User:WRYSM/Ath Bethroun

Ath Bethroun, Ait Bethroun or also At Bethroune (in Kabyle: At Betrun, in Arabic: بني بترون) was an ancient and powerful confederation of Berber tribes (taqbilt) made up of four Kabyle tribes (âarchs) : Ath Yenni (Beni Yenni), Ath Wasif (Ouacif), Ath Budrar (Iboudraren) and the Ath Bou-Akkach (southern part of the Ouacif commune). The Ath Bethroun ar part of the Zouaoua and are localized in the south-east of the province of Tizi Ouzou in Greater Kabylia, Algeria. They're neighbours of the Aït Menguellet in the east, the Aït Irathen in the north, the At Sedqa in the west, and the Imcheddalen (M'Chedallah) in the south.

According to Charles Devaux, they call themselves « the heart of the Zouaoua », they are of fierce customs, very rigid in the observation of their qanouns (jewelry). The confederation is known for its weapons industry (muskets, flissas ect...) and its handcraft (bijoux). In the Ath Budrar, the Ath Wasif, and especially the Ath Yenni, there were good blacksmiths whose art was more perfected. The Ath Bethroun were also known for making counterfeit money during the Ottoman period. They were the most industrious of the Zouaouas.

Etymology
Ath Bethroun means « The sons of Bethroun », and Ath Yenni means « the sons of Yenni ». The Berber prefix « Aït » means « son of — » and is used for filiation, but it could also mean « those qof — » or « the people of — », like in Ath Wasif, which means « those of/people of the river » and Ath Budrar, which means « those of/the people of the mountain ». Ath Bethroun was mentionned by Ibn Khaldun in Arabic in the following form : Beni-Itroun.

Origins
According to the Arab historian of the XIVth century, Ibn Khaldun, the Ath Bethroun were one of the most remarkable tribes of the Zwawa, a tribe that lived in Greater Kabylia (from Bougie till Dellys) and was part of the great Berber branch of the Kutama who were the principal force of the Shia Fatimids. The Andalusian genealogist, Ibn Hazm, shared the same idea. But Ibn Khaldun says that after the Berber genealogists themselves, the Zwawa are Zenata who descend from Semgan, son of Yahya (Yedder), son of Dari, son of Zeddjîk (ou Zahhîk), son of Madghîs al-Abter, ancestor of the Berber group of the Botr, the other being the Baranis, which includes the Sanhaja and the Kutama. The hypothesis of Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Hazm is more likely to be true, even if he said that the Zwawa consier themsevles related to the Zenata by blood. The Berber origine of the Ath Bethroun is undeniable, but their precise tribal affiliation is hard to confirm.

According to the oral tradition, the Ath Yenni and the Ath Wasif have one ancestor whose name is Aïssam. Aïssam had two sons : Yenni, ancestor of the Ath Yenni, and Wasif, ancestor of the Ath Wasif.

Before the Ottoman period
The oldest historical mention of the Ath Bethroun dates from the XIVth century A.D. by the medieval historian, Ibn Khaldun, in his book, History of the Berbers (volume 1). Ibn Khaldun tells us :"Nowadays, the most remarkable Zwawawi tribes are the Beni Idjer, the Beni Manguellat, the Beni Itroun, the Beni Yenni, the Beni Bou-Ghardan, the Beni Itouragh, the Beni Bou-Yousef, the Beni Chayb, the Beni Aissi, the Beni Sadqa, the Beni Ghoubrin and the Beni Gechtoula"But the name must be older. The form of Ibn Khaldun for the Ath Bethrun, Beni-Itroun was found in Spain, precisely in the Balearic Islands, which was conquered by the Caliphate of Cordoba in the beginning of the Xth century after J.C. with an army partially made up of Berbers , but the Berbers conquered the islands two more times under the Almoravids and Almohads Berbers (1106 and 1203 after J.C. Going further back in time. The Zwawa, which incudes the Aït Betroun, have, alongside the Sanhaja and the Kutama, played a fundamental role in the creation of the Fatimid Caliphate by making up a part of the army which had defeated the Aghlabids and conquered most of the Maghreb and sicily Sicile as far as Egypte, the Levant and the Hedjaz. In the XIst century A.D., meaning during the period of the Sanhaja Hammadites (fraction des Zirids), Ibn Khaldun says :"The descendants of Hammad built the city of Bougie (Bejaïa) in the territory of the Zwawa and obliged them to submit."

During the Ottoman period
The Ath Bethrun never submitted to the regency of Algiers. At the beginning of the Ottoman rule in Algeria, the Ath Bethroun, like the rest of the Zouaoua, were part of the Kingdom of Kuku, whose ruling family, the Ath ou el-Kadhi, originated from the tribe of the Aït Ghobri. They also participated in battles alongside the Kingdom of Kuku, notably against the Kingdom of Ath Abbas in the XVIth century. During the war of the succession of the Iboukhtouchen (fraction of the Ath ou el-Kadhi) in the beginning of the XVIIIth century, the Ath Bethroun were divided in two : the Ath Wasif and the Ath Bou-Akkach joined the Çoff (party, tribal alliance) Oufella and took the side of Ourkho. But the Ath Yenni and the Ath Budrar joined the Çoff Bouadda and took the side of Ali, brother of Ourkho. After the collapse of the Kingdom of Kuku in the XVIIIth century, the Ath Bethroun kept their independance. They were part of the Çoff of the Igawawen alongside their neighbours, the Aït Menguellet, till the the French conquest in 1857.

In the year 1746 or 1747, the Ottomans under the command of Bey Mohammed Ben Ali (nicknamed « ed-Debbah », meaning the slayer) decided to submit the Ath Bethrroun, more precisely, the Ath Wasif. The bey tried to take away the tribe’s big market (Ssuq Sebt) by passing through the Aït Iraten, who were neutral. But the operation ended in a deadly fiasco for the Ottomans, who were obliged to withdraw, the Ottomans were defeated by the arms. An envoy from the bordj brings white bread to the Ath Wasif with the promise that, if they submit, this bread will become their daily food. « Bring his white bread back to the Bey, answer the Kabyles, and repeat to him that we prefer our red pepper, which makes the blood flow hotter in our veins and gives us even more eagerness to fight the foreigner. » After the defeat of the Ottoman forces against the other tribes of Great Kabylia, they will never again try to subdue the Zwawa.

Two or three years after the victory of the Ath Wasif against the Ottomans, an assembly took place in the territory of the Ath Wasif between the marabouts (saints) of the tribes of the Ath Bethroun, including a tribe that disappeared later, the Ath U Belqacem. In a traduction of the original manuscript in Arabic, it is written :"Everyone complained of a damaging state of affairs, a source of discord, unrest and conflict in the villages, tribes and confederation of Beni Betroun. The general assembly therefore pronounced, unanimously: 1 ° The exheredation of the woman; 2 ° The extinction of the right of withdrawal on fixed assets; 3 ° The extinction of the right of pre-emption for girls, sisters and orphans; 4 ° The forfeiture of the right to the nuptial donation for the repudiated woman, or widow."The Ath Bethroun weren't the only ones to apply these laws. Other Kabyle tribes, such as the Aït Fraoussen, the Aït Iraten, and their allies, the Ath Sedqa, made the same decision, even if it contradicts the Sharia, the Islamic law. The goal of this law is to prevent strangers, even when it comes to Kabyles from other tribes, to have land and other possessions in the local villages.

Before and during the assembly of 1749, the confederation of the Ath Bethroun had five tribes instead of four. One no longer exists, it's the tribe of the Ath U Belqacem. The tribe of the Ath U Belqacem included four villages : Tawrirt el Ḥeǧǧaǧ (formerly called « Taxabit »), Tassaft Ouguemoun, Aït Eurbaḥ et Aït Ɛli U Ḥerzun. All these villages have been absorbed by the neighbouring tribes in an unknown date, but after the assembly of 1749 during an internal tribal war, because the tribe was mentionned in the exheredation of the women manuscript. The Ath Yenni took Tawrirt El Ḥeǧǧaǧ (taxabit), The Ath Budrar took Aït Ɛli U Ḥerzun, Aït Eurbaḥ and Tassaft Ouguemoun, but the two last ones were retaken by Aït Ouacif.

Before the French colonisation, the tribes of the Ath Bethroun were known for making counterfeit money, especially in the village of Ath Larbɛa of the Ath Yenni. But there were aso many worshops established in the Ath Wasif and in Ath Ɛli U Ḥerzun de la tribu des Ath Budrar. The counterfeit money was called « tasekkakt » in Kabyle (pronunced« thasekkakth »).

French conquest
The conquest of the territory of the Zwawa wasn't done in an instant. The first meeting between the Zwawa and the French in a battlefield was in the year 1849 against the Gechtula. Many Kabyle tribes participated in this battle, including the Ath Bethroun, who have sent 1,200 fighters (on a total of 11,300 fighters), which includes fighters 700 from the Ath Wasif, 300 from the Ath Yenni and 200 from the village of Ath Ɛli U Ḥerzun (tribe of the Ath Budrar). The one who brought together many Kabyle contigents for the battle, Cherif Si-Djoudi, is himself from the Ath Bethroun, more precisely from the Ath Budrar. But the victory was in the hands of the French.

In the year 1854, the French led an attempt to conquer the rest of the Zouaoua territory under the command of theCapitaine François Wolff, and it ended in a Kabyle victory in the Battle of Higher Sebaou under the command of Lalla Fatma N'Soumer and Chérif Boubaghla. 3 years later, the French launched a definitive expedition against the insubmitted tribes of Great Kabylia, this time under the command of General Randon. The french troops marched against the Ath Iraten, then defeated them. The Ath Iraten submitted on the mai 28th. Just after that, their allies, the Ath Aissi, the Ath Fraoussen, the Ath Ghobri and others, also submitted. After the submission of the Ath Iraten and their allies, the colonial troops went against the Igawawen and won against the Ath Yenni, the Ath Mengellet and their allies. The French received their submissions on june 28th, a month after the submission of the Ath Iraten. One of the villages of the Ath Yenni, Ath Larbɛa, was destroyed and put on fire.

The French writer, Émile Carrey, tells us in his book, Récits de Kabylie: campagne de 1857 :"The submission Ath Iraten and the occupation of Ssuq Larbɛa carried out the first blows; Berber independence had been shaken by it, but it was still standing. The double defeat of Ichériden and the Yenni is the great defeat of Kabylia: all the tribes are not submitted, but all are defeated. The elite of their warriors succumbed in a supreme battle; the free tribe par excellence barely defended itself, and its territory is in the hands of the enemy."The confederation of the Ath Bethroun lost many of its men during the French period because of their resistance against the invader. For example, the village of Taourirt Mimoun of the Ath Yenni had around 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants in 1857, but in 1868, they had just 830 habitants and 770 in 1879 , 8 years after the Mokrani Revolte in which the Ath Bethroun participated. The whole tribe of the Ath Yenni had around 10,000 inhabitants in 1857, the population dropped to 2,378 habitants in 1868. these are only two examples, the other tribes of the Ath Bethroun, like the Ath Wasif and the Ath Budrar, also paid a lot of blood like the rest of the Kabyles.

The tribes
In 1878, the population of the Ath Bethroun was 19,749 inhabitants, divided in 23 villages. The confederation had a larger population than the Ath Mengellet and the Ath Iraten. During the French conquest, the confederation had the biggest number of muskets (4,535 muskets) compared to the rest of the Zwawa.

The Ath Bethroun confederation includes four tribes, which are as follows:


 * The Ath Yenni, who had 5,737 habitants spread over 6 villages in 2008 . The villages of the Ath Yenni are : Ath Lahcène, Ath Larbɛa, Taourirt Mimoun, Agouni Ahmed, Tigzirt et Taourirt el-Hadjadj. During the French conquest, they had 1,325 muskets, more than the other tribes of the confederation. The population of the Ath Yenni in 1879 was 5,139 inhhabitants.
 * The Ath Wasif, who had 6,500 inhabitants in 2008, while the commune of Ouacif, Which includes the Ath Bou-Akkach, had 10,313 inhabitants. They're spread over 7 villages : Ath Abbes, Zoubga, Ath Bou-Abderahmane, Tiqidount, Tiqichourt, Ath Eurbaḥ et Tassaft Ouguemoun. During the French conquest, they had 1,220 muskets. The population of the Ath Wasif in 1879 was 5,532 inhhabitants.
 * The Ath Budrar, who had around 4,500 inhabitants in 2008, while the commune of Iboudraren, which included two Ath Wasif villages, had 5,398. They're spread in 6 villages : Ighil Bouammas, Tala n-Tazart, Ath Ali Ou-Ḥarzoun, Bouadnane, Derna et Ath Ouabane During the French conquest, the had 1,225 muskets. The population of the Ath Budrar in 1879 was 5,958 inhabitants, it was the most populated tribe of the Ath Bethroun.
 * The Ath Bou-Akkach who had around 3,500 habitants in 2008. The Ath Bou-Akkach are part of the commune ofOuacif, which had 10,313 inhabitants in 2008. The Ath Bou-Akkach are spread in 4 villages : Tiroual, Zaknoun, Tiguemmounin, Ath Sidi-Athmane. During the French conquest, they had 765 muskets. inhabitants.

Keep in mind that only the numbers of the current inhabitants of the tribes' communes are inclued. So many Kabyles from these tribes live in big Algerian cities, such as Algiers and Oran, outside of Kabylia.

Politicians and revolutionnaires

 * Amirouche Aït Hammouda, from the village of Tassaft Ouguemoune (commune of Iboudraren) of the Ath Wasif, was a colonel of the l'National Liberation Army (ALN) and leader of the wilaya III during the Independence War of Algeria.Colonel_Amirouche.jpg Amirouche.]]
 * Amar Ould Hamouda, cousin of the colonel Amirouche, was a Berber nationalist militant. He was assassinated in march 1956 by the FLN.
 * Nordine Ait hamouda, fils du colonel Amirouche, est un député algérien.
 * Kasdi Merbah, from Ath Lahsen of theAth Yenni, was an Algerian militairy person and statesman and founder of the Military Security (SM).
 * Ahmed Boumendjel, from the Ath Yenni, was an Algerian lawyer and politician.
 * Ali Boumendjel, younger brother of Ahmed, was an Algerian lawyer and politician militant.
 * Djaffar Ouahioune, from Tassaft Ouguemoune (commune of Iboudraren) of the Ath Wasif tribe, was a founder member of the Berber Cultural Mouvement. He was assassinated in may 1997.
 * M'barek Ait Menguellet, from Ighil Bouamas of the Ath Boudrar tribe, was an Algerian Berberist militant. He was assassinated in 1957 by the FLN.
 * Mustapha Laliam, from the Ath Yenni, was an ancient fighter and revolutionnairy of the FLN during the Algerian War.
 * Ahmed Ouyahia, from the village of Bouadnane of the Ath Boudrar, was a politician and ancient Prime Minister of Algeria.
 * Bélaïd Abdessalam, from the Ath Boudrar, was an ancient minister under Houari Boumédiène.
 * Augustin-Belkacem Ibazizen, from Ath Larbɛa of the Ath Yenni, was a French lawyer, politician and writer.

Litterature and poetry

 * Mohand Idir Aït Amrane, from the village of Tiqidount of the Ath Wasif, was an Algerian poet and Berberistmilitant.
 * Mohya, from Aït Eurbaḥ (commune of Iboudraren) of theAth Wasif, was a prolific Algerian Kabyle author, lyricist.
 * Chabane Ouahioune, from the village of Tassaft Ouguemoune (commune of Iboudraren) of the Ath Wasif, was a writer, author and journalist of French expression.
 * Mouloud Maameri, from Taourirt Mimoun of the Ath Yenni, was a writer, anthropologist and linguist specialist in the language and culture of the Berbers.

Sports

 * Moussa Saib, from the Ath Wasif, was footballer and ancient capitain of the Algerian national football team and JS Kabylie.
 * Hocine Metref, from the Ath Yenni, was a footballer who played in USM Alger, JS Kabylie and MC Alger.
 * Yazid Mansouri, from the Ath Wasif, was an international Algerian footballer who played as a middlefielder.
 * Mahieddine Khalef, from the Ath Yenni, was a player of the Algerian national football team and JS Kabylie.
 * Djamel Menad, from the Ath Wasif, was an international Algerian footballer who played as a forward, notably in CR Belouizdad, USM Alger and JS Kabylie.
 * Hakim Medane, from the Ath Yenni, was a footballer who played in USM Harrach and JS Kabylie.
 * Ameur Benali, from the Wasif, was an internationalAlgerian footballeur who played as a middle fielder, notably in MC Alger.
 * Brahim Zafour, from the Ath Yenni, was an internationale Algerian footballer who played for JS Kabylie and JSM Béjaia.

Painting

 * Djaffar Benmesbah, from the Ath Wasif, was an Algerian painter and journalist.
 * Azouaou Mammeri, from Taourirt Mimoune of the Ath Yenni, was a painter.
 * Ali Silem, from Taourirt El Hadjadj of the Ath Yenni, was an Algerian painter and engraver.

Music

 * Lounis Aït Menguellet, from d'Ighil Bouammas of the Ath Boudrar, is an Algerian singer-songwriter and musician of kabyle expression.
 * Idir, originaire d'Aït Lahcène des Aït Yenni, était un chanteur, auteur-compositeur-interprète et musicien algérien d'expression kabyle.


 * Brahim Izri from Ath Lahsen of the Ath Yenni, was anAlgerian musician and singer-songwriter of Kabyle expression.
 * Amar Ezzahi, from Ighil Bouammas of the Ath Boudrar, was a singer- songwriter of the chaabi music.