Kutama

The Kutama (Berber: Iktamen) were a major Berber Tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber Confederation of the Bavares. the Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form Koidamousii by the Greek geographer Ptolemy.^[1]

The Kutama played a pivotal role during the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), forming the Fatimid army which eventually overthrew the Aghlabids who controlled Ifriqiya, and which then went on to conquer Egypt and the southern Levant in 969–975. The Kutama remained one of the mainstays of the Fatimid army until well into the 11th century.

Origins

The Kutama are part of the Branes branch of Berbers. The Kutama are related to the Zouaoua, and are located in the larger Kabylia region. They are neighbouring the Zenati of the Ulhassa in the eastern part towards Annaba and the Aures.

In his book, published in 1867, Ernest Mercier mentions the presence of Oulhaça in the vicinity of Annaba in Algeria today.

The Kutamas were a group of Eastern Algeria in the 13th century located at the border terminals Wilayas of Bejaia and Constantine and the borders of the Aures which corresponds to la Petite Kabylie and a part of eastern Algeria Kabylie orientale (far Eastern Kabylia) in the 20th century.

The Zedjala are part of Ulhassa in the Medjana, a plain bordered by the Aures. They are installed near the Aures Mountains Eiad.

Today, representatives of the Ulhaasa live in the neighborhood of Wad Tafna west of modern Algeria in the Wilaya of Ain Temouchent near Tlemcen.

An anecdote explaining the origins of the term "Kutama" is recounted by the Tenth-Century Ismaili jurist, al-Qadi al-Nu'man in his work entitled Iftitāḥ al-da‘wa, in which a preacher by the name of Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Shi’i encountered a group of Shi’i Kutama on the pilgrimage at Mecca in 893 CE. Upon meeting him, this particular group of Kutama Pilgrims became convinced of the Ismaili faith and brought Abu ‘Abd Allah along with them back to their country of origin. Along the way, Abu ‘Abd Allah asked the pilgrims about a region called the Valley of the Pious (fajj al-akhyār). The Kutama were astounded that he knew of this place and asked how he came to hear of it. Citing a prophetic tradition (hadīth) of Muhammad, Abu ‘Abd Allah replied that in fact this place was named after the very Kutama themselves: "The Mahdi shall emigrate far from his home at a time full of trials and tribulations. The pious (al-akhyār) of that age shall support him, a people whose name is derived from kitmān (secrecy)."^[2] He explained that it was to the Kutama that the tradition referred and on account of them that the region was named the Valley of the Pious.

History

It was in the beginning of the Muslim era and in the Middle Ages that their influence was the greatest.

The Maghreb is the historic home of the great Berber tribe Kutama, who played a considerable role in the Middle Ages, mainly because it was behind the creation of the Fatimid empire in the tenth century. The Fatimid state was one of the largest empires of Islamic history that extended from today's Morocco to Saudi Arabia.

Unlike other Muslim authorities, the Fatimids based their administration not on tribal, ethnic or even religious criteria, but primarily on merit and competence. The Kutama and other Berbers were attracted by this.

In the early tenth century the Kutama formed a coalition with the Shi'a Fatimids against the Sunni Aghlabids who ruled Ifriqiya and supported the Abbasids. The Kutama became fierce protectors of the new Fatimid state and constituted the mainstay of its army.

Abu Abd Allah ash-Shi'i, Shiite missionary met the Kutama and paved the way for his master Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, a Shi'ite Ismaili from Syria and founder of the Fatimid Caliphate to be presented as the Mahdi. Abu Abd Allah ash-Shi'i's dream was to topple the Sunni power in Abbasid Baghdad in favour of a Shi'ite dynasty.

In the 903 the Kutama, by then converted to Shiism and also to the ideology of al-Mahdi, began the uprising. On March 19, 909, they destroyed the Aghlabid dynasty installed by the Abbasids in Ifriqiya near Laribus. Six days later, they entered the Aghlabid capital, Raqqada. Later the Fatimid capital was moved to Mahdiyya.

The Fatimids, with their Kutama army under Jawhar al-Siqilli (the Sicilian) conquered Egypt in 969. A new Fatimid capital named al-Qahira (Cairo), meaning "the Victorious" was founded.

The Kutamas installed a military camp near Cairo, forming a formidable military power in the service of the Fatimid Caliph. They led later expeditions to Damascus against the Abbasids. The district Kotama "El-Hai Kotamiyine" in Cairo and the Maghreb area of "Al-Harat Maghariba" in Damascus, still testify to the influence of this tribe whose members were, during different periods, repressed by the Abbasids and their allies. Saladin in 1171 overthrew the Fatimids in 1171 and returned Egypt to Sunni Abbasid allegiance. The Siwis, Berbers of Egypt, are Kutama.

After conquering Egypt, the Fatimids left the Maghreb under the general Kutama Bologhin ibn Ziri, who was the governor of Ifriqiya. He became the founder of the Zirid dynasty.

21st century

But according to al-Idrissi (12th century) there were only 4,000 individuals throughout the Ifriqiya

The Kotamas were located in the provinces of Béjaïa, Jijel, Sétif, and West Mila . Kotama culture is still present to some wide extent; for instance, the "fish couscous", seksou bel'hout, popular in this region and in northern Tunisia is of Kotama origin.

From a cultural standpoint, the inhabitants of this region keep track of their identity as Kutama, but most tribes have been assimilated to the Kabyles (Bejaia), Arabs (Annaba) and the Kabyles el hadra (Jijel, Mila), Keita and Skikda, Setif. There are also descendants of Kutama Siwis in Egypt. The challenge to resist the influence of the dominant tribes, such as the Sanhadja or the Bani Hilal, and the dynasties who succeeded the Fatimids, such as the Ayyubids, the Hammadids, the Almoravids, and the Almohads was difficult. The fact that there is a Kotama identity today is evidence of their persistence in the face of these challenges. The language of the Kotama has largely been Arabized (as in Jijel) or diluted with other Berber dialects (as is true in Bejaia).

See also

Banu 'Ammar

Notes