The Reguibat (; variously transliterated Reguibate, Rguibat, R'gaybat, R'gibat, Erguibat, Ergaybat) is a Sahrawis tribal confederation of mixed Arabs
Their population in 1996 exceeded 100,000 people.
Origin
The eponymous founder and ancestor of the Reguibat is said to be Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi who turned up to the
Draa River from Fez in 1503. Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi claimed
Sharif descent through Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish which attracted many disciples - a lot of whom of
Sanhaja origin - from his wanderings between the valleys of Draa, El-Gaada and the
Saguia el-Hamra. The line of ascent between Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi and Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish goes Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Abd al-Karim ibn Abdallah ibn Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish.
History
Initially an important Arabic zawiya or religious tribe with a semi-sedentary lifestyle, the Reguibat gradually turned during the 18th century towards camel-rearing, raiding and
Nomad, in response attacks from neighboring tribes which provoked them into taking up arms and leaving the subordinate position they had previously held. This started a process of rapid expansion, and set the Reguibat on the course towards total transformation into a traditional warrior tribe. In the late 19th century, they had become well-established as the largest Sahrawi tribe, and were recognized as the most powerful warrior tribe of the area.
The grazing lands of the Reguibat fractions extended from Western Sahara into the northern half of Mauritania, the edges of southern Morocco and northern Mali, and large swaths of western Algeria (where they captured the town of Tindouf from the Tajakant tribe in 1895, and turned into an important Reguibat encampment).
A long war started with the Tajakant who were a tribe that founded the city of Tindouf in 1820. Ghazis happened until the end of the 20th century when in 1895 an assembly of the Reguibat including both the Reguibat as-Sahel and Reguibat Lagouacem decided on a full scale mobilisation of all able-bodied men with a warrior of the Oulad Moussa selected as dahman (the leader of the troops). This led to an attack on Tindouf by 1000 men of the Reguibat and the Reguibat were victorious. The Reguibat fought in other wars and assisted other tribes. For example, they assisted the Oulad Bou Sbaa in resisting a force from the Adrar region and the Hodh led by Sidi Ahmed al-Kunti and sided with the Oulad Tidrarin in their rebellion against the Oulad Delim until the peace the Reguibat made with the Oulad Delim in 1892.
Reguibat Sahrawis were very prominent in the resistance to France and Spain colonization in the 19th and 20th century, and could not be subdued in the Spanish Sahara until 1934, almost 50 years after the area was first colonized by Spain.
Since the 1970s, many Reguibat have been active in the Polisario Front's resistance to Moroccan rule over the still non-sovereign Western Sahara territory.
Socio-political Organisation
There was not a single
Sheikh of the Reguibat. Rather, they had two shaykhs of equal standing representing the two main territorial divisions - the Reguibat as-Sahel and Reguibat ash-Sharg. Under each shaykh, there was a body of 20 councillors who were called the
ait arba'in (the people of the forty). This is a
Berber languages term and the
ait arba'in is traditionally a feature of
Berbers political organisation meaning that the Reguibat adopted it some time ago. The
ait arba'in was chosen by the shaykh of the territorial divisions and they carried out his edicts as well as the
Qadi. The
ait arba'in was operative on a full scale only during war time. They today do not exist.
Subdivisions
Even though the Reguibat claim to have five fifths (which is a segmentation found in many large Berber tribes in Morocco like the Aït Atta and
Ait Waryaghar), they have two main subdivisions:
-
Reguibat as-Sahel (), and
-
Reguibat ash-Sharg () which is also referred to as the Reguibat Lagouacem
These two main subdivisions were distinguished by a camel brand called nār () which corresponds to the wasm found among Bedouin in Saudi Arabia. For the Reguibat as-Sahel, their nār is kāf (ك) which is why they are also called Reguibat al-Kaf. For the Reguibat ash-Sharg, their nār is qāf (ق) which is why they are also called Reguibat al-Qaf. There are multiple traditions for how many children Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi had ranging from 60 (20 from each of three wives) to 6 to 3 (from a woman of the Sellam called Kaouria Mint Mohammed).
According to the Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara, Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi had three sons: Ali, Amar and Qacem. the Reguibat as-Sahel and Reguibat ash-Sharg are divided in the following way:
-
Reguibat as-Sahel, who descend from Ali and Amar
-
Oulad Moussa
-
Oulad el-Qadi, Ahel Bellao, Oulad Moueya, Oulad Lahsen, Oulad Hossein
-
Souadd
-
Ahel Brahim Ben Abdallah, Ahel Ba Brahim, El-Gherraba, Oulad Bou Said, Ahel Khali Yahya
-
Lemouedenin
-
Oulad Daoud
-
Ahel Salem, Ahel Tenakha, Ahel Baba Ammi
-
Oulad Borhim
-
Oulad Cheikh
-
Ahel Delimi, Ahel Baba Ali, Lemouissat, Lahouareth, Lahseinat, Ahel el-Hadj
-
Thaalat
-
Ahel Dekhil, Ahel Meiara, Ahel Rachid
-
Oulad Taleb
-
Oulad Ben Hossein, Oulad Ba Brahim, Oulad Ba Aaissa, Oulad Ba Moussa, Ahel Dera
-
Reguibat ash-Sharg, who descend from Qacem
-
Ahel Brahim Ou Daoud
-
Ahel Sidi Allal, Ahel Belqacem Ou Brahim, Sellam, Selalka, Ahel Lahsen Ou Hamad, Lehmeidenet, Oulad Sidi Hamad, Jenha
-
Lebouihat
-
Ahel Daddah, Ahel Qadi, Ahel Haioun, Ahel Sidi Ahmed Ben Yahya, Lemrasguia, Ahel Sidi Abdallah Ben, Moussa
-
Laiaicha
-
Foqra
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Ahel Ahmed Ben Lahsen, Ahel Lemjed, Ahel Taleb Hamad, Rema, Lemnasra, Seddadgha, Oulad Sidi M'hamed
According to the tradition of the six sons as recorded by David Montgomery Hart, these six sons constituted the six clans of the Reguibat. These sons and clans are:
-
Ali whence the Oulad Ali wuld Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi (KĀF)
-
Amr whence the Oulad Amr wuld Sidi Ahmed al-Reguibi (KĀF)
-
Qasim whence the al-Qwasim or al-Gwasim (QĀF)
-
Faqir whence al-Fuqra or al-Fugra (QĀF)
-
Ba Bwih whence al-Bwihat (QĀF)
-
Brahim u Dawud whence Ahl Brahim u Dawud (QĀF)
See also
Sources
Further reading
-
John Mercer (1976), Spanish Sahara, George Allen & Unwid Ltd ()
-
Anthony G. Pazzanita (2006), Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara, Scarecrow Press
-
Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff (1980), The Western Saharans. Background to Conflict, Barnes & Noble Books ()
