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The Ait Atta (Tashelhit: Ayt Ɛeṭṭa, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵄⵟⵟⴰ) are a large Berber tribal confederation or "supertribe" of South eastern Morocco, estimated to number about 125,000 to 135,000 as of 1960. They are divided into "five fifths" (khams khmas), all said to descend from the forty sons of their common ancestor Dadda Atta: these "fifths" are the Ait Wallal, Ait Wahlim, Ait Isful, Ait Yazza and Ait Unibgi. They speak Tamazight.

Origin

Descent from Goliath

A tradition of non-Atta origin claims that the Ait Atta descends from Goliath (Jalut) who left 4 sons who emigrated to North Africa from Palestine becoming the ancestors of the modern Moroccan Berbers. The oldest son Baibi was killed by Arabs while still a child hence the generalised Berber dislike of Arabs. There are 3 different traditions of the identity of the three other sons:

• Amazigh, ancestor of the Tamazight speakers of the Middle and Central High Atlas, Asusi, ancestor of the Shilha or the Susis and Arifi, ancestor of the Riffians,
• Midul, ancestor of the Zenata, Zulit, ancestor of the Masmuda and 'Atta, ancestor of the Sanhaja,
• Midul ancestor of the Ait Yafelman, Malu, ancestor of the tribes of the Middle Atlas and 'Atta, ancestor of the Ait Atta.

According to the third tradition, 'Atta had 6 sons: Hlim, 'Azza, Khalifa, Khabbash, Sful, and Mtir, ancestors of the Ait Wahlim, Ait Yazza, Ait Unibgi, Ait Khalifa, Ait Isful and Ait Ndir respectively. These are the clans of the Ait Atta.

Dadda Atta and his 40 sons

A tradition of the Ait Atta says that they descend from the eponymous Berber ancestor Dadda Atta who was from the Saghro region and had forty sons. He employed a shepherd from the neighbouring Ait Siddrat tribe. One day, while Atta oversaw the simultaneous marriage of all forty of his sons, this shepherd betrayed Atta leading to death of all forty his sons at the hands of his fellow tribesmen of the Ait Siddrat. Atta's sons managed to have already impregnate their wives before the attack and they miraculously survived the attack and conceive. Together they produced 39 sons and 1 daughter. Atta lived on until his grandsons grew up and was henceforth known as Dadda Atta meaning Grandfather Atta. With their built-up anger, they declared war on the Ait Siddrat pursuing them right up to the Tizi n-l-'Azz Pass in the Central High Atlas where Atta's mare raised her right foreleg. The Ait Atta took this as a sign that they must return to their homes in the Saghro. The Ait Siddrat did the same.

History

The Ait Atta originated as a political entity in the Jbel Saghro region in the 16th century with the founding of their traditional capital Igharm Amazdar. They subsequently expanded first northwards, becoming rivals of the Ait Yafelman, then southwards, taking control of oases in Tafilalt and the Draa River.

The expansion of the Ait Atta was often opposed not just by the Ait Yafelman but the Alaouite makhzen. Some authorities argued that the Ait Yafelman was formed to check Ait Atta power which caused the Ait Atta to be hostile to the Alaouites. Until their pacification by the French, the Ait Atta were an integral part of Bilad es-Siba. The first major clash between the Ait Atta and the forces of Moulay Ismail was in 1678 after several brothers and cousins of the sultan supported by the Ait Atta revolted against him. By the late 18th century, Ait Atta contingents were already in Tafilalt. Many more came throughout the 19th century when the continuous Ait Atta battles with the Ait Yafelman reached their peak.

By the 19th century the Ait Atta's raids went as far as Touat (in modern-day Algeria). They fiercely resisted the French entry into Morocco until 1933 and were the last of Morocco to fall under the forces of Assou Oubasslam where they fought the Battle of Bougafer [fr].

In 1936, Georges Spillmann estimated the Ait Atta at a population of 38,000 and in 1960, David Hart estimated the population to be about 125,000 to 135,000.

Socio-political organisation

The fifths were divided into a large number of groups who elected their own leaders called amghar n-tamazirt but there was no leader at the head of a fifth. The supreme chief of the Ait Atta called the amghar n-ufilla (the chief from above) was elected each year usually in spring. This system has been referred to as "annual rotation and complementarity" and it was the political system used by other Berber tribes in the Central High Atlas.

Each year candidates would be chosen from a specific fifth or lineage and only the members of the other four fifths would vote for a candidate from the chosen fifth. This system was also used for the lower levels. The election would take place in a place called Adman which is near their capital Igharm Amazdar. This election took place in the presence of a Sharif belonging to the Ouled Moulay Abdallah ben Hocein (Dadda Atta was said to be a disciple of Moulay Abdallah ben Hocein founder of the zawiya of Tameslouht) who was referred to as the agurram (meaning religious man or poor Sufi). The agurram would hand the elected chief a bowl of milk and when he began to drink, he would push the chief's face into it so that it spills all over his beard and clothes. After, the agurram would offer the chief some dates and all those present would be offered some milk and a date.

In ordinary circumstances, power traditionally rested mainly with local councils of family heads, the ajmuɛ, who decided cases according to customary law, izerf. In the oases they conquered, the Ait Atta originally dominated a stratified society, where the haratin who worked the land were often forbidden from owning it, and needed a protection agreement with an Ait Atta patron; this stratification has considerably receded since Moroccan independence with the establishment of legal equality.

Law

The Ait Atta Supreme Court of Appeal known as istinaf was located at the capital of the Ait Atta, Igharm Amazdar. The istnaf was made up of six men known as the ti'aqqidin or ait l-haqq (people of the truth) who were rechosen for every case. Two of the six were always chosen from Ait Yazza, two from Ait Zimru and two from Ait Hassu. They would settle any case that could not be solved locally and if they could not agree, they would bring six more arbiters with the same proportion of clans and another six if they still could not. If still an agreement was not made, then the amghar n-tmazirt (clans-chief) of the Ait Aisa n-Igharm Amazdar would come in to tip the scale in favour of one side over the other.

Admam near Igharm Amazdar is where the top Ait Atta chiefs were elected and Tiniurshan is where a local branch of the sharif Mulay Abdullah bin l-Hsain (the patron saint of the Ait Atta who granted them permission to codify their customary law) lived in. This is where they kept their old tribal battle flag and where they kept the two centuries old camel-skin documents Shrut n-khams khams n-Ait Atta ("Agreements of the Five Fifths").

Khams Khmas

The Ait Atta are made up of 5 khoms which together are called khams khmas (five fifths):

Khoms I:

• Aït Wahhlim:
  • Aït Hassu
    • Aït Bu Daud
    • Aït Ali u Hassu
    • Aït Attu
    • Uššn
    • Uzligen
    • Aït Izzu
  • Zemru:
    • Ignaouen
    • Ilemšan
    • Aït Aïssa u Brahim
    • Aït Bu Iknifen

Khoms II:

• Aït Wallal / Aït Ounir:
  • Aït Uzzine
  • Aït Reba
  • Aït Mullah (Masufa)
  • Aït Bu Beker
  • Aït Unar

Khoms III:

• Aït Isful:
  • Aït Ichou
  • Aït Hammi
  • Aït Brahim u Hammi
  • Aït Bab Ighef
• Alwan:
  • Aït Ghenima
  • Aït Unzar
  • Aït Bu Messaud
  • Aït Sidi

Khoms IV:

• Aït Urbgui:
  • Aït Khabbach
  • Aït Umnast
  • Beni Mhamed (Arab tribe under the Ait Atta)

Khoms V:

• Aït Aïssa Mzim:
  • Aït Yazza
  • Aït Khalifa
  • Aït el Fersi
  • Aït Kherdi

References

1. ^ Ilahiane, Hsain (2006). Historical Dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen). United Kingdom: Scarecrow Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780810864900.
2. Hart 1984, p. 4
3. ^ Hart, D.; Morin-Barde, M.; Trecolle, G. (1989-01-01). "'Atta (Ayt)". Encyclopédie berbère (in French) (7): 1026–1032. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1214. ISSN 1015-7344.
4. ^ Hart 1984, pp. 1, 14
5. ^ Hart 1984, pp. 7–9
6. Becker 2006, p. ix
7. Hart 1984, p. 1
8. ^ Hart 1984, pp. 40–42
9. Peyron, M.; Camps, G. (1999-09-01). "Hadiddou". Encyclopédie berbère (in French) (21): 3278–3283. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1848. ISSN 1015-7344.
10. Hart 1984, pp. 42–44
11. Hart 1984, pp. 58–61
12. Boum, Aomar (2013). Memories of Absence: How Muslims Remember Jews in Morocco. Stanford University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-8047-8851-9.
13. Hart 1984, pp. 129–144, 146–149
14. ^ Montgomery Hart, David (1966). "A customary law document from the Ait 'Atta of the Jbil Saghru". Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée. 1 (1): 91–112. doi:10.3406/remmm.1966.913.

Sources

• Hart, David (1984). The Ait 'Atta of Southern Morocco Daily Life & Recent History. United Kingdom: Middle East & North African Studies Press. ISBN 9780906599150.
• Becker, Cynthia J. (2006). Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity (PDF) (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. ix. ISBN 978-0-292-71295-9.

• Berber peoples and tribes
• Moroccan tribes
• Berbers in Morocco