Tajakant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tajakant (also Tadjakant) is a Sahrawi tribe of Arab-Berber origins. They speak Hassaniya Arabic. They traditionally lived in Western Sahara and Algeria. They are Muslims, belonging to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam. Some sources claim they are descendants of the Almoravid dynasty, that ruled Morocco in the 11th century.
The Tajakant were known as traders and fighters, and held a strong position in the trans-Saharan trade. In 1852, Tajakant tribesmen founded a settlement and trading post in the oasis of Tindouf, in what is now Algeria. In 1895 the settlement was attacked by a raiding party of Reguibat, with whom the Tajakant had fought since 1820. Tindouf was destroyed, and most of the Tajakant wiped out.
Today's Tajakant are said to be sedentary, and engaged in small-scale trading and farming. They mainly live in Western Sahara and in the Tindouf refugee camps of the Polisario Front.
