Berghouata: Encyclopedia - Berghouata

Berghouata

The Berghouata were a medieval Berber tribe of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, belonging to the Masmuda group of tribes. After allying with a failed Sufri Kharijite rebellion in Morocco against the Abbasids, they established a kingdom in the area of Tamesna between 744 and 1058, when the Almoravids conquered them. The Berghouata kingdom followed a syncretic religion inspired by Islam featuring the second ruler of the dynasty, Salih ibn Tarif, as the final prophet. The Berghouata are famous for being the first to have translated the Koran to the tamazight language. They even recited it and summoned for prayer (Iqama) in Berber, and for some reason this didn't sit very well with the more arabized Almoravids, who in turn accused them and then crushed them for heresy.

Their first seven kings were:

• Tarîf al-Matghari
• Sâlih son of Tarîf, who declared himself prophet in 744, and went away at the age of 47, promising to return
• Ilyâs son of Sâlih (?792-842), who is said to have professed Islam publicly but Salih's religion secretly, and died in the 50th year of his reign.
• Yûnus son of Ilyâs (?842-888), who made Salih's religion official and killed all those who would not convert (killing 7,770 people, according to Ibn Khaldun's sources, some at a place called Tamlukeft). Curiously enough, he is also said to have performed the hajj. He died in the 44th year of his reign.
• Abû Ghafîr Muhammad son of Ma`âd son of Ilyasa` son of Sâlih (?888-917), who may also have been called a prophet (according to a poem Ibn Khaldun cites), and who had 44 wives and more sons. He died in the 29th year of his reign.
• Abu'l-`Ansâr Abdallah son of Abî Ghafîr (?917-961), buried at Ameslakht. He died in the 44th year of his reign.
• Abû Mansûr `Îsâ (?961-?), who was 22 when he became king.

Dates with question marks are calculated on the basis of a secondary source[1]. Other info is from Ibn Khaldun.

Category: History of Morocco

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Berghouata", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki