Khénifra
| Khénifra | |||||
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| Basic data | |||||
| State : |
 Morocco
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| Region : | Béni Mellal-Khénifra | ||||
| Province : | Khénifra | ||||
| Coordinates | 32 ° 56 ′ N , 5 ° 40 ′ W | ||||
| Residents : | 117,510 (2014) | ||||
| Area : | 13.9 km² | ||||
| Population density : | 8,454 inhabitants per km² | ||||
| Height : | 835 m | ||||
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Khénifra ( Arabic خنيفرة, DMG Ḫunaifira , Central Atlas Tamazight ⵅⵏⵉⴼⵕⴰ Xenifṛa ) is the approximately 118,000 inhabitants (2014) counting capital of the eponymous province in the region of Beni Mellal-Khénifra in the center of Morocco . Since the Alawi Sultan Mulai Ismail had a kasbah built at the end of the 17th century , the city has been largely under the influence of the sultans . It is a commercial and commercial center as well as a market place for agricultural products and a center for sheep breeding.
Location and climate
Khénifra is located on the Oum er-Rbia river at an altitude of approx. 835 m on the western edge of the Middle Atlas on the national road 8 (route impériale) , which was of great importance in the Middle Ages as a camel caravan route between Fez in the northeast and Marrakech in the south. The next larger city to the north is Azrou , about 82 km (driving distance) away ; Kasba Tadla and Beni-Mellal are approx. 100 and 125 km south-west and the city of Midelt is approx. 135 km south-east . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 635 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.
Names
The origin of the name Khénifra is interpreted differently. It could be derived from the Berber khanfar , which translates as “attack” and appears plausible in the eventful history of the region. An alternative reason is the anecdote of a strong man who is said to have harassed passers-by on the street. There is also the popular game akhanfer , which means "to catch". The descent from al-hafra ("pit") would refer to the location between the mountains. The addition to the name Khénifra al-hamra ("the red Khénifra") could mean the reddish brown country or the reddish house facades.
population
| year | 1994 | 2004 | 2014 |
| Residents | 83.040 | 101.605 | 117,510 |
The majority of the population is of Berber descent; Both regional Berber dialects and Moroccan Arabic are spoken .
history
With the conquest by the Almoravids in 1057/58, the region began for centuries in the border area between the land administered by the sultans (bled al- makhzen ) and the sphere of influence of various Berber tribes, i.e. the "land of the apostates" (bled as-siba) to lie down. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Berber Dila brotherhood posed a threat to the ruling Alawid dynasty. Sultan Mulai ar-Raschid drove out the Sufi order in 1668/69 ; In 1677 his successor Mulai Ismail was able to achieve a victory over the returned warriors only with difficulty. The area at the foot of the mountains was a winter camp for cattle nomads of the Ait-Affi tribe, a branch of the Zaian Berbers. Nothing more is known about the history of Khenifra before the fighting between the Sultan's troops and the Berbers.
The area became a battlefield for centuries. The Alawites -Sultan Moulay al-Rashid defeated the Berber 1668/69 Sufi -Bruderschaft of Dila and destroyed her lying near Kasba Tadla Headquarters ( Zawiya ). The chief marabout and his companions fled to the Ottoman- controlled Tlemcen (now in northwestern Algeria). With Ottoman support, the Dila-Marabout Ahmad al-Dalai returned from exile in 1677, had the Zawiya restored and again received the support of most of the tribes from the Tadla region and the Middle Atlas against the Sultan. The successor to ar-Raschid, Sultan Mulai Ismail , was able to achieve a victory over the order only with difficulty in 1677. In 1688, Mulai Ismail had a fortified settlement ( kasbah ) built in Khénifra to secure his empire along the caravan route (Makhzen road) . Other kasbahs sprang up in a row in Kasba Tadla, Beni-Mellal and other places. These fortresses along the border of the Makhzen country had to withstand Berber attacks again and again.
Since 1877, all tribal groups of the Zaian Berbers, considered xenophobic, were under the command of Moha ou Hammou ( Caid Moha ou Hammou ez-Zaiani from the Zaian tribal group Ait Harkat, around 1857-1921). Initially, this influential man was on the Sultan's side. However, he soon turned away from the central government and began raiding caravans and attacking the surrounding towns as far as Meknes . After signing the Protectorate Treaty in November 1912, he took up the fight against the French armed forces and declared jihad . In the spring of 1913 the French began their advance towards the Middle Atlas along the Makhzen Street, which had become the base of operations for all opponents of central rule. Khénifra, the base of Moha ou Hammons fighters, was attacked during Operation Lyautey by three contingents of troops who had advanced from Meknes, Rabat and Kasba Tadla. 14,000 men were involved under the command of Colonel Paul Henrys. The advance on the city began on June 10, 1914. Despite heavy resistance, an empty city was captured on June 12. The caid and his people had withdrawn in time. To set up a defensive line of defense against the Atlas Mountains, four battalions were stationed in Khénifra . In the following weeks there were several Berber attacks on the French position in the city. Later that summer, Moha ou Hammon set up winter camp around 12 kilometers south of Khénifra in el-Herri. The situation seemed to calm down as some members of the tribe began to contact the city and conduct trade. Nevertheless, Khénifra remained a besieged garrison town.
The outbreak of World War I forced the French to change their strategy. Resident General Hubert Lyautey had to abandon his plans for rapid French expansion, some troops were sent back to Europe and "active defense" became a catchphrase for Morocco. Lyautey visited Khénifra on October 5, 1914 and gave instructions to keep as little contact as possible with the insurgents during the fragile ceasefire. This contrasted with the decision of the Commander of Khénifra, Colonel René Laverdure, to attack the base of operations at Moha ou Hammon in el-Herri in order to destroy it. On November 13, 1914, Laverdure had his troops march against the tent camp. The Berbers were taken by surprise and fled while the French destroyed the camp. On the way back, however, the French troops were attacked by several thousand Zaians from the surrounding mountains. Of the six French companies, two men with cannons and one cavalry unit (about 1230 men in total), 613 soldiers including Laverdure were killed. Only the wounded who had already been sent back reached the city. Khénifra narrowly escaped the fate of being conquered. In that case, the entire line of defense at the Middle Atlas would have collapsed. For Lyautey, the entire protectorate seemed to fail at Khénifra; the worst losses remained during the "pacification" actions in the interior. The struggle in this region did not end until 1921 with the death of the Caid.
Cityscape
At the beginning of the 1970s, Khénifra still had around 13,000 residents, ten years later there were 20,000. At the 1994 census, the population was 60,835, the next 2004 census showed 72,672. For 2010, the number was extrapolated to 80,263.
Khénifra lies on both sides of the Oum er-Rbia, which meanders through the city in a north-south direction in a narrow river bed. Because of its high flow speed, there was never a ford, so Mulai Ismail had a bridge built at the same time as the kasbah in the 17th century. The three-arched stone bridge with a large central pointed arch and two small side openings is the only attraction in the city and is called - probably because of the Christian prisoners who built it - Pont Portugais , as is a much longer bridge in Kasba Tadla. The modern business and residential districts with elongated apartment blocks along wide streets are painted uniformly in the typical red-brown color. They are on the left (east) side of the river. In addition to the Pont Portugais , two new road bridges lead to the right bank of the river. Spacious, simple residential areas have arisen around the small old medina with its market area. There are hardly any ruins left of the kasbah des Moha ou Hammou . At least until the early 1970s there were still small remnants of the Kasbah Mulai Ismails.
Town twinning
Carrières-sous-Poissy in the French region of Île-de-France is twin town of Khénifra,
sons and daughters of the town
- Mohamed Rouicha (1950–2012), composer, musician and singer
- Jaouad Gharib (* 1972), long-distance runner
- Soufiane Haddi (* 1991), racing cyclist
- Aziz Lahbabi (* 1991), Moroccan long-distance runner
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Khenifra - climate tables
- ↑ Khenifra l'historique. ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. khenifra.ws
- ↑ Khenifra - population development etc.
- ^ 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, p. 34
- ^ William A. Hoisington: Lyautey and the French conquest of Morocco. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 1995, p. 74, ISBN 978-0312125295
- ↑ Moshe Gershovich: French Military Rule in Morocco: Colonialism and Its Consequences. Routledge, London 2000, p. 101
- ↑ William A. Hoisington, pp. 65-69
- ↑ William A. Hoisington, pp. 74 f .; Moshe Gershovich, p. 102 f.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. World Gazetter
- ^ Arnold Betten: Morocco. Antiquity, Berber Traditions and Islam - History, Art and Culture in the Maghreb. DuMont, Ostfildern 2009, p. 250f
- ↑ Website Carrières-sous-Poissy - Jumelage ( Memento des Originals from October 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
