INTRODUCTION
For almost three thousand years the Berber peoples of North Africa have clung to their distinct identity and language, sheltering in the mountains and in desert oases from infringing invaders.
Most of the North African population is originally of Berber stock that has been largely Arabised. There remain 20 million people who are still distinctly Berber, speaking their ancient dialects as a first language (although most Berbers are bi-lingual) and clinging to their old culture. There are some real differences between Berbers and Arabs, but they also have many cross-cultural links.
Arabic is the official language of all Maghreb states and it is also the language of religion and culture. Living in a mountainous environment and in a tribal society divided by many dialects, there has always been much political fragmentation amongst the Berbers.
There is little pan-Berber nationalism as they identify primarily with their family and tribe. Fighting used to be endemic to their way of life and they have a intense love of independence.Their origin is shrouded in mystery.
Some think they crossed over from the Iberian Peninsula many thousands of years ago, others that they have always lived in North Africa. Many invaders and colonists reached the Maghreb, including Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks and French. The name Berber evolved from the Greek custom of calling all non-Greek speaking people Barbarians. The Berbers call themselves "Imazighen", the free.
The Berbers originally lived all over the Maghreb from western Egypt to the Atlantic. The culturally distinct Berber communities of today survive in pockets in the mountains and in the Sahara desert, scattered over a large area from the Siwa Oasis in Egypt to the Atlantic and from the Niger River and the Sahel in the south to the Mediterranean. Their density increases from east to west, Morocco being the state with most Berbers living in it.Today they are concentrated mainly in the Rif and the Atlas mountains (and also in the Sous plain) of Morocco, and in the Kabyle and Aures mountains as well as the Mzab and other Saharan oases of Algeria.
Small communities are still found on Djerba Island and in a few mainland villages in Tunisia, in the Jebel Nafusah Mountain and the Ghudamis and Ghat oases of Libya, and in the Siwa oasis in Egypt.Many Berbers are farmers who grow wheat, barley, fruits, nuts, vegetables and olives for oil in the lowlands in winter and graze flocks of sheep and goats in the mountains during the summer. Some are still nomads who migrate with their camels and herds around the desert plateaus and oases.
Their fortified villages are often located high on the mountain ridges and are composed of houses, a mosque, a fortified threshing floor (kasbah) and a gathering place for the assembly of elders (Jama'ah), which controls village life.
Increasing population density and poverty have caused many Berbers to migrate to the large cities of North Africa in search of employment, there to form an urban proletariat. Others have immigrated to France, which has the largest Berber population outside of the Maghreb, and also to Spain, Belgium and other countries of Western Europe.Most Berbers are Sunni Muslims of the Maliki School, with Sufi orders very popular amongst them. Small communities of 'Ibadis (an ancient Islamic Khariji sect) survive in some isolated areas.
The foreign invaders usually occupied the coastlands, so the Berbers found refuge in the inaccessible mountain and desert areas where they could continue to speak their own languages undisturbed, and live in accordance with their own customary laws.
THE MAIN BERBER GROUPS TODAY MOROCCO
(40% of the total population - 10.4 million in 3main groups): Shluh, 5.1 million in the High and Anti-Atlas and the Sous, speaking Shilha (Tashilhait). Berraber, 3.2 million in the Middle Atlas speaking Tamazight. Riff, 1.8 million in the north speaking Rif (Tarifit, Zenatiya). Others: Harratin, Zenaga, Tuareg, 0.3 million.
THE BERRABER OF THE MIDDLE ATLAS
The Berraber are semi-nomadic pastoral tribes who live in permanent villages for part of the year and also move between their summer pastures in the highlands and the lower lying winter grazing lands. Their area is less densely populated than that of most other Berber groups, so they tend less to emigrate. They also stick more to customary law than the southern Shluh. The Ait-Atta are a famous nomadic Berraber tribe.
BERBERS IN INDEPENDENT MOROCCO
At independence in 1956, Morocco's Berbers were divided on how best to relate to the new state. The Riffians who had been fairly autonomous under the French and strongly represented in the armed forces, feared the results of integration in a unified state. The Middle Atlas Berbers were supporters of the nationalist Istiklal movement, but were soon disappointed to see the Arab elite of Fez and Rabat take hold of most power centres whilst the Berbers seemed to be marginalised and pushed into poverty.
Most Berbers supported the monarchy because they saw it as the system best suited to preserving their special identity. Opposed to them were Arabising forces pushing for a uniform modern state in which Berber cultural identity would be suppressed. The monarchy in turn relied on the conservative Berbers as a counterbalance to the unstable and radical political forces of the cities who tried to abolish or at least limit the King's authority. There were uprisings in Tafilalet (1957),and in the Rif(1958). Later, in 1971 there was an army coup attempt.
Although some Riff officers were involved in the coup attempts, the King continued to use the Berbers as a counterbalance to the power of the Istiqlal party. Hassan II (who has a Berber wife, Latifa) gave Berbers a leading role in the armed forces and in the state bureaucracy. In the 1980s there was a marked awakening of Berber language and culture, and the central government started to invest more resources in developing the Berber areas. The King has succeeded in maintaining a balance between the various sectors of Moroccon society, thus ensuring a period of political stability.The monarchy and Islam are the two forces uniting the diverse groups of Morocco. Should the monarchy fall, it would be difficult to foresee who would emerge at the centre of power.
