Tajakant

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The Tajakant (also Tadjakant) is a Sahrawi-Moorish tribe of Arab-Berber origins. They speak Hassaniya Arabic. They traditionally lived in Western Sahara, Mauritania 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 warriors, 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 tribesmen, with whom the Tajakant had fought since 1820. Tindouf was destroyed, and most of the northern Tajakant wiped out; some populations remain in present-day Mauritania, where they members have gained importance as religious scholars.

Today's Tajakant are said to be sedentary, and engaged in small-scale trading and farming. Very few remain in Western Sahara, although some live in the Tindouf refugee camps of the Polisario Front.