Kabylia

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Kabylia or Kabylie<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (Template:IPAc-en; in Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>; Template:Langx), meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of the Tell Atlas mountain range and is located at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

Kabylia covers two provinces of Algeria: Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia. Gouraya National Park and Djurdjura National Park are also located in Kabylia.

NameEdit

During the French colonization of Algeria, the French invented the term 'Kabylia', a term never used by the Arab and Berber populations of Algeria prior to the French invasion. The word 'Kabyle' is a distortion of the Arabic word qaba'il (قبائل) which has two meanings, the first one is tribes that live among sedentary populations and the second is 'to accept', which Arabs after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb used for local populations that accepted Islam.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

HistoryEdit

File:Kabylie topographic map-fr.svg

Topographic map of Kabylia.

AntiquityEdit

Template:FurtherKabylia was a part of the Kingdom of Numidia (202 BC – 46 BC).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Middle AgesEdit

The history of Kabylie started to appear in the classical books during the fourth century AD with the revolt of the commander Firmus and his brother Guildon against the empire.

The Vandals, a Germanic people, established a kingdom in North Africa in 435. Their rule lasted for 99 years until they were conquered by the Byzantine Empire in 534.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The surviving Vandals then assimilated into the native Berber population.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Page needed</ref> During the rule of the Romans, Vandals and Byzantines, the Kabyle people were some of the few Imazighen in North Africa who remained independent.<ref>The Middle East and North Africa: Pg 156</ref><ref>Sketches of Algeria During the Kabyle War By Hugh Mulleneux: Pg 118</ref><ref>The Kabyle People By Glora M. Wysner</ref><ref>The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 1: Pg 568</ref> Template:Better source needed During the Arab conquest of North Africa, the Kabyles were able to temporarily control and possess their mountains,<ref>The art journal London, Volume 4: Pg 45</ref><ref>The Barbary Coast By Henry Martyn Field: Pg 93</ref> It was not until 1857 that Kabylia as a whole was fully and entirely conquered and subdued by France.<ref>Scottish Geographical Magazine, Volume 10; Volume 1894</ref><ref>The Twentieth Century, Volume 71</ref><ref> Walks in Algiers and Its Surrounding</ref><ref>The United Service Magazine</ref><ref>The art journal London, Volume 4</ref>Template:Excessive citations inline

File:Fatimid Caliphate.jpg

Origin and conquests of the Fatimids

Between 902 and 909 AD, after being converted to Isma'ilism and won over by Abu Abdallah's dawah,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the Kutama Berbers from Little Kabylie helped contribute to the founding of the Fatimid Caliphate, whose support in the conquest of Ifriqiya<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> resulted in the creation of the Caliphate,<ref>The Shi'i World: Pathways in Tradition and Modernity</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="books.google.co.uk">International Journal of Economic and Social History, Volume 8</ref><ref name="Chroniques des années algériennes">Chroniques des années algériennes</ref> although the ruling Fatimid dynasty was Arab. After the conquest of Ifriqiya, the Fatimids conquered the realm of the Rustamids on the way to Sijilmasa which they also briefly conquered. There the imprisoned Abdullāh al-Mahdī Billah was freed, accepted as the Imam of the movement, and installed as the first Caliph and founder of the ruling dynasty.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Orientalia, Volumes 54-55</ref> The historian Heinz Halm describes the early Fatimid state as being "a hegemony of the Kutama and Sanhaja Berbers over the eastern and central Maghrib" and Loimeier states that rebellions against the Fatimids were also expressed through protest and opposition to Kutama rule.<ref>Halm, Heinz (2014). "Fāṭimids". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill Online. {{#if:1873-9830|Template:Catalog lookup link{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|Template:Error-small}}.</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Muslim Societies in Africa: A Historical Anthropology - Roman Loimeier Indiana University Press,</ref> The weakening of the Abbasids allowed Fatimid-Kutama power to quickly expand and in 959 Ziri ibn Manad, Jawhar the Sicilian and a Kutama army conquered Fez and Sijilmassa in Morocco.<ref name="Halm1996">Template:Cite book</ref> <ref name="ReferenceA"/> During the reign of al-Aziz Billah, the role of the Kutama in the Fatimid army was greatly weakened as he significantly reduced their size in the army and included new socio-military groups.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 969 under the command of Jawhar, the Fatimid troops conquered Egypt from the Ikhsidids, the general Ja'far ibn Fallah was instrumental in this success: he led the troops that crossed the river Nile and according to al-Maqrizi, captured the boats used to do this from a fleet sent by Ikhshidid loyalists from Lower Egypt.<ref>Lev, Yaacov (1979). "The Fāṭimid Conquest of Egypt — Military Political and Social Aspects". Israel Oriental Studies. 9: 315–328. {{#if:0334-4401|Template:Catalog lookup link{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-small Template:Main other}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|Template:Error-small}}.</ref> The general Ja’far then invaded Palestine and conquered Ramla, the capital, he then conquered Damascus and made himself the master of the city and then he moved north and conquered Tripoli.<ref>First Crusader: Byzantium's Holy Wars</ref><ref> The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies, Volume 24

A Berber family emerged as formidable leaders in the unique Berber form of elected delegates form of government (through financial contribution and thus influence), the Zirids. Beyond their immediate Zirid territory (aarch/Congregation), another aarch and family Hammadid and its associates emerged in Kabylia with influence covering most of today's Algeria, whereas the Zirid's territory extended eastward to cover the area of modern Tunisia. Both the Hammadid and Zirid empires as well as the Fatimids established their rule in the Maghreb countries. The Zirids ruled land in what is now Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Spain, Malta and Italy. The Hammadids captured and held important regions such as Ouargla, Constantine, Sfax, Susa, Algiers, Tripoli and Fez establishing their rule in every country in the Maghreb region.<ref>Saladin, the Almohads and the Banū Ghāniya: The Contest for North Africa: Pg 42</ref><ref>Islam: Art and Architecture: Pg 614</ref><ref>Historical Dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen): Pg 55 & 56</ref> The Fatimids conquered all of North Africa as well as Sicily and parts of the Middle East.

French colonisation and resistanceEdit

File:Premiere messe en kabylie horace vernet.jpg

First mass in Kabylia during the French conquest of Algeria, 1837

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also Though the region was the last stronghold against French colonization,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the area was gradually taken over by the French after 1830, despite vigorous local resistance by the local population led by leaders such as Faḍma n Sumer and Cheikh Mokrani, until the Battle of Icheriden in 1857 marked a decisive French victory, with sporadic outbursts of violence continuing as late as Mokrani's rebellion in 1871. Much land was confiscated in this period from the more recalcitrant tribes and given to French pieds-noirs. Many arrests and deportations were carried out by the French in response to uprisings, mainly to New Caledonia (hence the origins of the Algerians of the Pacific.) Colonization also resulted in an acceleration of the emigration into other areas of the country and outside of it.

Algerian migrant workers in France organized the first party promoting independence in the 1920s. Messali Hadj, Imache Amar, Si Djilani, and Belkacem Radjef rapidly built a strong following throughout France and Algeria in the 1930s and actively trained militants who became key players during the struggle for independence and in building an independent Algerian state.

French colonists invented the Kabyle myth in the 19th century which asserted that the Kabyle people were more predisposed than Arabs to assimilate into "French civilization." Lacoste explained that "turning the Arabs into invaders was one way of legitimizing the French presence".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Prior to the creation of the term in the 1840s, Kabyles throughout the centuries were actively and fully assimilated into the Arab culture of Algeria.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the Algerian WarEdit

During the War of Independence (1954–1962), the FLN and ALN's reorganisation of the country created, for the first time, a unified Kabyle administrative territory, wilaya III, being as it was at the centre of the anti-colonial struggle.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As such, along with the Aurès, it was one of the most affected areas because of the importance of the maquis (aided by the mountainous terrain) and the high levels of support and collaboration of its inhabitants for the nationalist cause. Several historic leaders of the FLN came from this region, including Hocine Aït Ahmed, Abane Ramdane, and Krim Belkacem. It was also in Kabylia that the Soummam conference took place in 1956, the first of the FLN. The flipside of being such a critical region for the independence movement was being one of the major target of French counter-insurgency operations, not least the devastation of agricultural lands, looting, destruction of villages, population displacement, the creation of forbidden zones, etc.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

After independenceEdit

Template:Further From the moment of independence, tensions had already developed between Kabyle leaders and the central government, with the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) party of Hocine Aït Ahmed, strong in wilayas III and IV (Kabylie and Algiers), opposing the FLN's Political Bureau centred around the person of Ahmed Ben Bella, who in turn relied upon the forces of the border army group within the ALN commanded by Houari Boumediene. The Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (based in Tizi Ouzou) was defeated by the Oujda Group led by Ahmed Ben Bella in the 1962 Algerian crisis. As early as 1963 the FFS called into question the authority of the single-party system, which resulted in two years of armed confrontation in the region. The rebellion was defeated, leaving more than four hundred dead, and most of the FLN leaders from Kabylia and the eastern provinces either executed or forced into exile.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Marche du MAK le 27 avril 2014.jpg

Demonstration by Kabyles in 2014

In April 1980, following the banning of a conference by writer Mouloud Mammeri on traditional Kabyle poetry, riots and strikes broke out in Tizi Ouzou, followed by several months of demonstrations on university campuses in Kabylia and Algiers, known as the Berber Spring, demanding the officialisation and recognition of the Tamazight language. These resulted in the extrajudicial imprisonment of thousands of Kabylie intellectuals, along with other clashes in Tizi-Ouzou and Algiers in 1984 and 1985.<ref>Mourre, Michel (ed.), 'Kabyles', Dictionnaire encyclopédique d'Histoire, Paris, Bordas, Vol. 3, (1996 [1978]), p. 3082.</ref> With the opening up and establishment of the multi-party system in 1989, the RCD (Rally for Culture and Democracy) party was created by Saïd Sadi, at the same time as identity politics and the cultural awakening of the Kabylians were intensifying in reaction to the increasingly hard-line Arabization.<ref>Jacques Leclerc, "Algérie: Données historiques et conséquences linguistiques" sur L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Université Laval, 14 January 2012.</ref> In the midst of the civil war, there was an act of massive civil disobedience beginning in September 1994 and lasting the entire school year until mid 1995 where the ten-million strong population of Kabylia conducted a total school boycott, known as the "schoolbag strike".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In June and July 1998 the region flared up again after the assassination of protest singer and political activist Lounès Matoub at the same time that a law requiring the use of Arabic in all fields of education entered into force, further worsening tensions.<ref>Jacques Leclerc, "Algérie: Loi no 91-05 du 16 janvier 1991 portant généralisation de l'utilisation de la langue arabe" sur L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Université Laval</ref><ref>Jacques Leclerc, "Algérie: Les droits linguistiques des berbérophones", in L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Université Laval, 20 April 2010</ref>

Following the death in April 2001 of Massinissa Guermah, a young high school student, in police custody, major riots took place, known as the Black Spring, in which 123 people died and some two thousand were wounded as a result of the authorities' violent crackdown.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Eventually, the government was compelled to negotiate with the Arouch, a confederation of ancestral local councils over the situation, alongside wider issues such as social justice and the economy, which was deemed by the government as 'regionalist' and dangerous for national unity and cohesion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Nevertheless, Tamazight was recognised in 2002 as a national language of Algeria, and as of 7 February 2016, an official language of the State alongside Arabic.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK), founded in June 2001, has called for self-government for the region since 2011. The MAK was renamed as "Mouvement pour l'Autodétermination de la Kabylie" seeking independence from Algeria.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

GeographyEdit

File:Iazzuggen.JPG

Landscape near Azazga

Main features:

Greater Kabylia, which runs from Thénia (west) to Bejaia (east), and from the Mediterranean Sea (north) to the Soummam Valley (south), that is to say, 200 km by 100 km, beginning 50 km from Algiers, the capital of Algeria.
Lesser Kabylia, comprising Kabylia of Bibans and Kabylia of Babors.

Three large chains of mountains occupy most of the area:

In the north, the mountain range of maritime Kabylia, culminating with Tifrit n'Ait El Hadj (Tamgout 1278 m)
In the south, the Djurdjura, dominating the valley of Soummam, culminating with Lalla-Khedidja (2308 m)
Between the two lies the mountain range of Agawa, which is the most populous and is 800 m high on average. The largest town of Great Kabylia, Tizi Ouzou, lies in that mountain range. At Iraten (formerly "Fort-National" in French occupation), which numbered 28,000 inhabitants in 2001, is the highest urban centre of the area.

EcologyEdit

File:Kabylere.jpg

Kabyles

There are a number of flora and fauna associated with this region. Notable is a population of the endangered primate, Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus, whose prehistoric range encompassed a much wider span than the present limited populations in Algeria, Morocco and Gibraltar.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

PopulationEdit

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The area is populated by Kabyles, a Berber ethnic group. They speak the Kabyle language, the largest Berber language in Algeria.<ref name="Goodman2005">Template:Cite book</ref> It is spoken by 3 million people<ref name="leclerc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and has significant Arabic, French, Latin, Greek, Phoenician and Punic substratum,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> with Arabic loanwords representing 35%<ref name=":0" /> to 46%<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> of the total Kabyle vocabulary.

Since the Berber Spring in 1980, Kabyles have been at the forefront of the fight for recognition of the Berber as an official language in Algeria (see Languages of Algeria).

ZawiyasEdit

File:Zaouïa de Ouled Boumerdès de Mraïel à Tidjelabine des Aïth Aïcha.jpg

Zawiyet Sidi Boumerdassi

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also The Kabylia region is home to dozens of zawiyas affiliated with the Rahmaniyya Sufi brotherhood, including the following:

Zawiya Thaalibia in the Issers.
Zawiyet Sidi Boumerdassi in Tidjelabine.
Zawiyet Sidi Boushaki in Thenia.
Zawiyet Sidi Amar Cherif in Sidi Daoud.
Template:Illm in Aafir.
Template:Illm in Beni Amrane.
Template:Illm in Khemis El-Khechna.
Template:Illm in Boudouaou.

EconomyEdit

The traditional economy of the area is based on arboriculture (orchards, olive trees) and on the craft industry (tapestry or pottery). The mountain and hill farming is gradually giving way to local industry (textile and agro-alimentary).

Today Kabylia is one of the most industrialised parts of Algeria.<ref>"Tmurt Iqvayliyen ass-agi", Maxime Ait Kaki</ref> Kabylia produces less than 15% of Algerian GDP (excluding oil and gas).<ref name="Tadamsa taqbaylit, Saεid Duman">"Tadamsa taqbaylit", Saεid Duman</ref> Industries include: pharmaceutical industry in Bgayet Bejaia, agro-alimentary in Ifri and Akbou, mechanical industry in Tizi Ouzou and other small towns of western Kabylia, and petrochemical industry and oil refining in Bgayet Bejaia.<ref name="Tadamsa taqbaylit, Saεid Duman"/>

Bgayet (Bejaia)'s port is the second biggest in Algeria after Algiers, and the 6th largest on the Mediterranean Sea.

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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Template:Cultural regions of Algeria Template:UNPO Template:Authority control