Aghmat
Coordinates: 31 ° 25 ′ 5.9 ″ N , 7 ° 46 ′ 25.3 ″ W.
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Aghmat ( Central Atlas Tamazight ⴰⵗⵎⴰⵜ Aɣmat , locally pronounced Ughmat, Uɣmat , the first letter "A" may be mute, Arabic أغمات, DMG Aghamāt ) was an important medieval Berber trading town in southern Morocco . Today the archaeological site is known as Joumâa Aghmat .
According to a Berber legend, Aghmat was originally inhabited by Christian tribes before it was conquered by Arab forces under Uqba ibn Nafi , the Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya , in 683 . However, the story did not emerge until 700 years later, which is why many historians have expressed doubts about its authenticity . In addition, al-Baladhuri , one of the first Muslim-Persian historians, contradicts the legend with his claim that Musa ibn Nusair occupied the Souss plain and built the mosque of Aghmat in the process.
The gold dinars of the Almoravid Empire were minted in Aghmat .
location
The archaeological site of Aghmat is located on the lower reaches of the Oued Ourika about 32 km (driving distance) southeast of Marrakech at an altitude of about 500 m .
history
After Idris II died in 828, Morocco was divided among his sons. Aghmat became the capital of the Souss region under the Idrisid prince Abdallah, the son of Idris II.
When the Almoravids under the leadership of Abdallah ibn Yasin moved north from the Sahara, Aghmat was defended by Laqut, the leader of the Berber tribe of the Magrawa . Laqut lost battle and life; the Almoravids entered on the 23rd Rabi II 450 (June 27th 1058).
Laqut's rich widow Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyat married the Almoravid leader Abu Bakr ibn Umar and made her considerable fortune available to him. After the coup of Yusuf ibn Tashfin against his cousin Abu Bakr (1071) he took Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyat as his wife.
By 1068/1069 the population had grown noticeably and Abu Bakr decided to found a new capital. He began building Marrakech around 1070, which heralded the slow decline of Aghmat. The Almoravids used it as an exile for exiles. One of them was Muhammad al-Mutamid , the former king of the Taifa Empire of Seville and Cordoba and a well-known poet. His grave is still a destination of pilgrimages to this day. After Aghmat, Abdallah ibn Buluggin , the former king of Granada , was also exiled. During this time he wrote his memoirs.
In the years 1126, 1127 and 1130 the city was the scene of several battles between the Almoravid king Ali ibn Yusuf and the Almohad army under the command of Abu Abdallah ibn Tumart and Abd al-Mu'min . After a general flight of Almoravid forces through Morocco and Algeria, Abd al-Mu'min Aghmat entered without a fight on the middle day of Muharram 541 (June 27, 1146).
In 1860 the city had 5,500 inhabitants, including around 1,000 Jews. Today she is abandoned.
economy
Abu Ubaid al-Bakri wrote in the 11th century, on the eve of the Almoravid seizure of power, of Aghmat as a flourishing city, where 100 cattle and 1000 sheep were slaughtered for the souq every Sunday . The inhabitants chose their leader themselves. Strictly speaking, there were two Aghmats: the commercial and political center was known as Aghmat Wurika , about 13 km further was Aghmat Aylan , which was closed to foreigners. The city had heavy traffic with the seaport of Quz on the Atlantic coast, three day trips west of Aghmat.
Younger story
On November 18, 1950, a group of Moroccan nationalists from the Istiqlal party held a demonstration against the French occupation of Morocco at Al-Mutamid's grave. The rally was ended in bloody fashion by the police on orders from Boujanes, the Qaid of the local Mesfioua tribe. Subsequent actions became one of the major disruptive factors between Boujane's superior, the powerful Pasha of Marrakech Thami el-Glaoui, and the King of Morocco, Mohammed V , which ultimately led to the king's temporary disempowerment.
Excavation site
- The ruins of Aghmat that are visible today consist of parts of the city wall, a hammam , parts of houses and some qanats (irrigation channels).
- Al-Mutamid's tomb is marked by a modern mausoleum . It was built in 1970 and has a small dome in the Almoravid architectural style.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ E. Lévi-Provençal: Un nouveau récit de la conquête de l'Afrique du Nord. In: Arabica. Volume 1, 1954, pp. 17-43.
- ↑ A. Benabbès: Les premiers raids arabes en Numidie byzantine. Questions toponymiques. In: Identités et Cultures dans l'Algérie Antique. University of Rouen, 2005, ISBN 2-87775-391-3 .
- ^ Al-Baladhuri , translation by Phillip Hitti : Kitab Futuh al-Buldan . In: The Origins of the Islamic State. 1916, 1924.
- ↑ a b Ibn Abi Tsar : Rawd al-Qirtas . Spanish translation by A. Huici Miranda, Valencia, 1964.
- ↑ a b Ibn Idhari : Al-bayan al-mughrib . Part III, Spanish translation by A. Huici Miranda, Valencia, 1963.
- ↑ A. Beaumier: notes to the French translation of Rawd al-Qirtas , Paris 1860th
- ↑ Al Bakri : Kitāb al-Masalik wa'l-Mamalik , French translation by M. de Slane, Paris.
- ↑ also Aguz today as Souira Guedima known
- ^ Abdessadeq El Glaoui: Le Ralliement. Le Glaoui, Mon Père. ISBN 9981-149-79-9 .