Sedouikech

The Sedouikich are a subdivision of the Berber confederation of the Kutama. They inhabit the plains of the Ketama territory located between Béjaïa and Constantine in Algeria.

Factions

The Sedouikich have several branches: the Sîlîn, the Tarsoun, the Torghîan, the Moulît, the Casha, the Lemaï, the Gaïaza, the Beni Zâlan, the El Bouéira, the Beni Merouan, the Ouarmekcen, the Segdal and the Beni Eïad. In the same regions, other Berber factions are found: the Lemaïa and the Righa. In the 14th century, the Sedouikich and these factions formed a powerful group under the authority of a Sedouikich family: the Ouled Souac. The tribes of different origins that remained on their territory were subjected and paid taxes.

Lifestyle and reputation

The Sedouikich lived in tents, rode horses and traveled the country. They did not want to be recognized as Ketama because of the participation of this confederation in the Fatimid epic in the 10h century, (negatively connoted because of its Shiite obedience) and then its hostility to the successor governments of the Fatimids. According to Ibn Khaldoun, they sometimes give themselves an Arab origin Banu Sulaym which is an unfounded claim, because they are indeed of Berber and kutama origin. The Sedouikich is a branch of the Branès-Ketama who live in tents and raise camels. The Ketama are generally considered Kabyles, the Sedouikich is therefore an example of a Kabyle shepherd and lives in a tent.

History

In the century of Ibn Khaldoun

Genealogists and historians of the Sedouikich tribe report that the Souac, their main family, once lived in the Kalâa of Beni Bou Khadra, castles located in the province of Constantine. The Souac are divided into two branches: the Ouled Alaoua Ibn Souac and the Ouled Youçof Ibn Hammou Ibn Souac. Under the Hafsids, it is the Ouled Alaoua who command all the Sedouikich. Ali son of Alaoua governed, then his son Talha, the latter is replaced by his brother Yahia. Mendil also brother of Talha and Yahia is pushed aside in favor of his nephew, son of Talha: Tazîr. After the enthronement of Abu Yahia Abu Bakr as Sultan of Constantine in 1310 (Hijri year 710), Tazîr left the latter's service for that of Ibn el Khalouf, governor of Béjaïa. This step led to the dismissal of Tazîr and the appointment of his uncle Mendil at the head of the confederation.

The Ouled Alaoua were then replaced by the Ouled Youçof who showed a certain loyalty to Sultan Abu Yahia Abu Bakr who took Béjaïa, punished Ibn el Khalouf and exiled the Ouled Alaoua. The latter arrived in the territory of the Eïad, a people formed of a mixture of Hilalian tribes and under their protection occupied the mountain which dominates the city of M'Sila. From then on, the Ouled Youçof continued to lead the Sedouikich tribe and were divided into four branches: the Beni Mohamed ibn Youçof, Beni Mehdi ibn Youçof, Beni Ibrahim ibn Youçof, and the Azizides (el Aziziin). The latter descended from six brothers: Mendil, Djafer, Djeri (or Djora), Cid el-Moulouk, El-Abbas and Issa, all from the same mother Tazizt, hence the name of the Azizide clan.

The Ouled Mohamed and Azizides inhabit the province of Béjaïa, the Ouled Mehdi and Ouled Ibrahim that of Constantine. One or more of the four families commands the Sedouikich. During the conquest of Ifriqiya by the Merinids, Abou Einan complained about the Ouled Youçof who were supporters of the Hafsides and entrusted command to Mohenna, an Ouled Alaoua. This new leader had not yet established his authority when he was killed by the Beni Youçof. Some Sedouikich obeyed the Beni Sekin, a lieutenant family of the Souac. Their territory bordered that of the Lawata on the side of Djebel Babor and covered the part of the region of Béjaïa that depended on this mountain. Their leader was then Moussa Ibn Thaber (or Thaïr). Ibn Khaldoun met Sakhr, his son, a devoted partisan of the Hafsides who was taken prisoner by the Merinids in the region of Gabès. The Merinid sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali had his hands and feet cut off and his son Abdallah succeeded him and distinguished himself by his skill and devotion to the sultan of Béjaïa. The latter died between the Hijri years 780 (1378) and 790 according to Ibn Khaldoun.

From the 16th to the 19th century

Algeria at the beginning of the 16th century and its fragmentation, including the dependencies of the Sedouikech tribes

At the beginning of the 16th century the political situation in Algeria was fragmented, in particular we note that there were in Kabylia the principalities of the Belkadis in Koukou, and of the Beni-Abbas; in Constantinois, between Medjana and Constantine are the dependencies of the Sedouikech tribes, completely to the East, the dependencies of the Harrar tribes. The Aït Abbas tribe (in Arabic: Beni Abbas) at the origin of the formation of the Sultanate of Aït Abbas (1510–1872) is of Sedouikich origin from the Azizid faction.

Sources

• Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société archéologique du département de Constantine (in French). L. Arnolet. 1872. p. 185.
• Julien, Charles-André (1994). Histoire de l'Afrique du Nord: des origines à 1830 (in French). Payot. p. 355. ISBN 978-2-228-88789-2.
• Ibn-Ḫaldūn, ʿAbd-ar-Raḥmān Ibn-Muḥammad (1852). Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique septentrionale: collationné sur plusieurs manuscrits (in French). Impr. du Gouvernement. pp. 293–296.
• Djender, Mahieddine (1991). Introduction à l'histoire de l'Algérie (in French). Entreprise nationale du livre. p. 194.