Aït Atta

A man and a woman from the Ait Atta tribe.

The Ait Atta (Tashelhit: Ayt Ɛeṭṭa, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵄⵟⵟⴰ) are a large Berber tribal confederation or "supertribe" of South eastern Morocco, estimated to number about 330,000 as of 1960. They are divided into "five fifths" (khams khmas), all said to descend from the forty sons of their common ancestor Dadda Atta: these "fifths" are the Ayt Wallal, Ayt Wahlim, Ayt Isful, Ayt Yazza and Ayt Unbgi. They speak Tachelhit.

Origin

Descent from Goliath

A tradition of non-Atta origin claims that the Ait Atta descends from Goliath (Jalut) who left 4 sons who emigrated to North Africa from Palestine becoming the ancestors of the modern Moroccan Berbers. The oldest son Baibi was killed by Arabs while still a child hence the generalised Berber dislike of Arabs.

There are 3 different traditions of the identity of the three sons:

• Amazigh, ancestor of the Tamazight speakers of the Middle and Central High Atlas, Asusi, ancestor of the Shilha or the Susis and Arifi, ancestor of the Riffians,
• Midul, ancestor of the Zenata, Zulit, ancestor of the Masmuda and 'Atta, ancestor of the Sanhaja,
• Midul ancestor of the Ait Yafelman, Malu, ancestor of the tribes of the Middle Atlas and 'Atta, ancestor of the Ait Atta.

According the to third tradition, 'Atta had 6 sons: Hlim, 'Azza, Khalifa, Khabbash, Sful, and Mtir, ancestors of the Ait Wahlim, Ait Y'azza, Ait Unibgi, Ait Khalifa, Ait Isful and Ait Ndir respectively. These are the clans of the Ait Atta.

Dadda Atta and his 40 sons

A tradition of the Ait Atta says that they descend from the eponymous Berber ancestor Dadda Atta who was from the Saghro region and had forty sons. He employed a shepherd from the neighbouring Ait Siddrat tribe. One day, while Atta oversaw the simultaneous marriage of all forty of his sons, this shepherd betrayed Atta leading to death of all forty his sons at the hands of his fellow tribesmen of the Ait Siddrat. Atta's sons managed to have already impregnate their wives before the attack and they miraculously survived the attack and conceive. Together they produced 39 sons and 1 daughter. Atta lived on until his grandsons grew up and was henceforth known as Dadda Atta meaning Grandfather Atta. With their built up anger, they declared war on the Ait Siddrat pursuing them right up to the Tizi n-l-'Azz Pass in the Central High Atlas where Atta's mare raised her right foreleg. The Ait Atta took this as a sign that they must return to their homes in the Saghro. The Ait Siddrat did the same.

History

The Ait Atta originated as a political entity in the Jbel Saghro region in the 16th century with the founding of their traditional capital Iɣerm Amazdar. They subsequently expanded first northwards, becoming rivals of the Ait Yafelman, then southwards, taking control of oases in Tafilalt and the Draa River.

The expansion of the Ait Atta was often opposed not just by the Ait Yafelman but the Alaouite makhzen. Some authorities argued that the Ait Yafelman was formed to check Ait Atta power which caused the Ait Atta to be hostile to the Alaouites. Until their pacification by the French, the Ait Atta were an integral part of Bilad es-Siba. The first major clash between the Ait Atta and the forces of Moulay Ismail was in 1678 after several brothers and cousins of the sultan supported by the Ait Atta revolted against him. By the late 18th century, Ait Atta contingents were already in Tafilalt. Many more came throughout the 19th century when the continuous Ait Atta battles with the Ait Yafelman reached their peak.

By the 19th century the Ait Atta's raids went as far as Touat (in modern-day Algeria). They fiercely resisted the French entry into Morocco until 1933 and were the last of Morocco to fall under the forces of Assou Oubasslam where they fought the Battle of Bougafer.

Socio-Political Organisation

The fifths were divided into a large number of groups who elected their own leaders called amghar n-tamazirt but there was no leader at the head of a fifth. The supreme chief of the Ait Atta called the amghar n-ufilla (the chief from above) was elected each year usually in spring. This system has been referred to as "annual rotation and complementarity" and it was the political system used by other Berber tribes in the Central High Atlas.

Each year candidates would be chosen from a specific fifth or lineage and only the members of the other four fifths would vote for a candidate from the chosen fifth. This system was also used for the lower levels. The election would take place in a place called Adman which is near their capital Igharm Amazdar. This election took place in the prescence of a Sharif belonging to the Ouled Moulay Abdallah ben Hocein (Dadda Atta was said to be a disciple of Moulay Abdallah ben Hocein founder of the zawiya of Tameslouht) who was referred to as the agurram (meaning religious man or poor Sufi). The agurram would hand the elected chief a bowl of milk and when he began to drink he would push the chief's face into it so that it spills all over his beard and clothes. After, the agurram would offer the chief some dates and all those present would be offered some milk and a date.

In ordinary circumstances, power traditionally rested mainly with local councils of family heads, the ajmuɛ, who decided cases according to customary law, izerf. In the oases they conquered, the Ait Atta originally dominated a stratified society, where the haratin who worked the land were often forbidden from owning it, and needed a protection agreement with an Ait Atta patron; this stratification has considerably receded since Moroccan independence with the establishment of legal equality.

Subdivisions

Source:

Ait Unbi

• Ait Ihya
• Ait Amr
• Ait Irjadln
• Ait Aksil

Ait Yaza

• Ait Krad Ikhsan
• Ait Gumas
• Ait Asa
• Ait Butrurt
• Ait Hamu
• Ait Uma

Ait Ulal

• Ait Uzine
• Ait Arbse
• Ait Ulal
• Ait Buskir
• Ait Mskur
• Ait Slilal
• Ait Umerjdin
• Ait Arba

Ait Wahlim

• Ait Butklifa
• Ait Huran
• Ait Masin
• Imadren
• Ait Su n Afela

Ait Isful

• Ait Anzar
• Ait Buaghrum
• Ait Hitlar
• Ait Ichu
• Ait Bafghf
• Ait Hani

Sources

• Hart, David (1984). The Ait 'Atta of Southern Morocco Daily Life & Recent History. United Kingdom: Middle East & North African Studies Press. ISBN 9780906599150.