Bejaâd

Bejaâd
Help on coat of arms Bejaâd
Basic data
State :	Morocco
Region :	Béni Mellal-Khénifra
Province :	Khouribga
Coordinates	32 ° 46 ′  N , 6 ° 24 ′  W Coordinates: 32 ° 46 ′  N , 6 ° 24 ′  W
Residents :	46,893 (2014)
Area :	12.1 km²
Population density :	3,875 inhabitants per km²
Height :	550  m
Boujad - main square from colonial times

Bejaâd or Boujad ( Arabic أبي الجعد, Central Atlas Tamazight ⴱⵊⵊⵄⴷ Bjjɛd ) is a medium-sized city in the region Beni Mellal-Khénifra in Morocco . When the Cherkaoui Brotherhood set up their headquarters ( Zaouia ) here in the 16th century , Bejaâd developed into an important place of pilgrimage and regional trading center. The specialty of the place is the political and economic dominance of this popular Islamic movement over the centuries.

location

Bejaâd is located on the northern edge of the Tadla plain , south of the Middle Atlas and approx. 60 km (driving distance) north of Beni Mellal at an altitude of approx. 585  m . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 515 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter months.

population

year	1994	2004	2014
Residents	33,321	40,513	46,893

For the year 1970 18,000 inhabitants were estimated. The current population of Bejaâd consists mainly of members of various Berber groups in the area who have immigrated since the 1950s.

economy

The southern, more fertile part of the Tadla Plain is irrigated by the Oum er-Rbia River and canals derived from the Atlas Mountains. The plain north of the river with Bejaâd in the center is cultivated in rain- fed fields or supplied with groundwater, the soils here are thinner and very calcareous. Grains are sown before the start of the rainy season, which begins at the end of October. The harvest takes place in early June. Then the herds of cattle move to their summer pastures in the mountains; in winter the herds of cattle and goats graze on the plain.

Shortly before the beginning of the French protectorate around 1900, phosphate was discovered about 25 kilometers north of Bejaâd . The dismantling began on a larger scale only after the end of the First World War . The main place for the Corvée workers in the phosphate mines was initially Oued Zem , and from the 1920s onwards Khouribga .

The colorful Berber carpets from the Bejaâd area, with their often very simple geometric motifs, are internationally known.

history

Up until the 16th century, Bejaâd was the place of a winter camp for the various Berber tribes of the region: Beni Zemmur , Smaala , Beni Khiran , Beni Meskin , Werdigha , Ait Rbaa , Beni Amir and Beni Musa . At the end of the 16th century, the Sufi brotherhood ( Tarīqa ) of the Cherkaoui founded their ancestral home ( Zawiya ) here . The brotherhood goes back to Sidi Mohammed Charki († 1601). Every Cherkaoui is defined by its patrilineal descent from the founder of the order. Its holiness is based on its spiritual chain of descent ( Silsila ) , which is traced back to the Prophet . The direction of Islam practiced by the Cherkaoui is characterized by a high degree of veneration of saints and is therefore attributed to maraboutism . These popular Islamic currents were the predominant form of Islam in the Maghreb until the end of the 19th century . From the 17th century the Zawiya acquired a religious significance, Bejaâd became the only major city in the Tadla Plain and one of the most important religious centers in the interior of Morocco. The town's residents consisted of Cherkaoui supporters, their slaves and business associates. The latter included many Jews , who until their complete departure before 1970 made up a larger proportion of the population.

For centuries the city lay on the border between the land administered by the sultans (bilad al- makhzen ) and the "land of the renegades" (bilad al-siba) , which was under the influence of various Berber tribes. The rise of the Cherkaoui was connected with the expulsion of the Dila brotherhood by the Alawid sultan Mulai ar-Raschid . When he perceived the Dila order in the "land of the apostate" as a threat, he destroyed its headquarters near Kasba Tadla, 50 kilometers southeast of Bejaâd, in 1668/69 and drove the Dila fighters into exile in Tlemcen . Almost ten years later the Dilas returned militarily strengthened and, with the support of most of the Berber tribes of the Middle Atlas, rebuilt their center of the order. At the end of the 1680s, Mulai Ismail , the successor to ar-Raschid, had a series of fortified settlements ( kasbahs ) built to secure his sultan's power on the eastern border. The kasbah closest to Bejaâd was Kasba Tadla. The role of the Cherkaoui in the ongoing conflict between the two spheres of influence is unclear; they were closely linked to both sides. Under the protection of the Cherkaoui, Bejaâd was a market center, and the Cherkaoui managed a communal granary for the regional Berber tribes until the 18th century.

The French priest Charles de Foucauld , who was traveling through Morocco from Algeria and pretending to be a Jew, gave a detailed account of the living situation at the end of the 19th century . From 6 to 17 September 1883 he stayed in the city of Bejaâd, whose population he estimated to be less than 2,000. According to his descriptions, the Cherkaoui operated as a regional protective power. Dealers and buyers had to hand over their weapons to the head of the Zawiya or his representative before entering the market. The main route for camel caravans led via Bejaâd to Casablanca in about four days. The journey to Marrakech lasted eight days and was more dangerous as the Cherkaoui did not maintain good relations with all tribes. For the caravans, which consisted of 200 to 300 camels, Cherkaoui also took over the escort. Tea, rice, sugar, clothing, household goods and luxury items were imported from the coast, while the nomads and farmers in Bejaâd mostly exchanged animal products such as hides, wool, camels, horses, sheep, goats, beeswax and grain.

In the 1920s, more nomadic tribes than before began to settle in the Tadla. The poor people built houses with tin roofs scattered across the fields, the walls of which were made of reading stones or mats covered with mud. The latter dwellings are called Nwala in Morocco . At the end of the 1930s the population was estimated at 1,700, including about 200 Jews. In contrast to other Moroccan cities, these did not live in special quarters ( mellahs ) , only a small area that surrounded the synagogue was called mellah . The Jews settled across the city around the houses of the richest Jews. They were particularly active in the grain trade, and also traded in clothes and jewelry. Every Jewish family was in contact with certain Cherkaoui on whose protection it was dependent.

After 1912, Bejaâd lost its importance as a trading center. The region's low economic power is evident from the below-average growth of the rural population during the 20th century. Bejaâd had the lowest population growth of all the towns in the northern Tadla region until the 1970s. Around the turn of the millennium, the population had doubled from 1970.

Cherkaoui Brotherhood

The Cherkaoui gained wealth through donations from pilgrims, trade with the sultan's government (Makhzen), and agricultural income. Most of the land was owned by individual Cherkaoui families, the majority of which were irrigated gardens that were tended by slaves. The population paid their taxes to the head (representative, Mqaddem ) of the Cherkaoui, as religious poor tax Zakāt and as Ashur (from Arabic “ten”, a public tax approved by the Sultan corresponding to the tithe ) to a certain marabout. In return, the inhabitants of Bejaâd were not, as is customary in Sultan's land, obliged to do corvée work or military service.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Cherkaoui had enough power to determine the Qādī of the city themselves , who had been appointed by the Sultan . In return, the Cherkaoui undertook to represent the sultan's interests on certain occasions. In general, the Cherkaoui in Bejaâd in the border area between the Makhzen and the tribal areas had alternating relationships with both.

Until the death of Mulai al-Hassan I in 1894, there were no major disputes between the Sultan's government and the then Cherkaoui head, Sidi al- Hajj al-Arbi. With the subsequent sultan, the minor Abd al-Aziz , there was a dispute over the succession to the throne. Some members of the court rebelled against the Sultan and were hostile to the Cherkaoui. When his brother and adversary Mulai Abd al-Hafiz came to power in 1908, the Cherkaoui lost their support at the Sultan's court. With the beginning of colonial rule, the Cherkaoui established relationships with the French. In 1913 the colonial power established a military post. At that time, there were two warring Cherkaoui leaders (the Arbawi and Zawiya lineage groups) who ruled the same tribe. Both became the most important allies of the French in the northern Tadla Plain and, as "Friends of France", were granted the right in 1912 to appoint the Kadi (Arbawi faction) and the Kaid (tribal leader during the Protectorate, Zawiya faction).

Every year at the beginning of September a collective pilgrimage ( Moussem , Arabic mausim , Pl. Mawāsim ) to the holy tombs ( Qubbas ) in Bejaād is organized. Individual pilgrims can visit the holy places ( Ziyāra , Pl. Ziyārāt ) at any time . In doing so, they leave gifts or donations of money and in return receive something from the blessing power ( baraka ) of the holy place or the holy person ( wali ) . The moussems are staged with processions and singing events . The pilgrimage lasts a month. The traditional journey is made by donkeys, horses and tents, larger distances are covered by coaches. Each tour group spends around three to four days in the city. In September 1969, an estimated 25,000 pilgrims came in two weeks.

Besides the Cherkaoui there are a few members of other Sufi brotherhoods in Bejaâd. The Tariqas of the Tijani and Qadiriyya are widespread nationwide . The Kittaniya also has a Zawiya in the city. In addition to these recognized Sufi orders, there are also regional ecstatic associations whose religious practices have diverged from orthodox Islam. These include the Hammadscha - they worship the spiritual being Aisha Qandisha , the Heddawa, Derqawa and Issawa. Its members come mainly from the lower classes of the population. Some of them are the descendants of former black African slaves who work as day laborers, musicians or snake charmers. Their meetings take place in private houses, only the Hamadscha have their own zawiya, which is attached to the shrine of Cherkaoui Sidi al-Hafyan. This is considered to be the mystical teacher of its founder Sidi Ali (Sīdī ʿAlī ibn Ḥamdūš). Al-Hafyan, for his part, was a student of Bouabid Sharqi (Būʿabīd Šarqī), the patron saint of horsemen, who lived around 1600 and is also buried in Bejaād.

Cityscape

Bejaâd lies between lightly forested hills that are dry during the summer months, which are up to 40 ° C. Oasis gardens with date palms , olive trees and pomegranates extend to the southern outskirts, with vegetables such as carrots, peas and pumpkins growing in between. In the north, the smaller gardens have been built over with residential houses since the 1970s, which now stretch up the hill. A rocky, practically vegetation-free plateau extends to the east. In the 16th century, Bejaâd was still surrounded by dense forests; as early as the 1880s, these were so destroyed that firewood had to be brought from the foothills of the Middle Atlas from at least ten kilometers away.

The main street crosses the city center in an east-west direction. Most of the public buildings are located in their vicinity. The narrow streets of the old town ( medina ) begin to the south, while the new town, planned at right angles, extends to the north. The trunk road leads south on the western edge of the city. The bus station is next to it and further north, at the junction with the main street, the city hospital. A central, newly created square on the site of an old market area in front of today's city administration delimits the west side of the medina.

The market, surrounded on three sides by arcades painted white, dates from the colonial era . Behind each arcade there is a sales room (Ḥānūt) . The complex was designed in the late 1920s by a French administrative employee (officier des Affaires Indigènes) , who was inspired by a photo of the arcades around the Kaaba in Mecca and thought something similar was suitable for the pilgrimage site of Bejaâd. Market days are Wednesday and Thursday. On those days the population tripled earlier. In 1970 the market was split for 838 traders and craftsmen. The Jewish and a few European shops were taken over by Muslims after Morocco's independence.

Boujad - square in the medina

In contrast to other Moroccan cities, the old town was never surrounded by a wall, the baraka (here as a defense force) of the Cherkaouis was regarded as sufficient protection. The old town is divided into about 25 quarters (rough) , and over 40 small districts are named for the entire city. The white, mostly two-story old town houses are built close together and connected by a network of winding streets. In the past, a number of gates made it possible to close the streets, each quarter separately and thus the city as a whole at night.

During the colonial period only a few Europeans lived in the city, regardless of which a European urban planning can be recognized. This can be seen most clearly in the monotonous course of the road in the Neustadt in the north, planned around 1930. According to the same scheme, all Moroccan cities were divided into traditional quarters, quarters for a "developed" Moroccan class (here in the north) and for Europeans (in the west). In the west, the Service de l'Urbanisme created a park, a swimming pool and a tennis court not far from the city administration in 1929.

Sultan Mulai Sulaiman had the oldest mosque built in 1805; a second mosque was completed in 1973 on the northwestern edge of the old town. In the 1970s there were 26 marabout shrines (qubbas) in Bejaâd , of which 23 were for Cherkaoui saints. The most important grave building belongs to the founder of the order Sidi Mohammed Cherqi. His qubba is decorated inside with mosaics, tapestries, candles and a collection of European pendulum clocks. There are several, more simply designed shrines of his children.

sons and daughters of the town

• Yehuda Lancry (* 1947), Israeli politician
• Amir Peretz (* 1952), Israeli politician

literature

• Dale F. Eickelman: Moroccan Islam. Tradition and Society in a Pilgrimage Center. (Modern Middle East Series, No. 1) University of Texas Press, Austin / London 1976
• Ingeborg Lehmann, Rita Henss: Morocco. Karl Baedeker, Ostfildern 2009, p. 323, ISBN 978-3829711562

Web links

• Les tissages traditionnels de Boujad. Royaume du Maroc, Secrétariat d'Etat chargé de l'Artisanat, Direction de la Preservation du Patrimonine, de l'Innovation et la Promotion, 2010

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Khouribga. Province in Béni Mellal - Khénifra. City population
2. ↑ Bejaâd - Map with altitude information
3. ↑ Bejaâd - climate tables
4. ↑ Bejaâd - carpets
5. ↑ Eickelman, pp. 33-35
6. ↑ Eickelman, p. 70
7. ↑ Eickelman, pp. 44f, 54
8. ↑ Eickelman, pp. 58f
9. ↑ EL ASSIL-1er Festival du chant Saufi à Boujad (4 sur 5). Youtube video of sufi singing ( Dhikr ) at a mousse in Bejaâd
10. ↑ Eickelman, p. 84
11. ↑ Eickelman, pp. 82f
12. ↑ Vincent Crapanzano : The Ḥamadša. An ethno-psychiatric examination in Morocco. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1981, p. 45 ( English original on Google books )
13. ↑ Eickelman, pp. 72-75