An Account of the Empire of Morocco and the Districts of Suse and Tafilelt

James Grey Jackson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136254826
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

First published in 1814, this is an account "Compiled from Miscellaneous Observations Made During a Long Residence in, and Various Journeys Through, These Countries. To which is Added An Account of Shipwrecks on the Western Coast of Africa and an Interesting Account of Timbuctoo.

AN ACCOUNT

OF

THE EMPIRE OF MAROCCO,

&c. &c.

CHAPTER I.

Geographical Divisions of the Empire of Marocco.

THE empire of Marocco,^* including Tafilelt,^† is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean sea; on the east by Tlemsen,^‡ the Desert of Angad, Sejin Messa,^§ and Bled-el-jerrêde; ^|| on the south by Sahara (or the Great Desert); and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. It may be divided into four grand divisions.

1st, The northern division, which contains the provinces of Erreef,^¶ El Garb, Benihassen, Temsena, Shawia, Tedla, and the district of Fas;^** these are inhabited by Arabs of various tribes, living in tents, whose original stock inhabit Sahara; to which may be added the various tribes of Berebbers, inhabiting the mountains of Atlas,^* and the intermedial plains, of which the chief clans or Kabyles are the Girwan, Ait Imure, Zian,^† Gibbellah, and Zimurh-Shelluh.

The principal towns of this division are, Fas (old and new city, called by the Arabs Fas Jeddede and Fas el Balie), Mekinas, or Mequinas, Tetuan, Tangier, Arzilla, El Araiche, Sla, or Salée, Rabat, Al Kassar, Fedalla, Dar-el-beida, and the Sanctuary of Muley Dris Zerone, where the Mohammedan religion was first planted in West Barbary.

2d, The central division; which contains the provinces of Dukella or Duquella, Abda, Shedma, Haha, and the district of Marocco.^‡ The chief towns being Marocco, Fruga, Azamore, Mazagan, Tet, Al Waladia, Asfie, or Saffee, Sueerah, or Mogodor.^§

3d, The southern division; containing the provinces of Draha and Suse; which latter is inhabited by many powerful tribes or Kabyles, the chief of which are Howara, Emsekina, Exima, Idautenan, Idaultit, Ait-Atter, Wedinoon, Kitiwa, Ait-Bamaran, Messa, and Shtuka; of these Howara, Wedinoon, and half of Ait-Bamaran are Arabs; the others are Shelluhs. The principal towns of this division are Terodant, Agadeer,^* or Santa Cruz, Inoon, or Noon, Ifran, or Ufran, Akka, Tatta, Messa, and Dar-Delemie.

4th, The eastern division, which lies to the east of the Atlas, and is called Tafilelt; it was formerly a separate kingdom. A river of the same name passes through this territory, on the banks of which the present Emperor’s father, Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah, built a magnificent palace. There are many other adjacent buildings and houses inhabited by sherreefs, or Mohammedan princes of the present dynasty, with their respective establishments.^†

^* Marakusha in the original Arabic; and called by the Spaniards Marruccos.

^† Commonly called Tafilet.

^‡ In many maps called Tremecin.

^§ Commonly called Sigelmessa.

^|| Commonly called Biledulgerid.

^¶ It is through this province that the chain of mountains called the Lesser Atlas passes, viz. from Tangier to Bona, in the Kingdom of Algiers.

^** Commonly called Fez.

^* The Atlas mountains are called in Arabic Jibbel Attils, i. e. the mountains of snow; hence, probably, the word Atlas.

^† Zian is a warlike tribe; it lately opposed an imperial army of upwards of thirty thousand men. This Kabyle is defended from attacks by rugged and almost inaccessible passes.

^‡ By the negligence of authors Marocco has been called Morocco, as Mohammed or Muhammed has been transformed to Mahommed, and Mohammedan to Mahommedan.

^§ Sueerah is the proper name; Europeans have called it Mogodor, from a saint who was buried a mile from the town, called Sidy Mogodool, which last word, from oral tradition, has been corrupted to Mogador, and sometimes to Mogadore.

^* Agadeer is the Arabian name, Guertguessem the ancient African name, and Santa Cruz is the Portugueze appellation.

^† The modern Arabs divide Northern Africa into three grand divisions: the first extends from the Equator to the Nile el Abeede, or river of Nigritia, and is called Soudan, which is an African word indicative of black, the inhabitants being of that colour: the second extends from the river of Soudan to Bled-el jerrêde, and is denominated Sahara, from the aridity and flatness of the land: the third division comprises Bled-el-jerrêde, the maritime states of Barbary, Egypt, and Abyssinia. Some authors have affirmed that Bled-el-jerrêde signifies the Country of Dates; others, that it signifies the Country of Locusts; dates certainly abound there; but the name does not imply dates. Jerâad is the Arabic for locusts; but it is a different word from Jerrêde, which signifies dry.

CHAPTER II.

Rivers, Mountains, and Climate of Marocco.

THE following are the principal rivers in the empire of Marocco:

The Muluwia, which separates the empire from Angad and Tlemsen, rises at the foot of the Atlas, and, passing through the desert of Angad, discharges itself into the Mediterranean about thirty miles S. E. of Mellilla. This is a deep and impetuous stream, impassable in (Liali) the period between the 20th of December and 30th of January inclusive, or the forty shortest days, as computed by the old style; in summer it is not only fordable, but often quite dry, and is called from that circumstance El Bahar billa ma, or, a sea without water.

El Kose, or Luccos, at El Araiche, so called from its arched windings, El Kose signifying in the Arabic of the western Arabs an arch. Ships of 100 or 150 tons may enter this river at high water; it abounds in the fish called shebbel: it is never fordable, but ferries are constantly crossing with horses, camels, passengers and their baggage, &c.

The Baht rises in the Atlas, and partly loses itself in the swamps and lakes of the province of El Garb; the other branch probably falls into the river Seboo.

The Seboo is the largest river in West Barbary; it rises in a piece of water situated in the midst of a forest, near the foot of Atlas, eastward of the cities of Fas and Mequinas, and winding through the plains, passes within six miles of Fas. Another stream, proceeding from the south of Fas, passes through the city, and discharges itself into this river: this stream is of so much value to the Fasees, from supplying the town with water, that it is called (Wed el Juhor) the river of pearls. Some auxiliary streams proceeding from the territory of Tezza fall into the Seboo in Liali (the period before mentioned). This river is impassable except in boats, or on rafts. At Meheduma, or Mamora, where it enters the ocean, it is a large, deep, and navigable stream; but the port being evacuated, foreign commerce is annihilated, and little shipping has been admitted since the Portugueze quitted the place. This river abounds more than any other in that rich and delicate fish called shebbel. If there were any encouragement to industry in this country, corn might be conveyed up the Seboo to Fas at a very low charge, whereas it is now transported to that populous city on camels, the expense of the hire of which often exceeds the original cost of the grain.

The Bu Regreg.—This river rises in one of the mountains of Atlas, and proceeding through the woods and valleys of the territory of Fas, traverses the plains of the province of Beni Hassen, and discharges itself into the ocean between the towns of Salée and Rabat, the former being on the northern, the latter on the southern bank: here some of the Emperor’s sloops of war, which are denominated by his subjects frigates, are laid up for the winter. This river is never fordable, but ferries are constantly passing to and fro.

The Morbeya also rises in the Atlas mountains, and dividing the territory of Fas from the province of Tedla, passes through a part of Shawia, and afterwards separates that province and Temsena from Duquella; dividing that part of the empire west of Atlas into two divisions. There was a bridge over this river at a short distance from the pass called Bulawan, built b...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Advertisement
• Preface
• List of Plates
• Contents
• Chapter I.
• Chapter II.
• Chapter III.
• Chapter IV.
• Chapter V.
• Chapter VI.
• Chapter VII.
• Chapter VIII.
• Chapter IX.
• Chapter X.
• Chapter XI.
• Chapter XII.
• Chapter XIII.