Tafilalt

Tafilalt or Tafilet (Berber: Tafilalt, ⵜⴰⴼⵉⵍⴰⵍⵜ; Arabic: تافيلالت‎), historically Sijilmasa, is a region and the largest oasis in Morocco.[2]

Tafilalt Tafilalt / ⵜⴰⴼⵉⵍⴰⵍⵜ / تافيلالت‎
Region
Panorama of the oasis of Tafilalet, seen from the ksar of Tingheras (Rissani).
Tafilalt Location in Morocco
Coordinates: 31°20′22.43″N 4°16′5.48″W
Country	Morocco
Region	Drâa-Tafilalet
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (WEST)

Designations
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Oasis du Tafilalet
Designated	15 January 2005
Reference no.	1483[1]

Isoprusia tafilaltana, a fossil trilobite found in (and named after) Tafilalt

Etymology

The word "Tafilalt" is an Amazigh word and it means "Jug", which is specifically a pottery jar used to store water.[3]

History

In the area, the town of Sijilmasa founded by Miknasa Amazigh leader Moussa ben Nasser in 757, formerly existed.[4] It was on the direct caravan route from the Niger river to Tangier, and attained a considerable degree of prosperity.[5] In the 17th century, the Alaouite dynasty of Morocco is known to have started in Tafilalt, and in 1606 Zidan al-Nasir, Sultan of Morocco hid in Tafilalt, where he made a profit off of gold mined in the area, built an army, and took back control over Marrakech. A few years later in 1610, Ahmed ibn Abi Mahalli also built up an army in the Tafilalt area and took Marrakech back for himself, but lost control after Sidi Yahya ben Younes liberated the city for al-Nasir. A decade after this, a small revolt built up in Tafilalt against the sultan, but was repressed after four months of skirmishes. Later, Tafilalt was a major center of the Dila'ites.[6] In 1648, a custom was established of the Moorish sultans of Morocco sending superfluous sons or daughters to Tafilalt.[7]

Medieval traveller Ibn Batuta wrote about visiting Sijilmasa (near Tafilalt) in the fourteenth century on his journey from Fez to Mali, "the country of the blacks".[2] It was later destroyed in 1818 by the Aït Atta, but its ruins remain, including two gateways.[8] The first European to visit Tafilalt in the modern era was René Caillié (1828), and later Gerhard Rohlfs (1864).[9][7] English writer W. B. Harris described Tafilalt in a journal after his visit.[10]

Geography

Entirely located along the Ziz River,[11] the oasis was ten days' journey south of Fez and Meknes, across the Atlas Mountains.[2] It is known for its dates.[10]

Notable residents

It is the birthplace of the famed Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, known as the "Baba Sali" (Arabic: بابا صلى‎‎, Hebrew: באבא סאלי‎, lit. "Praying Father"), (1889–1984).[12]

In literature

Mercenaries of Hell (original title Pokol zsoldosai), a novel by the famous Hungarian author Jenő Rejtő takes place in the village and surrounding area.[13]

References

1. "Oasis du Tafilalet". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
2. Michael Dumper; Bruce E. Stanley (2007). Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 336. ISBN 978-1-57607-919-5.
3. Chafik, Mohammed (1990). المعجم العربي الأمازيغي. Morocco: أكاديمية المملكة المغربية. p. 217 – via scribd.
4. Everett Jenkins Jr. (1 October 1999). The Muslim Diaspora (Volume 1, 570-1500): A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. McFarland. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-7864-4713-8.
5. Julius Honnor (2012). Morocco Footprint Handbook. Footprint Travel Guides. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-907263-31-6.
6. Aomar Boum; Thomas K. Park (2 June 2016). Historical Dictionary of Morocco. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 453. ISBN 978-1-4422-6297-3.
7. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tafilált" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 354.
8. Lonely Planet; Paul Clammer; James Bainbridge (1 July 2014). Lonely Planet Morocco. Lonely Planet Publications. p. 329. ISBN 978-1-74360-025-2.
9. Samuel Pickens; Michel Renaudeau; Xavier Richer (1993). Le Sud marocain. www.acr-edition.com. p. 152. ISBN 978-2-86770-056-9.
10. Ronald A. Messier (19 August 2010). The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad. ABC-CLIO. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-313-38590-2.
11. Ronald A. Messier; James A. Miller (15 June 2015). The Last Civilized Place: Sijilmasa and Its Saharan Destiny. University of Texas Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-292-76667-9.
12. Marek Čejka; Roman Kořan (16 October 2015). Rabbis of our Time: Authorities of Judaism in the Religious and Political Ferment of Modern Times. Taylor & Francis. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-317-60543-0.
13. "A pokol zsoldosai". Wikipédia (in Hungarian). 23 September 2018.

Further reading

• Harris, Walter B. (1895), Tafilet; The Narrative of a Journey of Exploration in the Atlas Mountains and the Oases of the North-west Sahara, Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons.