Draa River

Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.

The Draa (Arabic: درعَا‎) (also spelled Dra or Draâ, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest river (1100 km). It is formed by the confluence of the Dadès River and Imini River. It flows from the High Atlas mountains south-(east)ward to Tagounit and from Tagounit mostly westwards to the Atlantic Ocean somewhat north of Tan-Tan. Most of the year the part of the Draa after Tagounit falls dry.

The water from the Draa is used to irrigate palm groves and small horticulture along the river. The inhabitants of the Draa are called Drawa (an exonym), the most famous Drawi (singular of Drawa) undoubtedly being mawlay Mohammed ash-Sheikh. Outside of the Draa region this name is mostly used to refer to the dark skinned people of Draa which make up the largest portion of its inhabitants.

In the first half of the twentieth century the Draa lowest course marked the boundary between the French protectorate of Morocco and the South Zone of the Spanish one. Presently part of its upper course marks a part of the international boundary between Algeria and Morocco.

225,000 people live in the valley of the Draa, which measures 23,000 km². The valley corresponds with the province of Zagora, created in 1997, in the Souss-Massa-Draâ region. In the province there are 23 villages and two towns: Zagora and Agdz. The village of Tamegroute, near Zagora, is well known for its Zawiya.

Contents

History

Prehistory

The pre-history of the valley of the Draa goes back thousands of years, as is evidenced by the many rock art engravings or petroglyphs in its surroundings and most of all by the find of the Venus of Tan-Tan. This statue is possibly the oldest human figurine ever found. It dates back more than three hundred thousand years. From all main periods of the prehistory of the Sahara rock-engravings and rock-paintings have been found. Foum Chenna (Tinzouline), Aït Ouaazik ( Asguine Tarna, Tazzarine) Tiouririne e Tisguinine (Zagora) are amongst the best known sites in the Draa region. At lghir N'tidri between Tagunit and Mhamid al-Ghizlane there is the necropolis of Foum Larjam. The necropolis is the largest of North Africa and consists of several kilometers of tumuli and dates back to prehistoric times. It is one of the few sites where not just rock-drawings but also rock-paintings were found. An extensive investigation into the precise date and origin of its (sedentary) inhabitants has yet to be made.

See also: Saharan rock art, Rock art of Figuig, Rock art of south Oran (Algeria), Tadrart Acacus, Rock art, Petroglyph, Neolithic

Before 1054

The first reference to the Draa River in historical times comes from Hanno a king of Carthage (living around 550 B.C.) who set out for a mission to establish a colony on the west coast of Africa. The Punic text of the record of this journey (known as the Periplus) was engraved in the Temple of Chronos (Baal Hammon) at Carthage. There is only one Greek version, dating perhaps to the 3rd century B.C. These are the opening words of the Periplus:

“The Voyage of Hanno, King of the Carthaginians, to the Libyan regions of the earth, beyond the Pillars of Heracles...”

Having visited the Carthaginian colonies of the Atlas in Morocco, Hanno proceeded southward:

"Leaving this place we arrived at the great river Lixos which comes from Libya. On the banks nomads, the Lixites, were feeding their flocks. We stayed for some time with these people and made friends with them. Upstream from them lived the unfriendly Ethiopians whose land is full of wild beasts and broken up by high mountains where they say the Lixos flows from. They also say that about these mountains dwell the strange-looking Troglodytes. The Lixites claim that they can run faster than horses. Taking Lixite interpreters with us we sailed alongside the desert in a southerly direction for two days, then towards the rising sun for one more day. We then found at the far end of an inlet a little island five stades in circumference. We named it Cerne (Some scholars identify Kerne with the Island of Herne (23°50’N) on the coast of the Sahara) and left settlers there. judging by our journey we reckoned that it must be opposite Carthage, since we had to sail the same distance from Carthage to the Pillars of Hercules as from the Pillars of Hercules to Cerne."

It is generally agreed, the Lixos can be identified as the Draa (28°45’N). The Draa is the largest river in the area, and marks the southernmost limit of cultivable land. This well corresponds to Hanno’s account. Certainly the area of Herne was known to the Carthaginians because they would hardly have sent a colony to an unknown place.[1]

The Draa River was also well known to the ancient Romans. It figures on the first world map in history made by Ptolemy (90-168 AD).

When in 680 Uqba ibn Nafi the governor of Ifriqiya came to Morocco with his Arab army, and fought the Masmuda a tribe of the Atlas mountains, they consequently fled to the Draa river valley; Ukba pursued them and inflicted a crushing defeat on them there. Ukba continued his conquest to the Atlantic ocean, but on his return march to Kayrawan he was defeated and killed. Thereafter part of the Draa river valley was inhabited by the (Sanhadja) tribe of the Masufa. Their city in this region was called Tiyumetin (modern day Tagounit). From this time until today also the presence of Jewish groups in the Draa valley is attested. Beni Sbih and Beni Hayoune are the villages that remain of that past.[2]

Almoravids

Four centuries later in 1053/54 the Almoravids began their advance on central Morocco. Their very first campaign was on the valley of the Draa river. The power in the valley had been, like in the city of Sijilmasa, for some 50 years in the hands of the Marghwata (a branch of the Zenata). Here and elsewhere in Morocco this domination was resented. After the Almoravids had conquered the Draa and Sijilmasa they went on to conquer Adaghwast at the southern end of the trans-Sahara route. Yusuf ibn Tashfin took command of North Morocco, while Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar was leader in the Sahara, Tafilalt and the Draa. Today the remains of an Almoravid fortress can still be seen on the top of the Zagora hill.[3] There are still groups in the Draa valley that claim descendancy from the Almoravids: the groups of Mrabtine linked to the Arib and the Msouffa, part of the confederation of the Ait Atta. This integration in the empire of the Almoravids was also was the first integration of the Draa valley into the whole of Morocco.

Many times, however, the Draa valley was the cradle of revolution and dissent. In 1255 the Bani Hassan (the Maqil Arabs) invaded the valley. The Maqil were quickly used by the ruling Berber dynasties. In the country-side however they were deeply disruptive, bringing ruin to many sedentary farmers. The domination of the Maqil in the south lasted to the middle of the 14th century, when a large part of them moved further north and many Berber inhabitants came back. Others like the Roha, Oulad Yahia and Ouled Malek (still a part of the population), which arrived later in the Draa valley, stayed there and continued the fight for the rule of the region. In the 15th century some struggle between Arabs and Berber continued.

Saadi

At this time the region was the home of many important religious figures and zaouias. The Draa became part of the marabout mouvement against the Portuguese who had captured many towns at the Atlantic coast. The Draa made an important come back in the history of Morocco with the rise of the dynasty of the Saadi or Bani Zaydan as their original name was. Its cradle was in the Draa valley in Tagmadert, the current district of Fezouata between Zagora and Tamegroute [4]. Although there is still a village called Timidert today, some historians think Tagmadert was situated at today's Amezrou, a village next to Zagora. Thanks to the Saadi Dynasty the Draa played an important role in the history of Morocco and the Sahara during the 16th century. In the middle of that century the Saadi Dynasty was at the height of its power. In that time the need for gold was increasing and the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur decided to undertake the conquest of the Soudan in 1590. According to some sources this conquest had its cause in the events of 1545 when under the reign of Mohammed ash-Sheikh the palm orchards of the Ktawa in the Draa were captured by the Tuareg Oulmiden who were sent by Ishaq I, king of the Sudan. The campaign for the conquest of the Sudan started in the Ktawa, in the Draa valley. Its was in 1591 that the troops gathered and took in food for the passage across the desert. After the military operations the trans-Sahara trade with the Sudan seems to have intensified. In the palm gardens of M'hamid between ksar Bounou and ksar Talha the ruins of qsar El Alouj are still to be found. This was the old "customs office" where the gold pouder arrived from the Sudan. Here the gold coins were struck to be send to Marrakesh.[5] With the decline of the Saadi Dynasty, especially after the death of Ahmad al-Mansur in 1603 the Draa falls back into anarchy.

Alouites

During the 17th century the Alaouite Dynasty succeeds in establishing its authority in the valley. They conquer the Draa in 1642 where they, like their predecessors, construct numerous ksour. They rule by military force and it is no longer from Tagmadert that they reign the country, but from d’Aghlan, some 20 km North of Zagora. Amezrou, however becomes the seat of the governor. Later in the 17th century Mawlay Ismail Ibn Sharif sends his son to stay in Beni Zouli and also in the zaouia Nasiriyya of Tamgroute in 1675/76.[6] A military expedition sent by Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif to suppress a rebellion in Mhamid Ghuzlan was led by an Englishman called Thomas Pellow who spent 23 years in Morocco. Pellow wrote a book with an account of his experiences.[7].

In the two next centuries the Draa remains the object of fights between warring (nomadic) tribes. Unfortunately sources have paid too little attention to the sedentary population to give a complete picture of its history and evolution. The officers of the colonising French were almost exclusively interested in the neighbouring resisting warrior tribe ot the Ait Atta and neglected the Ktawa of the Draa. It is probable, however, that during these last centuries the nomad tribes in the Draa valley have integrated with the sedentary. Blood ties (real or imaginary) in which the determining factor whether one belonged to this or that tribe or sub-tribe make place for the determining factor of the qsour where one lives. Alliances are made between particular qsour and nomad groups which offer protection. At the end of the 18th century the power in the Ktawa is divided between tree chiefs of three groups: the caid Mohamed in the qsour Beni Hayoun, cheik El Maati in the Beni Sbih and cheik Aamaou in the upper part of the valley. Around 1800 the security of these qsour was threatened by Arab nomads like the Ghenama and the Beni Mohammed and the protection of the Ait Atta was invoked. The price the sedentary groups paid for the protection was a part of their land. This method was custom at many places throughout the valley. Certain qsour however remained independent under the protection of their local chiefs or zawiyas (e.g. qsour Mezguita). Much of the history of the Draa valley is characterised by the warfare between different tribes and most of all by the crimes these tribes committed against the local Drawa population.

20th century

With the coming of the Glaoua at the beginning of the 20th century the domination of many of the ksour by the nomads (like Ait Atta) is brought to an end. Later in the 1930s the French colonisation slowly, but completely ends the nomad influence and social structures are radically changed. The jemaa is moved to Tagounit, the new administrative centre, and after a few years the region enjoys a new kind of autonomy.

Kasbahs

The valley of the Draa is especially famous for its kasbahs. The most famous kasbahs in the region are (north to south):

Agriculture

The Draa valley is famous as the date basket of Morocco. It grows more than 18 varieties. Fruit trees and vegetables are the main crops but henna is also a well known product of the region. The agriculture is very labour intensive because it takes place on terraced fields. Seguias (small canals) transport the water from the river to the fields. Like some other ancient Berber oases in North Africa (Siwa, Kufra, Ouargla) the Draa valley was known for its qatarra, a sophisticated system of underground irrigation canals.

Language

The people of the Draa speak, besides Arabic, their own variant of the Berber dialect Tashelhiyt. Tashelhiyt is sub-divided into Tachelhiyt of the Draa valley, Tasusit (the language of the Souss) and several other (mountain)-dialects. Tashelhiyt of the Draa is also spoken in Tabelbala (Algeria). In the Imini region Judeo-Berber was spoken in the first half of the 20th century.

Oases

The Upper Draa River valley (ca 200 km long) consists of six stretches of oases/palm groves from north to south:

The width of the 'green zone' is on average three kilometers (varying from 100m to 10 kilometers). Because of the terrain the agriculture is very labour intensive. Dates are the main product, but also cereals, vegetables and henna are cultivated.

Ksurs

Ksour in the Mezguita

  • Ait Abdalah
  • Ait Hammou Ou Said*
  • Ait Lahcen
  • Ait Ouahi
  • El Hart
  • Irherrhar
  • Tamkasselt
  • Tiguit
  • Zaouit Boulhassane
  • Asselim
  • Rbat
  • Tarmast
  • Zaouit n Griourirane
  • Aboussas
  • Ait Ali
  • Ait El Caid El Mir
  • Aouriz
  • Asselim Izdar
  • El Hara
  • Ikherazen
  • Irhrem Azougarth
  • Tafergalt
  • Takatert
  • Talat
  • Talemzit
  • Tamnougalt*
  • Taourirt Caid Ali
  • Zaouit n Sidi Bou Mediane
  • Zaouit n Souk
  • Ait El Kharj Jdid
  • Ait El Kharj Lkdim
  • Aramd
  • El Borj
  • Igamoudene
  • Roudat
  • Tassoukt

Ksour in Tinzouline

  • Akhellouf
  • Ez Zourgane
  • Bounana
  • Ed Dwairat
  • Oulad El Megddam
  • Oulad Moussa
  • Timasla
  • Zaouit Timaslas
  • Ighrem Tansikht
  • Zaouit Ikhf n Ouzrou

Ksour in Ternata

  • Beni Khlil*
  • Mansouria
  • Tiguit Nait Boulman
  • Tissergat*
  • Amezrou

Ksour in the Fezouata

  • Agni
  • Agrour
  • Ait Aissa ou Brahim
  • Ait Beloualid
  • Ait Bou Lkhlad
  • Arhla ou Drar
  • Asrir Nignaoune
  • Kasbah Il Mechane
  • Izkhnnioun

In the Ktaoua/Ktwawa (the southern stretch of the valley between the Azagha and the Bounou dam near Tagounite) there are 55 villages, mostly consisting of ksour (plural of ksar). These villages are:

  • Centre Tagounite
  • Bani Sbih
  • Zaouia Sidi Salah
  • Nesrate
  • Kser Tiraf
  • Ait Gazzou
  • Bani Hayoune
  • Ouled Amer
  • Knazta
  • Tabourite
  • Bani Mhamed
  • Khassouane
  • Adouafil
  • Zaouia Jdid Zrahna
  • Ait Rbaa
  • Gourguir
  • Kasbat Aamamou
  • Bani Semguine
  • Ksar Hammad Tahr
  • Ouled Youssef Drawa
  • Loughlade
  • Ouled Ali
  • Regba
  • Bani Hnit
  • Zaouia Moulay Chrif Tahtania
  • Blida centre
  • Ksebt Ramla
  • Takchourte
  • Ksar Bani Mhammed
  • Ksar Lakbir
  • Ksar Jdid Zrahna
  • Ksar Jdid Ignaoun
  • Bani Skouken
  • Zte. Sidi Yahya
  • Ait Ali Ignaoun
  • Zaouia Moulay Chrif Foukania
  • Zaouia Koudia
  • Taarchate
  • Ait Boutbratine
  • Zaouia Lansar
  • Zaouia Dakhlania Zhahna
  • Ait Zemrou
  • Ksebat Nani
  • Ksar Aarib
  • Ouled Youssef Ait Isfoul
  • Zaouia Sidi Madani
  • Zaouia Dakhlania
  • Ait Talaarifte
  • Ait Aissa Obrahim
  • Najia
  • Ksar Ait Rardi
  • Ait Boumhamed
  • Ikddarne
  • Tahramet
  • Bnou Khettal

Source : Recensement général du Maroc, 1994

Notes

  1. ^ The topography of Hanno's journey has recently been discussed by W.F.G. Lacroix in the fourth appendix of his "Africa in Antiquity. A linguistic and toponymic analysis of Ptolemy's map of Africa" (1998 Saarbrücken)
  2. ^ A legendary history of the Jews in the Draa valley in the early middle ages can be found in: The Chott el-Maghzen, contributions to oral history collected by rabbi Jacob Moïse Toledano of Tibériade in 1910 and in the Manuscrit of Tiilite (Dadès), in the possession of the rabbi of Tiite Abraham Cohen in 1900. For a summary of that legendary history see D. Jacques Meunié « Le Maroc Saharien des origines au XVIe siècle » Librairie Klincksieck, 1982, pp 175-187. [1] see also: Les tribus oubliées d'Israel - L'Afrique Judeo-Berbere, des origines aux Almohades by Didier Nebot
  3. ^ Allain (Ch) & Meunie (J.), La fortress almoravide de Zagora, Hespéris, 1956, vol. xliii, fasc. 2, pp. 305-325.
  4. ^ Saadian funerary stele (A.D.1580) (cf. the steles of the Saadian tombs in Marrakesh) with Arabic inscription: 'This is the tomb of (..) Fatima (..) the wife of Caid Abdallah of Tamdart'. Tamdart refers to Tagmadert of the Draa valley. Also inscribed on the stele are the Quaranic verses 26 and 27 of Sura 55.[2]
  5. ^ Example of a golden Saadian Dinar. This coin, struck by Moulay Zidan (AD 1603–27), is made at the time of the reign of the son of Ahmad al-Mansur. (Numismatic Museum of the al-Maghrib Bank, Rabat, Morocco): [3]
  6. ^ Four of the sons of Ismail Ibn Sharif have been khalifa of the Draa:
    • Mulay Muhammad as-Sharif bin Ismail as-Samin (s/o full-brother of Muhammad al-Alam). Khalifa of the Draa 1703.
    • Mulay 'Abdu'l-Malik bin Ismail as-Samin. b. ca. 1677. Khalifa of the Draa. He was k. for plotting against his father, 1696.
    • Mulay Nasir bin Ismail as-Samin. Khalifa of Draa 1702-1703, and of Tafilalt. Rebelled in 1711-1712. He was k. 1714.
    • H.M. Sultan 'Abu Marwan Mulay 'Abdu'l Malik, Sultan of Morocco, etc. b. at Meknes, after 1696, son of H.M. Sultan 'Abul Nasir Mulay Ismail as-Samin bin Sharif, Sultan of Morocco, educ. privately. Khalifa of the Draa 1701-1703, and of Sus 1717-1718. Proclaimed Sultan on the deposition of his elder half-brother 13th March 1728. Deposed at Meknes 18th July 1728. Fled to Fez and arrested there 23rd December 1728. He was k. (executed) at Meknes, 2nd March 1729 (bur. there at the Mulay Ismail Mausoleum).
  7. ^ The narrative of his experiences appeared in 1739. There are strong reasons, both external and internal, for believing that the kernel of Pellew's narrative is founded upon fact, but it was evidently edited with a great deal of latitude and with some literary skill. In addition to the incorporation of Stewart's 'Embassy,' the book is padded out by long extracts from Windus's 'Journey to Mequinez’. It is probable that other volumes on Morocco were pirated in the same way, especially for the somewhat hackneyed details given of the 'miseries of the Christian slaves’. Perhaps the most genuine and also the most graphic portion is the account of Pellew's flight, which affords a vivid picture of the state of the country under Mawlay Abdallah. (For further information see bibliography)

Bibliography

External links

Inventaire Systématique par Photos Aériennes du Patrimoine Architectural de la Vallée du Draa au Maroc, projet commun entre: CERKAS, Ministère de la Culture, Maroc. Bureau d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme H. Hostettler, Berne. Institut de Photogrammétrie de l’EPF-Lausanne [4]