menu_book Chapter 2

Section 2 of France, Spain and the Riff, Part 1, by Walter Burton Harris. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Alistair. Chapter 2a. The Riff. No description of the Riff, no account of recent events in that country, would be complete without some reference to the Berber race to which its inhabitants belonged,

and of which they form so characteristic and so typical an example. Recent studies, though still in their infancy, have done much to throw light upon these most interesting people who have played and will continue to play in the history of Morocco, so important a part. It is only lately that it has been generally realised, if in fact it is generally realised, that the majority of the population of Morocco is not of Arab origin. In certain districts,

and those the most accessible, there are found tribes of Arab descent, though even there, seldom unmixed with Berber blood. They are the offspring of the invaders of AD 681 and 707, or of the later Arab immigrants of the 11th century. There are, and can be, no precise estimates of the relative importance of the natives of Berber and Arab origin respectively, but the latest to hand, drawn up with care and after much inquiry, gives the following numbers.

Population of Morocco, 4 million. Pure Berbers, 1,750,000. Slightly Arab-sized Berbers, 1 million. Arab origin, 1,250,000. That is to say, a total Berber stock of 2,750,000 against 1,250,000 natives of Arab origin. In the Spanish zone of Morocco, of which the total population is estimated at 766,000, the numbers included in the above are as follows. Pure Berber, 397,000, with 250,000 of those in the riff.

Arab-sized Berbers 369,000. The ignorance which formerly existed on the subject of the vast numerical superiority of the Berber race in Morocco was no doubt largely owing to the fact that these tribes had been driven, or had retired, into the remoter districts of the country, and they were inhospitable,

refusing all intercourse with the stranger or foreigner, as in the sous and the riff. It must not be forgotten that until very recent years, Morocco closed its doors to almost all outside influence, and that it was the policy of the sultans and of the magzhen, and not only that of the tribes, to hold themselves aloof from the world. Thus information as to the population of the country was scant. The Moors themselves had no interest in statistics and no system of

controlling information. They were generally as ignorant of the details of their territory as they were of the geography of other lands. They had some general idea of direction and distances, measured by time, but what lay between the caravan tracks they neither knew nor cared much. it was sufficient that as a rule the state of security on the roads left much to be desired while away from them as often as not there was none the berber tribes were often almost as

inhospitable to the arab as they were to the foreigner even in europe beyond a vague outline of tribal geography and the itineraries of certain travelers there was a complete lack of detailed information about any but the most accessible regions. To the coast town the Berber came in search of work, or, in the case of the Sussis, as petty shopmen, but as a rule he spoke Arabic and became merged in the town population. The foreign resident, at least, scarcely distinguished

the two races, except perhaps that the Berber was the better workman. Even the early geographers and historians, Ibn Khaldun and Leo Africanus, do not seem to have fully appreciated the dissimilarity of the Berber and Arab races. As early as those days, the inaccessibility of the country the Berber tribes inhabited, their mistrust of the stranger, their desire to maintain their independence. And this has been the determining feature in all their history, and the constant state of

inter-tribal warfare in which they have existed have all tended toward ignorance of their status and of their country. Until a very few years ago, the Europeans who had succeeded in penetrating into the Berber regions of Morocco were few and far between. One or two had been able to visit the cedar forests that lie to the south of Fez. A few had travelled in the southern atlas and pushed on into the Sus, or to Tafilelt. And that was almost all. This refusal to receive strangers

into their country, was not, as was often thought, due to religious fanaticism, but to political distrust, to vague traditions of past invasions and of wars with European peoples, and to fears for the future. The Berber mentality is closely allied to that of European races, and they seem always to have realised that once their resistance to exterior influences was broken down, their independence would be lost. They held and hold their independence very dear,

not perhaps from any spirit of racial patriotism, for Berber patriotism seldom extends beyond tribal limits, but from a rooted and innate detestation of all authority outside that exercised by their own democratic and local organisation. While the Arabs have turned toward autocracy, the Berbers are Democrats in spirit and in practice. Before, however, the subject of Berber organisation is touched upon,

and some words on that question are necessary to explain the progress of Abdelkrim's campaign in the Riff, mention must be made of what is known or surmised as to the origin of the Berber race of Morocco. Many theories have from time to time been put forward on this subject, but that which is now most generally accepted, and which recent investigation seemed to warrant, is that the Berbers of Morocco are descendants of a white Mediterranean people, who were in all

probability also the ancestors of the Celts, with whom they have much in common. The type, often described elsewhere as the Celtic type, is still found amongst a number of the Berber tribes. Red-bearded and light-eyed natives are common in the Riff, and amongst the Jabala tribes, and even in the middle atlas to the south of Fez and Taza. But this type is not by any means universal, for there exists alongside it, but curiously

distinct, another and quite different one. This is represented by the darker Berbers, with their curious fringe of beard, and more sturdy build. Yet today, so closely are these two types, allied in custom, habits, language and religion, that except for the marked dissimilarity of feature, they would be undistinguishable.

It is clear that the origin of this latter type is other than that of the white European race, and it is generally supposed, not without adequate reason, that they are descendants of an oriental semitic people who at some early period immigrated into Morocco. Their resemblance to the early Assyrian has often been remarked. Until further researches have been made, and the want of monuments renders research arduous,

little more can be said at present as to the origin of the Berbers. Even when an historical period is reached, there is a great scarcity of sources of information, owing not a little to the fact that, just as is the case today, these people held themselves aloof from intercourse with the foreigner, and in a state of complete independence.

This secluded existence has, however, helped to preserve their customs and traditions, which even the various religions they have at times adopted and discarded, have but little affected. While want of contact with the outside world has retarded progress amongst them, it has at the same time preserved many of their original characteristics, with the result that today

the Berbers exhibit traces of a highly organised tribal administration, mixed with every form of superstition and many relics of barbarism. Attempts have been made to arrive at a conclusive opinion as to the original grouping of the Berber tribes of Morocco. Although owing to intermarriage and migration, and probably also to warfare, this grouping can no longer be said to exist, there is little doubt that there were in Morocco three divisions of the Berber race.

They are 1. the Masmuda, including the Homara, 2. the Zenata, and 3. the Sinhaja. The tradition of their descent from one or other of these sections is still current amongst the tribes. The Rifis, with whom we have principally to deal with, trace their origin as follows. The eastern Rifi tribes claim to be descendants of the Zenata people, and still speak a dialect that points to that origin. the central and western tribes state that they are of Hamara, Masmuda descent. While certain

mountain districts of the Rift, and probably the whole of the Jabala, are of Sinhajastok, what was the reason or origin of those great divisions of the Berber people? It is more than probable that they originated in a political instinct of balance of power rather than any racial separation. We find even today amongst the tribes a system of federation and on a larger scale of tribal alliance which undoubtedly exists for this purpose. These are the Soffs and the

Leffs of which some mention must be made. While the word Soff is applied to each of the two politically rival parties existing in the same village or district, the Leff has a larger extension and signifies an entente between tribes or portions of tribes for the purposes of common association, protection or even aggression, there is usually an oath of fidelity demanded and given. On the whole, they tend toward the maintenance of peace. The left can, under certain circumstances,

be abandoned, but is generally of a certain duration. A number of the original lefts of the Berber tribes disappeared on the occupation of Morocco by the French to reappear in a vastly larger form as an anti-French left, an alliance for the purpose of protecting themselves against foreign aggression. In the formation of these new lefts, old quarrels and blood feuds disappeared and the tribes, from time immemorial at Emnity, joined the new entente. In the course of time,

intermarriage and association between the three great divisions of the Berbers, Masmuda, Zanata and Sinhaja, may have destroyed their individuality. It may have been too that the political situation no longer necessitated the maintenance of this balance of power, and that, in the face of a common enemy, the Arab invader and to a certain extent the European, they broke down the barrier of their separatism and merged into a larger federation.

It must not be forgotten that since the early immigration of an Oriental Semitic race and its intermarriage with the white Mediterranean people who then inhabited Morocco, there have been other but less important introductions of foreign blood. The Romans are known to have mixed freely with the inhabitants of the country. It was they who introduced Christianity among the pagan and Jewish Berber tribes, with such

success that as late as the 11th century of our era, there were still Christian communities existing in the Riff, no doubt either descendants of the Romans themselves, or of the Berbers they converted. On several occasions while travelling amongst the Berber tribes, I have heard the natives claim, with some show of pride, Christian origin, it would appear that, converted as they undoubtedly were, they were never slow to lose an opportunity to adopt unorthodoxy, and were readily

persuaded to become adherents to any new sect or schism that might arise, a propensity arising from their rooted dislike to authority, even on matters of faith. The same inclination is clearly apparent today, although they are now, of course, professed Muslims. Hesitating to seek another god, they stray far and wide in search of other manifestations, which accounts for their predilection for a multitude of saints, dead or alive, and their readiness to embark on mysticism

by becoming members of religious brotherhoods. This is especially remarkable in the riff. It is more than possible that in this manner they have been able to maintain their manifestly pagan traditions by decking them out in Muslim raiment, even though thoroughly unorthodox. The tomb of the Mohammedan saint merely covers for them some sacred spot, wholly by tradition, and dating far earlier than Muslim times. The hollow rock, the tree covered with its ex-voto

rags, the sacred pool full of fatfish, or water tortoises, known today as dedicated to the memory of some Muslim divine, is still to the Berber, the haunt of the spirits which his ancestors worshipped, and which he still reverences. His words invoke the Muslim saint, his heart implores the aid of the pagan spirit. There is no doubt that where Islam was forcibly spread, amongst them they purposely chose as the place of sepulcher, of the doctors of the law, and of the descendants of the

prophet, the spots which in their eyes were already hallowed, the dwelling places of their pagan gods. The introduction of all new faiths has required the construction of mental bridges to lead the faithful across. The Jewish conversion of the Berbers, dating from the 2nd century AD, preceded the introduction of Christianity and appears to have been largely successful. It began by an important movement of immigration, which was repeated in the 5th century,

when a large number of Jews accompanied the Vandals on their invasion of Morocco. They settled and proselytized among the Berbers. Although under the influence of Islam, Christianity entirely disappeared amongst the tribes. Judaism held its own, and there still exists in the southern atlas little Israelite communities which, except for a few details of dress,

cannot be distinguished from their Islamic Berber neighbours. It is interesting to know that the Berber tendency towards unorthodoxy in every faith they have ever adopted is still to be found amongst these Jews, and that their doctrines are looked upon askance by the learned rabbis of the Moroccan cities in all of which there are Jewish communities. In the towns of the interior, many of the Jews are

also of Berber origin, while those of the coast, and to a certain extent of the larger interior cities, are the descendants of the exiles from Spain and Portugal. Roman blood must still flow in certain districts, and the tradition of Roman descent is still found in those regions. It has left, however, no distinguishable trace, though Roman features are not uncommon. Not so the Negro blood, which from the introduction of slaves has tainted certain Berber regions.

For example, the tribes of the Far South. Even in the Middle Atlas, and, though much more rarely, in the Riff itself, the presence of black origin is apparent in individuals and even in families. The Berbers, however, seem to recognise it as a disparagement, and as a rule avoid intermarriage with slaves. In many respects, the Berbers of Morocco are more pagan than Muslim, though they would be shocked if told so. They have adopted but little of the Quranic law, in spite of the

divine origin of that sacred book in the eyes of Mohammedans, and they depend for their legislation, administration and customs upon oral traditions. In many cases, such as the refusal to admit the inheritance of property by women, they deliberately ignore the Islamic law. It is a curious fact that although their womankind are deprived of this right of inheritance, in other respects they enjoy privileges quite unknown amongst the Arab inhabitants of the country. The Berber women

go unveiled and mix and converse on terms of equality with the men. Often the influence of individual women is very great in the family, and even in the tribe. During one of my visits to the Benimetier tribe, before the introduction of the French protectorate, their cade, Acker, was called away to visit some other tribe to which the Benimetier were united by left. In his absence, his mother, an old Berber woman, took his place and governed the tribe,

sitting in justice in the great black tent of her son. Her word was law. It is seldom too that the riffi marries more than one wife. In fact, monogamy is general throughout the Berber tribes. The riffis themselves have a proverb which states that the wife is the beam which supports the roof of the house. The relatively superior position which women enjoy amongst the Berbers is but one of the many examples of the manner in which heredity, custom and tradition

have impeded the introduction of Islamic tenants. In certain things, the precepts of the Quran are observed. Most Berbers keep the fast of Ramadan. It would seem that the distinction between what they accept and what they refuse is based upon the following principle.

Ordinances, which are religious only and not in opposition to inherited custom, are observed, while those which are contrary to tradition are disregarded. Yet to all outward and visible appearance, the Berber appears more devout than the Arab. There are more mosques in the Jabala region than in any other in Morocco. There is not a village that does not possess one.

There is not a hamlet where at the regular hours the call to prayer is not heard. Generally consisting of thatch huts resembling the humble cottage of the mountaineer or villager, without a minaret or any sign of their religious dedication, these little country mosques are respected and kept in repair by the village community. They serve not only as places of prayer, but also as village schools, and from far and wide

boys are sent to the mountain districts for their education, that is to say, to acquire a more or less proficient knowledge of the Quran. It requires, however, only a short visit to any of those regions, more particularly if that visit is made in summer, to discover that parallel with strict religious observance, there is a strain of undisguised paganism, which in many cases the inhabitants do not even attempt to disguise under the cloak of Islam.

Pilgrimages to holy springs and to groves of trees are of common occurrence. Women who are barren pass through a narrow passage between rocks. Persons who are bitten by a mad dog swallow a hair from its tail in a glass of water drawn from a sacred spring. Children who are sick are held in the branches of mystic trees. Often enough, the name of a Moorish saint is invoked, but these rites are far removed from the tenets of orthodox Islam. Besides these local places of pilgrimage,

there are also the tombs of important personages, who either from the role they played in the history of the country, or from their religious prestige, have been raised to a state of sanctity. Some have been the founders of the many sects that exist in Morocco, which, though quite an orthodox in teaching and in practice, are reverenced by large numbers of people. Their Zawiyas, centres of their religious teaching, are sanctuaries for the criminal,

as well as places of pilgrimage and instruction. The Rif has been particularly under the influence of these sects, and throughout their country there are found a large number of these Zawiyas, representing for the most part either the Tabea sect of the Sharifs of Wazan, or the Sharifian family of Akimlich, both of which cults have played an important political part in Rifian affairs. But the pagan rites still practiced in the Rif and Jabala districts

are not limited to these pilgrimages to saints' tombs and holy places. The tribes still retain, without any glamour of Islamic disguise, many of their primitive customs and traditions. Their pre-Muhammadan origin is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the seasons of the year at which these rites are practised depend upon the Julian or Solar calendar, whereas all Islamic feasts and functions follow the lunar system.

The state of inaccessibility in which the tribes have maintained themselves has prevented any intensive study of their folklore and customs, but it seems clear that their original religion consisted, like that of nearly all primitive peoples, in the worship of the spirits of nature. The superstitions and traditions of the Berbers of Morocco can be traced to two origins.

The earlier, the very primitive cult of magic, by the practice of which they sought desired results. And secondly, the cult of spirit worship. In the former, there are a number of surviving examples in ceremonies and acts, which are still performed for the obtaining of rain. In the riff, a large wooden spoon, the Tehonja, is decked out as a female doll

and led in procession to Anzar, her fiancé, who however seems to be allowed no material representation. This is but one example of the many rites practiced for this purpose. Nearly all the ceremonies are agrarian, as might be expected in an agricultural country, and are seemingly based on the belief that the benefits of heaven showered upon the earth depend upon figurative marriage, the law of creation. Sacrifices and processions for the

same purposes are common, and cultivated fields, newly dug wells, and the foundations of buildings are sprinkled with blood, preferably that of a black he-goat or a black cock. The Junun, a vast race of spirits, are feared or respected by the people, and acts dedicated to their propitiation are in constant practice. Their leaders are often mentioned by name, and a certain Ali el-Hyaut is said to be their king. The grottos and caves which give ingress to the kingdom of the Junun

are often visited for purposes of sacrifice or consultation with the inmates. There are good and bad Jinnun, and they even profess different religions, believers and infidels, Muslims, Christians and Jews. To the Berbers, the Jinnun have a very real existence, and enter into constant contact with mankind.

While there are nomad and semi-nomad Berber tribes in central Morocco, and across the Atlas, and in the region of Ujda to the east, The population of the Rif and Jabala country is sedentary. The nature of the land inhabited would prevent there being anything else, even if they had a propensity to wander.

Their villages usually consist of clusters of thatched houses, many only of one room, others of several rooms built round an open court. The walls are low and thatch overhangs them, so that little of the masonry is visible.

To enter one must stoop. Inside, however, there is at times a measure of comfort, and, where means allow, even of comparative luxury, for the Berber is a lover of his home, which he decorates as far as his scanty means allow, and the rude exterior of these roughly thatched huts, for they appear as little more, is often an astonishing contrast to what is found within. Cleanliness is nearly universal in

these interiors. In the Riff, particularly in its eastern part, the villages consist of detached flat-roofed buildings scattered amongst the fields and orchards, but these, it would appear, are inhabited only by the richer class, the owners of agricultural land. For the rest, their habitations are poorer than amongst the Jabala, and their dwellings inferior in construction, cleanliness and comfort. The Riffies are certainly less civilised than the Jabala.

They have lived in a perpetual state of war, now and again against a common enemy, the Sultan at times, but more often monks themselves, tribe against tribe and family against family. The Riffy will abandon everything in the pursuit of vengeance, just as he will sacrifice everything to have the wherewithal to buy a rifle. Peace seldom reigns for more than a few months at a time.

If a quarrel does not exist, a pretext is found for instituting one, the blood feud is universal there is no pardon and no mercy nothing but hate and treachery and death in the pursuit of revenge even religious ceremonies and tribal festivities are often interrupted by murder I have known whole families treacherously massacred at a feast of reconciliation. The Sheikh Dua Savanjera murdered his rival Dalan and his four sons while seated partaking of his hospitality in his own guest room.

A volley was fired by his retainers from without the door and windows, and the deed was accomplished. A nephew of Dalan alone survived. He took to the mountains and from time to time waylaid the members of the enemy family. He shot Sheikh Duas himself on his way to the market, and one by one he wiped out his sons and relatives, alone, lying long in wait.

He killed eight members of the hated class, before he himself fell a victim to the rifle of a member of the Duas family. The riffies boast that few of their countrymen grow old, and that not many reach middle age. And yet, away from their own country, they are quite docile workmen, trusting and trustworthy, full of sentiment. and if treated with sympathy, they become devoted servants and friends. But often the spirit of revenge will return. A duty has to be performed, a vengeance to be carried out. Armed with his

rifle, the riffy, full of apologies, goes off. Sometimes he returns. Often nothing more is heard of him. Never, probably, in the history of their country have the riffys abandoned their quarrels and stayed their vengeful hands, as they have done during this late campaign, against France and Spain. Tribes whose animosity was a byword, whose hatred was proverbial, made peace in order to obey, and to obey blindly, the first riffi who has ever been able to unite them, Abdelkrim.

Generally speaking, the riffi is extremely poor. In no part of Morocco is life more difficult. Hard and inured to suffering by nature cruel, poorly and insufficiently clad, ill-nourished, lacking even the most modest comforts of life, the riffy has nevertheless maintained his independence and by undoubted force of character and of dogged determination has kept the foreigner and the stranger from his door. He has never until today been conquered and today it has taken the

armies of two great powers, France and Spain, to invade his country? And at what cost in life and money? Cruel, stubborn and courageous, the Riffy has for centuries resisted all foreign influence. Has he benefited by it? It is very doubtful, and it is not difficult to imagine his lot a far happier one in the future than it has been in the past. The only peace they have ever known has been outside their own country. From childhood the riffy boy is taught to make war and to hate.

The children have the look of frightened eaglets, suspicious but out of blood. The first thing a boy learns is who are his father's enemies and to handle a knife and rifle. He has no chance of cultivating finer feelings, though they are not absent from his nature. They come of a white race. They have many of the sentiments of white men, warped by generations of suffering and hate. They are lovers of poetry and music, and romance plays no little part in their lives.

Their outlook toward womankind is that of Europe rather than that of Africa. Hard as the woman have to work in the riff, they are respected. The standard of morality is high. The punishment of adultery is death. By instinct, honest and moral, though treacherous when in search of revenge.

They seek, once away from their country, opportunities to prove their fidelity. They settle down to the most modest situations and remain long in the same service. They have no spirit of fanaticism and are more trusting of Christians and Jews than they are of their own people. The question of divergence of faith means little or nothing to them. They one and all deprecate the manners and customs and the cruelty of their countrymen.

Yet, when the cool comes, they go back. Tradition and the honour of the tribe, or family, is too deeply embedded. to be cast off so easily. The language spoken by the Rifis is Tamazerth, the Berber tongue, though the Rifi dialect differs in many respects from those spoken in central and southern Morocco. It is, no doubt, the language of the Semitic race which at some very early period migrated from the

east and, intermarrying with the white Mediterranean people of Morocco, formed the Berber stock. The language of the earlier inhabitants has entirely disappeared without leaving any discoverable trace. How came it that the tongue of these immigrants of new blood so entirely replaced that of the white people? The resistance of the fair type, still so common among the riffies, would appear to prove that numerically the invaders were in a minority. Possibly the newcomers brought with them

a new civilization and new religious beliefs, the adoption of which, and of the words to express them necessitated the introduction of new terms and new expressions. All that remains today of the original race is its type and the cromlex they no doubt erected. The Berber language is not today written in any part of Morocco nor have inscriptions yet been found in that script. In order to express themselves in writing they have to adopt the Arabic characters.

End of section two.