The Aït Abbas or Béni Abbès (in Kabyle: (''At εebbas'')) form a Kabyle confederation (Arch) established on the right bank of the Oued Sahel-Soummam in the Kabylie des

Bibans The Bibans or Biban Range (, Kabylian: ''Tiggoura'', or ''Les Bibans'') are a chain of mountains in northern Algeria, bordering the south of Kabylie. Geography The highest summits are 1862 m high Mansoura () and 1832 m high Choukchout (). Loc ...

in northern Algeria. Its leaders, of warrior nobility, were very influential throughout the region south of Béjaïa. Its origin is Kutama of the Sedouikich branch. From the founding of

Kalâa of Ait Abbas The Kalâa of the Aït Abbas or Kalâa of the Beni Abbes (Berber: ⵇⴰⵍⵄⴰ ⵍⴰⵉⵜ ⵄⴰⴱⴰⵙ alεa nāt εabbas ), sometimes spelled Qal'a or Guelaa, was a citadel and the capital of the kingdom of Ait Abbas, which was founded i ...

in the 16th century until the beginning of French colonization, the great chiefs of the Aït Abbas were recruited from among the descendants of Abdelaziz Labbes . The last chief was Cheikh El Mokrani, one of the leaders of the 1871 uprising. From the beginning of the century to the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, the Aït Abbas saw their reign gradually decline in economic and craft terms in Kabylie and the Sétif highlands.

History

The Aït Abbas tribe could field 3,000 infantrymen in the 19th century. They are the most important tribe in the Soummam Valley. Its territory is very fertile. It is very rich in cereals, olive oil, various fruits, honey and wax. It has beautiful pastures and many livestock of all species. It is the tribe that is the seat of power of the Kingdom of Aït Abbas, which remained master of the

Iron Gates The Iron Gates (; ; ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a route of ; in the narrow sense it only ...

and forced the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

to pay a passage fee.

Crafts

The region is known for its manufacture of carved wooden doors called in Kabyle: , finely carved and decorated with rosettes and ironwork.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ait Abbas Society of Algeria Berber peoples and tribes