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Doukkala (, ) is a natural region of Morocco made of fertile plains and forests. Nowadays it is part of the Casablanca-Settat administrative region.
It is a plain stretching from the Atlantic Ocean south of Sidi Rahal Chatai up to some 50 km further southward and the same distance eastward.
The main urban centers are Sidi Smail, Sidi Bennour, Had Ouled Frej, and Zemamra. Sidi Bennour is the fastest developing center of the four.
It is mainly an agricultural region, with few tourist attractions.
The Doukkalas were a mix of majority Masmuda: the Ragrâga, Hazmîra, Banû Dghûgh, Banû Mâgir, and Mushtarayya (Mouchtaraia), together with the SanHâja. The SanHâja occupied the Atlantic coast between Azemmour and south of El Jadida.
When the under Abd al-Mu'min captured the town of Marrakesh in 1147, the Doukkals sided against them and in favor of the Almoravid dynasty. They were subsequently defeated by al-Mu'min, and purged, with women and children being sold into slavery. Al-Mu'min brought in less fractious Arab Bedouin tribes as immigrants to settle the area, including the Banu Hilal, a coalition of whom he had defeated earlier in Tunisia. Later immigrants included the al-Ma'qil.
By 1250, of the Doukkala, only the Ragrâga had survived intact after their conquest and the subsequent immigration of eastern tribes.
Ever since the first installation of the Banu Hilal, there has been continuous linguistic and cultural mixing of both populations. It was possible to clearly distinguish the native Berber element from the Arab one as recently as the 16th century. However, the linguistic Arabization is now complete.Edouard Michaux-Bellaire (2025). 9789954522141, المندوبية السامية لقدماء المقاومين وعضاء جيش التحرير،. . ISBN 9789954522141 When Captain James Riley (1770 AD) visited it, he said in describing it : " the provinces of Abdah and Duquella, which are entirely peopled by Arabs living in , and in a primitive or wandering state, (their tents being formed of the same materials, and pitch- ed in the same manner as those of the Arabs on the desert) I observed that these people were of a much lighter com- plexion than those on the desert; but that circumstance, in all probability, was owing to the climate's being more temperate; to their being less exposed to the rays of the sun, and better clothed; yet their features were nearly the same, and those of both bear a strong resemblance to those of the Moroccan Jews, who also have black eyes and Arabs noses".
According to anthropologist David Montgomery Hart, the majority of the Doukkala tribal confederation are of Hilalian origin and in the 1960s they had either a sedentarized or semi-sedentarized Bedouin lifestyle preferring animal husbandry over agriculture. They also participated in fantasia also known as laʿb al-barud ("powder play"). Like with many of the large Berber tribes of Morocco like the Ait Atta and the Ait Waryaghar, they were divided into khams khmas ("five fifths"). This system was imposed on them by Makhzen for purposes of tax collection and the levying of harzas (soldiers for military expeditions). Despite this division being abandoned during the French protectorate, it remained as a guiding structural principle for Doukkalis and khams khmas is seen as a symbol of strength and power in Morocco.
These tribes and the khoms are:
The Chiadma are related to the Chiadma and Chtouka were from the Chtouka Ait Baha before being re-located to Doukkala North of the Oum Er-Rbia River.
At the end of the French protectorate (ca 1950), there lived in Doukkala 372,269 Muslims, 2,680 Europeans and 3,933 Jews. Guide bleu Hachette du Maroc, 7th ed., 1950, p. 178. Hart estimated the population of the Doukkala to be 360,000 in 1960.
The only mountain to be seen is at the border with the plain of Rahamna called "Jbel Lakhdar" (Arabic: جبل لخضر) meaning "Green Mountain".
The plain is subject to flooding. A temporary natural lake between Sidi Bennour and Larbaa Ouled Amrane called "Ouarar" (Arabic: ورار) only fills in rainy years. Its largest surface was noted in 1916, 1966 and 2008.
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