The Chaoui people or ''Shawyia'' (, ) are a

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 (1913–196 ...

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

native to the

Aurès Aurès () is a natural region located in the mountainous area of the Aurès Mountains, Aurès range, in eastern Algeria. The region includes the provinces of Algeria, Algerian provinces of Batna Province, Batna, Tebessa Province, Tebessa, Consta ...

region in northeastern

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 ...

. They call themselves ''Išawiyen''/''Icawiyen'' (pronounced ) and speak the

Shawiya language Shawiya, or Shawiya Berber, also spelt Chaouïa (native form: ''Tacawit'' ), is a Zenati Berber language spoken in Algeria by the Shawiya people. The language's primary speech area is the Awras Mountains in Eastern Algeria and the surrounding ...

. They are the second largest

Tell Atlas The Tell Atlas (, Latn, ar, al-ʾaṭlas al-tlī) is a mountain chain over in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges in North Africa, stretching mainly across northern Algeria, ending in north-eastern Morocco and north-western Tunisia. ...

-speaking ethnicity, alongside the Kabyles and Chenouas.

Etymology

According to de Slane, translator of the books of Ibn Khaldun, the term Chaoui/Shawi means "

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

" and designates the Zenata Berbers.

History

Historically, 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 ...

served as a refuge for

Berber people 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 Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their u ...

s, forming a base of resistance against the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption 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 ...

, the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

The patriarch of Berbers is believed to have been ''Madghacen'', the common ancestor of the

Zenata The Zenata (; ) are a group of Berber tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Society The 14th-century historiographer Ibn Khaldun repo ...

and of the Botri as well.

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

identified the Zenata as Berbers. Modern historians rank this Berber region within the group of

Numidians The Numidians were the Berber population of Numidia (present-day Algeria). The Numidians were originally a semi-nomadic people, they migrated frequently as nomads usually do, but during certain seasons of the year, they would return to the same ...

and

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 ...

or the much more ancient

Meshwesh The Meshwesh (often abbreviated in ancient Egyptian as Ma) was an ancient Libyan tribe, of Berber origin along with other groups like Libu and Tehenu/Tjemehu, and also some of the Sea Peoples. Early records of the Meshwesh date back to the Eight ...

, Maesulians and Mazaxes, from whom the Zenata formed, the main inhabitants of the Aurès in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Chaoui clans known by Ibn Khaldoun were the Ifren, Maghrawa, Djerawa, Abdalwadides, Howara and Awarba. After the independence of Algeria, the Chaouis remained localized mainly in the Auresian region. They are the second largest Berber-speaking group in terms of number of speakers, the first being the Kabyle.

Language

The Chaoui traditionally speak the

(''Berber:'' Tachawit). It belongs to the

branch of the

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

family, and is a variety of the

Zenati languages The Zenati languages are a branch of the Northern Berber language family of North Africa. They were named after the medieval Zenata Berber tribal confederation. They were first proposed in the works of French linguist Edmond Destaing (1915) (19 ...

. Shawiya is a closely related cluster of dialects spoken in the Aurès region (''Berber:'' Awras) of eastern Algeria and surrounding areas including Batna,

Khenchela Khenchela (; ; anciently Mascula) is the capital city of the administrative Khenchela Province ('' Wilaya''), in the north east of Algeria. Situated in the Aures Mountains, 1200 m above sea level. The city is mainly populated by Berber Cha ...

, south

Sétif Sétif () is the capital city of the Sétif Province and the 5th most populous city of Algeria, with an estimated population of 1.866.845 in 2017). It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is c ...

, Oum El Bouaghi, Souk Ahras,

Tébessa Tébessa or Tebessa ( ''Tibissa'', ''Tbessa'' or ''Tibesti''), the classical Theveste, is the capital city of Tébessa Province in northeastern Algeria, near the border with Tunisia. It hosts several historical landmarks, the most important o ...

, and the north part of

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 ...

. Recently the Shawiya language, together with the

Kabyle language Kabyle () or Kabylian (; native name: ''Taqbaylit'' ) is a Berber languages, Berber language spoken by the Kabyle people in the north and northeast of Algeria. It is spoken primarily in Kabylia Estimating the number of Berber speakers is very ...

, has begun to achieve some cultural prominence due to the Berber cultural and political movements in

Culture and art

Chaoui music is a specific style of Berber music. The Shawia dance is called Rahaba; men and women dancing at weddings. There are many 20th century singers, such as Aïssa Djermouni, Ali Khencheli, Massinissa, Ishem Boumaraf, Djamel Sabri, Groupe Iwal, Houria Aïchi, etc. Chaoui painters and sculptors (of whom there are many) include Cherif Merzouki, Abdelkhader Houamel, Hassane Amraoui, Adel Abdessemed, and Mohamed Demagh. The fantasia is a traditional exhibition of horsemanship in the

performed during cultural festivals. The Chaoui were featured in Amor Hakkar's 2008 film '' La Maison jaune''.

References

Bibliography

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External links

*

Videos in Chaoui

chawinet.com
(in French) * http://www.truveo.com/khouya-ya-chaoui/id/2928217872
''Among the hill-folk of Algeria: journeys among the Shawía of the Aurès Mountains (1921)''
by Melville William Hilton-Simpson {{authority control Berber peoples and tribes Berbers in Algeria Ethnic groups in Algeria Indigenous peoples of North Africa