Information AboutSahrawi |
''Sahrawi'' is a term used for a group of Hassaniya -speaking Arab - Berber Bedouin Tribe s traditionally located in Western Sahara , southern Saharan Morocco , Mauritania (where they are also known as Moors ), Algeria and less commonly, northern Mali . The term is especially applied to and adopted by Independence -minded inhabitants of the disputed Western Sahara . ORIGIN OF WORD AND TRANSLITERATIONS The Arabic word ''SaHrāwī'' literally means "of Sahara " ("Sahara" in itself meaning " Desert "), and should be understood as "inhabitant of the Sahara" (Contrast this with Saharan ). There are several Transliteration s of the word, several of which are used in English: SAHRAWIS OR MOORS? The term Sahrawi refers to a collection of Hassaniya Arabic speaking Nomadic Tribe s, of Arab - Berber heritage, mainly descended from Western Sahara and surrounding territories. The Mauritania n extension of this tribal grouping is more often known as Moors (or Maure), but shares the same population characteristics. Both terms are variously employed to signify the whole group. In modern usage, the Western Sahara Conflict has brought about a redefinition of these terms, as independence-minded Western Saharan populations have appropriated the term Sahrawi in the sense of a Sahrawi People . This has given the term "Sahrawi" a Nationalist connotation, and set it apart from the Mauritanian populations self-identifying as Moors. This is mainly a political distinction, signifying the political nationality (or Citizenship ) of a certain Hassaniya-speaking population. This article will deal mostly with those parts of this people characterized as Sahrawi, as opposed to Moors, inhabiting Western Sahara (including the Refugee population in Tindouf , Algeria ) and southern Morocco. Please note that this division is not intended to promote or endorse any side in any dispute pertaining to the status of Western Sahara, Sahrawi-Moorish identity or other related issues. EARLY HISTORY The modern Ethnic Group , Sahrawi, is an Arabized Berber people inhabiting the westernmost Sahara Desert , in the area of modern Mauritania , Morocco , Algeria and most notably the Western Sahara , with some Tribe s occasionally migrating into northern Mali and Niger . As with most Saharan peoples, the tribes reflect a highly mixed heritage, combining Arab , Berber , and other influences, including Black African ethnic and cultural characteristics. In particular, they are a fusion of the Beni Hassan Bedouin Arab tribes (who migrated into the western Maghreb from Yemen ) and various Berber groups, notably the Senhaja or Zenaga . These groups slowly fused from the 15th Century onward, as the Beni Hassan tribes migrated into the Western Saharan areas and mixed with Berbers and others, who slowly adopted an Arab identity. Today most if not all Sahrawi/Moorish tribes claim Arab ancestry. The Sahara was generally considered in pre-colonial times, ''bled es-Siba'' or "the land of dissidence" by the authorities of the established Islam ic states of North Africa, such as the Sultan Of Morocco and the Dey s of Algeria . The Islamic governments of the pre-colonial sub-Saharan empires of Mali and Songhai appear to have had a similar relationship with the Sahara, which was at once the home of undisciplined raiding tribes and the main trade route for the Saharan caravan trade. Central governments had little control over the region, although for religious and political reasons the Berber and Hassaniya Arab tribes often extended "''beya''" or allegiance to prestigious rulers over the centuries. COLONIAL HISTORY Modern distinctions drawn between the various Hassaniya speaking Sahrawi- Moor ish groups are primarily political, but cultural differences dating from different colonial and post-colonial histories are also apparent. An important divider is whether the tribal confederations fell under French or Spanish Colonial Rule . As France conquered most of North and West Africa largely during the late 19th Century , Western Sahara as well as minor parts of Morocco fell to Spain, as Spanish Sahara and Spanish Morocco respectively. These colonial intrusions brought the Muslim Saharan peoples under Christian European rule for the first time, and created lasting cultural and political divides between and within existing populations, as well as upsetting traditional balances of power. The Sahrawi-Moorish areas, then still undefined as to exact territorial boundaries, proved troublesome for the colonizers, just as they had for neighbouring dynasties in previous centuries. The political loyalty of these populations were first and foremost to their respective tribes, and supratribal allegiances and alliances could shift rapidly and unexpectedly. Their nomadic lifestyle made direct control over the territories hard to achieve, as well as general lawlessness and an absence of a central authority. Centuries of intratribal warfare and raids for loot (''ghazzu'') guaranteed that the populations were well armed and versed in Guerrilla -style warfare, and it was not until the 1930s that Spain was able to subdue the interior of present-day Western Sahara, with French military assistance. The Sahrawi-Moorish tribes were largely Nomadic until the colonial era in the late 19th and early to mid- 20th Centuries , when France and Spain conquered the area and imposed outside boundaries and order on the previously fluid Sahara. The traditionally wide-ranging territories (from modern Senegal , Mali and Niger in the South, to parts of modern Morocco and Algeria to the North and East) of the Sahrawi-Moorish nomads were split, and their traditional Economies based on trans-Saharan Trade and raiding of the northern and southern Sahel s were broken. The territories under European controls were divided according to the balance of power between Spain, France and other interlocutors, with little attention paid to existing tribal confederations and zones of influence. French and Spanish colonial governments then imposed their own systems of government and education over the newly organised territories. The political arrangements differed strongly between the territories. Populations in Algeria were subjected to direct French rule, in Mauritania to a French colonial administration, in Morocco to the indirect rule of a French protectorate or direct Spanish administration, and in Spanish Sahara they were treated first as a colony, and later as an overseas province. By the time of Decolonization in the 1950s-1970s, Sahrawi tribes in all these different territories had experienced roughly a generation or more of distinct experiences; often, however, their nomadic lifestyle had guaranteed that they were subjected to less interference than what afflicted sedentary populations in the same areas. Debate on pre-colonial allegiances The period of Colonization destroyed existing power structures, leaving a confused legacy of contradictory political affiliations, European-drawn borders with little resemblance to ethnic and tribal realities, and laying the foundations for modern political conflict. For example, both sides in the Western Sahara conflict draw heavily on colonial history to prove their version of history. The Moroccan government points to some Sahrawi tribes calling upon the Moroccan Sultan , who until 1912 remained the last independent Islam ic ruler of the area, for assistance against the Europeans (see Ma Al-Aynayn ). Pro-independence Sahrawis, on the other hand, point out that such statements of allegiance were often given by various tribal leaders to create short-term alliances, and that other heads of tribes indeed similarly proclaimed allegiance to Spain, to France or to each other; they argue that such arrangements always proved temporary, and that the tribal confederations were in fact independent of central authority, and indeed often fought to maintain this independence. The International Court Of Justice issued a Ruling on the matter in 1975, stating that there ''had'' existed ties between the Moroccan Sultan and the Western Saharan tribes (as well as ties between them and present-day Mauritania ) but that these ties were ''not'' sufficient to abrogate Western Sahara's right to Self-determination . POSTCOLONIAL HISTORY As touched on above, Colonisation , Decolonization , and modern national and political borders have shaped new identities among the Hassaniya tribes, in particular between the tribal groups in modern southern Morocco , the Western Sahara , Algeria and Mauritania . The conflict over the former Spanish colonial territory, the Western Sahara , and the emergence of the Mauritanian state in particular ,have created new supra- or nontribal identities. The Nomadic Tribal traditions of the Saharan region were left largely unchanged until the late 19th Century colonial penetration by France and Spain, although the long term decline of the Trans-Saharan Trade in Gold , Spice , Slave s and other goods undoubtedly impacted the Hassaniya and other Saharan nomadic groups. Typical of Saharan Berber nomadic culture, society was divided into distinct lineage groups verging on castes, but also reflected strong roles for women in contrast with classical urban Arab culture. Today the culture, like those of the rest of the region, is undergoing rapid transformation, but under the influence of modern Media , mass communication, modern transportation networks and other changes. In addition to this, political conflicts and boundaries have had great impact on Sahrawi life and lifestyles. The Western Sahara question The term Sahrawi in a political context has come to be employed in the late 20th century to refer to the inhabitants of the former Spanish Sahara , a territory Colonized by Spain in the late 19th Century , and controversially Annexed by Morocco in 1975. Today referred to as Western Sahara , it remains according to the United Nations one of the world's last remaining major non- Decolonized territories. Morocco controls most of the territory as its Southern Provinces , but the legality of this is not internationally recognized, and disputed militarily by the Polisario Front , an Algeria n-backed Sahrawi movement claiming Independence for the territory as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Since 1991, there is a Cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario, but Disturbances in Moroccan-held territories as well as the ongoing dispute over the legal status of the territory, occasionally brings international attention to the issue.
The Polisario Front See Also: Polisario Front The Polisario Front is the main Western Sahara Sahrawi Nationalist organization, militating for the Independence of the Western Sahara since 1973 - originally against Spanish rule, but after 1975 against Mauritania and Morocco; since 1979 against Morocco only. The organisation is largely based out of Algeria , where it is responsible for the Tindouf refugee camps, but also controls about a third of Western Sahara, largely empty eastern ''hammada'' Desert . The organisation maintains a Cease-fire with Morocco since 1991 (see Settlement Plan ), but continues to work for the territory's independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) through peaceful negotiations. The Polisario restricts its claims to the colonially-defined Western Sahara, holding no claim to, for example, Sahrawi-populated South Morocco, even though the movement presents itself as a spokesman for the Sahrawi people. Human rights
ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF THE SAHRAWI TRIBES Berbers and Arabs As described above, Hassaniya speaking Sahrawi or Moorish tribes are of a mixed Arabo-Berber heritage, and were formed out of the invasion or penetration of Western Saharan region by the Beni Hassan Arab Bedouin tribes, who fused with the dominant Zenaga or Sanhaja Berber tribes, as well as Black African and other Indigenous populations (e.g. various indigenous Soninke speaking groups). Some tribes, such as the large Reguibat , are primarily Berber identified; others, such as the Oulad Delim , more with Arabs; all tribes tend to claim Arab ancestry, and often descendancy from the Prophet Muhammad himself; this, however is highly unlikely. Over the centuries a great deal of intermarriage has occurred to blur ethnic lines, and groups have often re-identified to higher status identities. Social and ethnic hierarchy Generally speaking, the Hassaniya Arab groups are divided into Aristocratic "warrior" lineages or Clan s, "scholarly" holy or "clerical" lineages (the ''shorfa''), and servile or Slave lineages known as Haratin - which in Hassaniya regions are generally viewed as freed slaves of predominately Black African heritage. (Note that "Haratin", a term of obscure origin, has a different sense in the Berber regions of Morocco.) There are credible reports that slavery or some forms of Bondage are still applied to some Haratin lineages in Mauritania . {Link without Title} In summary, Hassaniya society has traditionally been divided between:
POPULATION The exact number of Hassaniya speakers (i.e. Sahrawis and Moors) is not clear, but tallying population figures of Western Sahara and Mauritania indicates that the number is well over two million; additional populations are found in Algeria and South Morocco. The exact number of Hassaniya speakers identifying as ''Sahrawi'', in the modern political sense, is also unknown, due to political disputes and unclear ethnic identities. Estimates of the number of Sahrawis range up to somewhere over 500,000. These populations are centered in Western Sahara (divided between Moroccan and Polisario control), South Morocco and the Tindouf Province of Algeria, where large number of Refugee s from Western Sahara are located. As the states of the area gained independence from French colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s, large Sahrawi populations were to be found in Western Sahara, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. A portion of the Sahrawi or Hassaniya Arabic speaking tribes in Morocco were Refugee s from the 1957 Fighting in what was then Spanish Sahara , and previous rebellions in Western Sahara, all of which had been harshly suppressed - notably the early 20th century uprising under the Smara -based Shaykh Ma Al-Aynayn . The refugees The Moroccan-Mauritanian invasion of Western Sahara following the collapse of Spanish colonial rule in 1975 produced an exodus of refugees fleeing the violence, with substantial numbers ending up in the Polisario Front movement's base areas in the Algeria n Sahara, where Refugee Camp s were set up south of Tindouf , and a smaller number in camps in Mauritania. These refugee populations form the base and recruiting grounds for the Polisario Front, contesting Moroccan control of the territory. The UNHCR indicates that approximately 150,000 people are resident in the Algerian refugee camps, c. 2002 although the Moroccan government contends that the figure is much lower. An additional 25,000 Western Sahara refugees reside in Mauritania, according to UNHCR figures.[http://www.ecoi.net/pub/dh1164_01572mau.htm This population is comprised both of original refugees to the territory, and of former Tindouf dwellers who have since migrated to Mauritania. Moroccan Sahrawis Southern Morocco holds a large Hassaniya-speaking tribal population, defined both by themselves and by the official media as "Sahrawi". Most of the Moroccan Sahrawis have been resettled, more or less voluntarily, in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara, in an attempt to bolster Morocco's claims to the area. The attitude of this group towards independence is complicated: Morocco maintains that they are strictly loyal to the crown, but there have been numerous instances of Moroccan Sahrawis displaying solidarity with the independence movement, and a couple of the most high-profile independence activists (such as Ali Salem Tamek ) are actually from South Morocco rather than Western Sahara. This seems to have fuelled Moroccan suspicion of these Sahrawis, and possibly contributed to the Moroccan King's decision to refuse to hold the Referendum on independence that he had previously promised the United Nations (see Baker Plan ). Moroccan Sahrawi settlers in Western Sahara have for more than a decade been confined to impoverished "temporary" camps such as the ''al-Wahda'' (Unity) in El-Aaiun , while other Moroccan settlers move about freely. This appears to have alienated some Moroccan Sahrawis from the government , but in the absence of a referendum, it is impossible to say where the loyalties of this group lie. CULTURE See Also: Culture of Western Sahara
Religion Religiously , Hassaniya speaking or Sahrawi-Moorish tribes are Sunni Muslim s of the Maliki rite or school. Historically, religious practice has been pragmatically adapted to nomad life. Also, since the late medieval period, various Sufi ''Turuq'' or orders have played an important role in popular religious practice. Further, among the Hassaniya tribes, certain lineages reputed to be descended from the Prophet Mohammed, ''shurfa'', have played an important role in inter-tribal religious society. Tribalism :''See article on . Tribe was the historical basis of social and political organisation among the Hassaniya Arabic speaking and Berber tribes of the Sahara, well into the colonial and arguably post-colonial period. Traditionally, Hassaniya Sahrawi society was completely tribal, organized in a complex web of shifting alliances and tribal confederations, with no stable and centralized governing authority. Lawmaking, conflict resolution and central decision-making within the tribe, was carried out by the . During colonial times, Spain attempted to assume some of the legitimacy of these traditional institutions by creating its own Djema'a, a state-run political association that covered for its claims to the territory. Historically, a constantly changing kaliedescopic hierarchy existed between the Hassaniya Arabic speaking and various Berber tribes, as well as Black African groups, existed. Within Arabo-Berber society, tribal groupings were divided into warrior lineages of various prestige, while non-fighting ''zwaya'' or ''chorfa'' religious lineages supposedly descended from the Prophet Muhammad played a mediating role, while various subaltern, servile or Slave groups such as the Haratin existed alongside. SEE ALSO REFERENCES |