gaetuli was the Romanised name of an ancient Berber tribe inhabiting ''Getulia''. The latter district covered the large desert region south of the Atlas Mountains, bordering the Sahara. Other documents place Gaetulia in pre-Roman times along the M ...

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

who rose up against Rome. At the time, historians called them

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

. They were a people who had lived in the region for a long time. After the fall of the Roman empire, Masties became an independent ruler of the

Kingdom of the Aurès The Kingdom of the Aurès (Latin: ''Regnum Aurasium'') was an independent Christianity, Christian Berbers, Berber kingdom primarily located in the Aurès Mountains of present-day north-eastern Algeria. Established in the 480s by King Masties foll ...

. In an inscription discovered in Arris, dating to the end of the 5th century to the mid-6th century, he proclaims his Christian faith and the title of ''

Imperator The title of ''imperator'' ( ) originally meant the rough equivalent of ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later, it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as their praenomen. The Roman emperors generally based their autho ...

'' during his rule until 516 AD.

Middle Ages

The arrival of the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

in the region has been confirmed by historians, but Masties escaped their conquest and a monument erected pays homage to the Masties's memory, "inflexibly loyal to the Roman ideal and to the forms of imperial government," according to

Jérôme Carcopino Jérôme Carcopino (27 June 1881 – 17 March 1970) was a French historian, author, and Nazi collaborator. He was the fifteenth member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Académie française, in 1955. Biography Carcopino was born at Verneuil-sur-A ...

. Among the other princes and leaders in the Aurès, Tacfarinas was a rebel leader.

Cutzinas Cutzinas or Koutzinas () was a Berbers, Berber tribal leader who played a major role in the wars of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire against the Berber tribes in praetorian prefecture of Africa, Africa in the middle of the 6th century, fighting ...

was a rebel leader; he had a Roman mother according to

Corippus Flavius Cresconius Corippus (floruit 565) was a Roman African epic poet who flourished under East Roman emperors Justinian I and Justin II. His major works are the epic poem '' Iohannis'', a panegyric called "Panegyric of Anastasius", and a poe ...

. The two historical figures in the Aurès region at the beginning of the

Muslim Conquest of North Africa The conquest of the Maghreb by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I. The North African campaigns were part of the century of ...

were

Kusaila Kusaila ibn Malzam (), also known as Aksel, was a 7th-century Berber Christian ruler of the kingdom of Altava and leader of the Awraba tribe, a Christianised sedentary Berber tribe of the Aures and possibly Christian king of the Sanhaja. Under ...

of the Awraba tribe r/sup> and

Dihya Al-Kahina (), also known as Dihya, was a Berber warrior-queen of the Aurès and a religious and military leader who lived during the seventh century AD. Her legacy has been retold through the oral tradition since her lifetime. There are various ...

, queen of the Jarawa tribe, known as ''al-Kāhina''.

French Colonization

On December 18, 1886, the mixed commune ( ''commune mixte''r/sup> - an area where Europeans were present though in very small numbers) of Aurès was created in the Batna ''

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

'' (district) of the Constantine ''département'' of

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

, with its capital in Arris. Arris was therefore the residence of the chief administrator, assisted by two assistants, a secretary, and other employees (for example, messengers). This mixed commune was divided into douars, each under the responsibility of a "native assistant" ("''adjoint indigène''") - "

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

" from 1919 on. In 1936, the mixed commune comprised fourteen douars and a "center of colonization" ( Foum Toub). The

ethnologists Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

Thérèse Rivière r/sup> and

Germaine Tillion Germaine Tillion (30 May 1907 – 18 April 2008) was a French ethnologist, known for her work in Algeria in the 1950s on behalf of the Government of France. A member of the French Resistance in World War II, she spent time in Ravensbrück co ...

, who spent much time in the Aurès region from 1934 to 1940, make reference to Arris in the 1930s in their articles and reports regarding the Aurès: Connected to Batna by a route with a regular bus line, the city contained a clinic and a primary school, but no business. It was connected to Biskra by motorway. The police force of Arris was six men strong for a population of 60,000 inhabitants of the Aurès region.

The Algerian War

One of the nine founders of the National Liberation Front (FLN) in October 1954,

Mostefa Ben Boulaïd Mostefa Ben-Boulaïd () (5 February 1917 – 22 March 1956) was an Algerian revolutionary leader. Biography World War II Ben-Boulaid was born in Arris, Batna Province, Algeria. In 1939, he underwent mandatory military service and was mobi ...

was born to a notable family in Arris. Militant in the

Algerian People's Party The Algerian People's Party, was a successor organization of the North African Star, led by veteran Algerian nationalist Messali Hadj. It was formed on March 11, 1937. In 1936, the Etoile Nord Africaine (ENA), its predecessor, had joined the Fren ...

(PPA), then in the

Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties The Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD), name proposed by Maiza, was created October 1946 to replace the outlawed Parti du Peuple Algerien (PPA). Messali Hadj remained as its president. The MTLD was created on the same platfo ...

(MTLD), he was in charge of the Aurès zone from October 1954 until his death in March 1956; his immediate successor was his brother, Omar Ben Boulaïd. On November 1, 1954, the day of the

Toussaint Rouge (, "Red All Saints' Day"), also known as ("Bloody All-Saints' Day") is a series of 70 attacks committed by militant members of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) that took place on 1 November 1954—the Catholic festival of All S ...

, the insurgents managed to isolate Arris for several hours. On June 28, 1956, during the French government's administrative reorganization of Algeria, Batna became a prefecture and Arris a sub-prefecture; several douars became communes: Bouzina, Chir, Kimmel, M'chouneche, Menaa, Oulach,

Tadjmout Tadjemout is a town and commune in Laghouat Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 20,321. Situated on the very edge of the Saharan Desert, the closest countries to it are Morocco and Tunisia. It has an altitude o ...

et Tighanimine.Cf
Fonds Arris (ANOM)

Independence

The communes of Arris and Tighanimine form the daïra of Arris, one of 21 daïras in the wilaya of Batna.

Demographics

Sports

Every year, the Chahid Mostefa Ben Boulaïd half-marathon takes place in the city.

Notable people

(1917–1956), one of the founders of the FLN (''Front de libération nationale''), was born in Arris.

References

{{Batna Province Communes of Batna Province Algeria geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia