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SAGHRO

The Aït Atta

People

Documented biographies. Each portrait states how reliably it has been identified; no words are attributed without a source.

Portrait of an Aït Atta man (1955) — Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam), CC BY-SA 3.0

Major figures

Four figures put forward, each for a stated reason: what the sources say, tradition or memory.

All figures

Filter by role, period or section, or by whether a portrait exists. One person can have several roles.

  • Assou Oubasslam Chief of the Ilemchan (Aït Atta), principal leader of the resistance in the Saghro in 1933.
  • Henry de Bournazel Captain commanding a sub-group of goums and partisans in the Giraud group; killed on 28 February 1933.
  • Antoine Huré General, commander-in-chief of the troops in Morocco (1931-1934); commander-in-chief of the Saghro operations.
  • Georges Catroux General, at the head of the Marrakesh mobile group, west of the Bou Gafer.
  • Henri Giraud General, at the head of the Confins mobile group, east of the Bou Gafer.
  • Thami El Glaoui Pasha of Marrakesh, ally of the Protectorate; his harkas fought the Aït Atta before 1933.
  • 'Ali u-l-Hajj 'Assu n-Ait Bâslâm Qaid of Ikniouen in 1961, of the Ilemchan clan; he allowed Hart to photograph the qânûn of Igharm Amazdar.
  • Dadda 'Atta Founding, eponymous figure of the Ait Atta tradition, not a demonstrated biological ancestor.
  • Moulay 'Abdallah bin l-Hsain Patron saint of the Aït Atta, buried at Tamslouht; tradition credits him with authorising the codification of their customary law.
  • David Montgomery Hart American anthropologist, principal ethnographer of the Aït Atta (fieldwork in 1961-1962, 1965 and 1975).
  • Georges Spillmann Native Affairs officer in Morocco (from 1920), author of “Les Aït Atta du Sahara et la pacification du Haut Dra” (1936).
  • Charles de Foucauld Explorer; crossed the western Saghro in 1883-1884 and published Reconnaissance au Maroc (1888).
  • Jean Robichez French officer; collected Amazigh poems on the conquest of the Central Atlas between 1936 and 1938 and published the album Maroc central in 1946.
  • Zayd ou-Skounti War leader of the Ayt Ayssa Izem (Ait Merghad), main figure of the last stronghold on the Baddou in August 1933.
  • Ou-Sidi de Tilmi War leader of the Ait Hdiddou, described by Peyron as the eastern resistance's “charismatic leader of men”.
  • Ali ou Termoun Named among the leaders of the Baddou resistance by the Moroccan press and Wikipedia.
  • Zayd ou-Hmad Ait Merghad man who carried on the armed struggle with two or three companions until spring 1936.
  • Sidi Lmekki Amhaouch Marabout, central figure of the siege of Tazizaout (August-September 1932).
  • Ali ou Adda Ait Atta intermediary in the negotiations of 24-25 March 1933.
  • Adjou Moh A woman of the Saghro whom local memory makes a figure of the Bougafer resistance (1933).
  • Mohaddach ould el Hajj Faska Notable of the Aït Bou Iknifen, ally of the Glaoui in the upper Dadès and the Todgha from 1919.
  • El Hajj Faska “Cheikh-el-ʿam of the Aït ʿAtta” in 1919; Beaurpère calls him the “champion of the Glawa cause” from that date.
  • Hammou ou Lahsen ben Merghi Former amghar n-ufilla of the Aït Atta, one of the three notables of the Aït Ouahlim around 1930.
  • Khouya Mimoun Old leader of the Nkob, hostile to any tutelage, the Makhzen's as well as the Glaoui's.
  • Basso ou Mimoun n'Aït Lfmaz Son of Khouya Mimoun, close to the Makhzen and the Glaoui around 1930.
  • Idir ou el Hajj el Msoufi Former amghar n-ufilla of the Aït Atta; he drew his tribe towards the Glaoui.
  • Basso ou Baslam Brother of Assou Oubasslam; Spillmann names the two brothers as leaders of the resistance in the Saghro in 1933.
  • Bouichou Notable of Alnif, descendant of the tribe's imzouaren, “the first”.
  • Mohammed ou Bani Renowned old fighter of the Aït Khebbach, loyal to Belqasem Ngadi.
  • Lieutenant Bel Madani Interpreter for General Huré with the Aït Atta in March 1933; photographed with Assou Oubasslam at Tinghir after the fighting.
  • Mbarek Oularbi « Nba » Singer, guitarist and flautist, founder and leader of Saghru Band (2006-2011).
  • Moha Mallal Poet, singer and painter; founder of the band Mallal, whom Granci presents as the initiator of the modern Amazigh scene of the south-east.
  • Omar Derouich Poet and teacher, author of lyrics for south-eastern bands (Imenza, Saghru Band).