Chaouia (Morocco)


The Chaouia is a plain and historical and ethno-geographical region of Morocco in the historical region of Tamesna. It is bounded by the Oum er-Rbi' River to its southwest, the Cherrate River to its northeast, the plain of Tadla to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest. The region covers a land area of nearly 14 000 km2. The term also refers to a tribal confederation that traditionally inhabits the region.

Etymology

The word "Chaouia" means "Land of Chaouis", transliterated in French. "Chaoui" is an Arabic word meaning "possessors of sheep" or "shepherds". Some groups of Chaouis claim that the term come from the Arabic term shwiya meaning "few" despite the region now having a comparatively high population density to other regions in Morocco. Others say it is derived from shewa meaning "grilled meat" or a distortion of Chehawna which was the name of a tribal alliance.

Geography

Geographically, the Chaouia can be divided into two sub-regions: low and high. The low Chaouia being the coastal part while the high Chaouia is further inland. Soils vary in fertility: The dark tirs is prized for its high yields and is found among the Mdhakra, Ouled Hriz and Oulad said. There is also the red hamri terra rossa.
Throughout Morocco's history, the Chaouia was famous for farming wheat and barley, which were exported in years of abundance from Casablanca, Fédala or Azemmour. Chaouia sheep was also prized for its wool, which was also exported to Marseille where it was known as wardigha in reference to one of the tribes in the interior.
Nowadays, the Chaouia is part of the Casablanca-Settat administrative region.

History

Originally, the Chaouia was ruled by the Barghawata until it was annexed by the Almoravids, depopulating the area. After the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min captured the town of Marrakesh in 1147, he encouraged the settlement of Bedouin Arab tribes in the area and the rest of the Moroccan coastal plains which were largely depopulated after the Almoravid conquest, including Banu Hilal, Banu Sulaym, and Banu Ma'qil, which led to a further extension of Arabic and an increased importance of Arab elements in the power equation of Morocco, to the point where no one could have ruled there without their co-operation.
Portuguese colonists called the region Enxovía. An undated letter sent from Sheikh Yahya ben Bulisbé of the Shawiya to the King of Portugal indicates that the Sheikh cooperated with the Portuguese and that the sultans of Fes held tenuous authority in the region.
The Saadi Sultan Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi occupied the region during the Battle of Alcácer Quibir and leveraged the mujahideen against his nephew Abu Abdallah Mohammed who had sought the support of the Portuguese.
From 1907 to 1908, the Chaouia tribes carried out a strong rebellion against the French known as the. In 1907, the French bombarded Casablanca and entered the Chaouia region before extending their control over all of Morocco. The Chaouia campaign was the first time since the Battle of Isly that the French and Moroccans engaged with each other in the battlefield. The French landing in Chaouia led the Chaouia tribes to hold several assemblies leading to them sending a letter to Abd al-Hafid of Morocco to take action and restore Islam from the state that it had fallen. This sparked the beginning of the Hafidiya. When Abd al-Hafid received the letter and notables met up at the Dar al-Makhzen, several speakers spoke about the situation in Chaouia causing Abd al-Hafid's mother, who was from the Chaouia, to burst into tears.
During the French protectorate, the Chaouia was part of the "Autonomous subdivision of Casablanca". It was then divided into three civilians controls : Chaouia-North, Chaouia-Center and Chaouia-South.

Tribal composition

The Chaouia tribal confederation come from a variety of Arab and Berber origins, although today they are linguistically Arabized. The Chaouia, alongside other regions in the Atlantic plains like Doukkala and Chiadma, are inhabited by a group known as ʕrubis. The ʕrubis are ethnically Bedouin and are believed to descend from Bedouin tribes that migrated into North Africa in the 11th–13th century. "ʕrubi" has in recent times also adopted a more general meaning of rural alongside its ethnic meaning due to Bedouins traditionally inhabiting the countryside and thus coming to symbolise everything that has a rural character. A French survey of Moroccan tribes published in 1915 reported that all of these tribes claimed a pure Arab origin. In a modern study done on a group of families of the Mzab who migrated to Umbria, anthropologist Alessandra Persichetti found that the majority affirmed their Arab identity even though some had a Berber parent. The Chaouia tribal confederation traditionally consists of 14 Arabic-speaking tribes. Their origins according to colonial-era French orientalist is as follows:
TribeOriginNotes
AchachArab
Beni MeskinArabPreviously part of the Tadla confederacy, joined the Chaouia in the 19th century.
MdakraArab and Berber Merged with a Barghawata original group.
MediounaBerber
MzabBerber
MzamzaMainly Berber origin, with some later Arab elements
Oulad AliArab
Oulad BouziriBerber
Oulad HrizMainly Arab with Berber origins, due to subtribes
Oulad SaïdArab Settled in the region during the Marinid era
Oulad Sidi BendaoudMainly Berber
Oulad ZyanArab
ZenataBerber
ZyaydaBerber