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''Lalla Aicha'' () (known as Aichouche) () was regent of
Touggourt Touggourt (; or 'the gate') is a city and Communes of Algeria, commune, former sultanate and capital of Touggourt District, in Touggourt Province, Algeria, built next to an oasis in the Sahara. As of the 2008 census, the commune had a population ...
during the minority of her son Abd ar-Rahman from 1833–1846. She was from the Ben-Gana family, which was granted the title ‘cheikh el-Arab’ by the French.


Life

Some sources claim she married Amer, Sultan of Touggourt (1822–1830), while others state she was the wife of Ibrahim III, Sultan of Touggourt (r. 1830–1831). Lalla Aicha was the mother of Sultan Abd ar-Rahman (r. 1840–1852). Aicha's husband Sultan Ibrahim was murdered by his brother Ali, who usurped power in 1831. Consequently, Aicha and a faction of courtiers rebelled against her brother-in-law Sultan Ali (Sulayman's father) and maintained power by killing other potential rivals, including Sulayman's infant son. Aicha ordered Ali poisoned which occurred, before taking power in the name of her son Abd er-Rahman, then aged eight. Assuming the title ''khalifa'' (
viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...
) she took over the direction of government, managing state affairs with great ability. Accounts say that she rode a horse, wore pistols on her belt and even smoked ''tekrouri'' (hemp). She governed the state on her own until her son was old enough to take over. According to an 1854 account by Sulayman IV, last of the Beni Djellab sultans, the period of Lalla Aicha's rule was characterised by extreme violence within the ruling family, although this was not entirely unusual.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aicha, regent of Touggourt, Lalla Arab princesses Algerian women in politics 1830s in Algeria 19th-century Algerian women 19th-century Algerian people History of the Sahara 19th-century women regents 19th-century regents Spouses of sultans