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Ait Betroun, Ait Bethroun or also Ait Bethroune (in Kabyle: At Betrun, in Arabic: بني بترون) was an ancient and powerful Kabyle confederation (taqbilt) made up of four Kabyle tribes (âarchs) : Ait Yenni (Beni Yenni), Ait Wasif (Ouacif), Ait Budrar (Iboudraren) and the Ait Bou-Akkach (southern part of the Ouacif commune).

The mountain peak of Taletat in Djurdjura, seen from the Ait Wasif.

The Ait Betroun were part of the Zwawa 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 Ait Sedqa in the west, and the Imcheddalen (theM'Chedallah commune) in the south.

According to Charles Devaux, they call themselves « the heart of the Zwawa », they are fierce, very rigid in the observation of their qanuns (laws). The confederation was very known for its weapons industry (muskets, flissas etc...) and also its handcraft (jewelry). In the Ait Boudrar, the Ait Wasif, and especially the Ait Yenni, there were good blacksmiths whose art was more perfected. The Ait Betroun were also known for making counterfeit money during the Ottoman period. The Ait Betroun were the most industrious, had the biggest numbers of rifles and the biggest population among the Kabyles, and they defeated the Ottomans and kept their independence untill the French conquest in 1857.

Etymology

The Djurdjura mountains, seen from the Aït Yenni.

Ait Betroun means « The sons of Betroun », and Ait 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 Ait Wasif, which means « those of/people of the river » and Ait Budrar, which means « those of/the people of the mountain ». Ait Betroun was mentionned by Ibn Khaldun in Arabic in the following form : Beni-Itroun.

Origins

According to the Arab historian of the 14th century, Ibn Khaldun, the Ait Betroun 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 Ait Betroun is undeniable, but their precise tribal affiliation is hard to confirm.

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

History

Before the Ottoman period

The oldest historical mention of the Ait Betroun 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 tribes of the Zwawa are the Beni Idjer, the Beni Mangellat, the Beni Itroun, the Beni Yenni, the Beni Bou-Ghardan, the Beni Ituragh, the Beni Bou-Yusef, the Beni Chayb, the Beni Aissi, the Beni Sadqa, the Beni Ghoubrin and the Beni Gechtulaula.

But the name must be older. The form of Ibn Khaldun for the Ait 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 X^th 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 XI^st 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

link=https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Koukou.jpg|thumb|245x245px|A Spanish map showing Kuku, capital of a kingdom of the same. The Ait Betroun never submitted to the regency of Algiers. At the beginning of the Ottoman rule in Algeria, the Ait Betroun, like the rest of the Zwawa, were part of the Kingdom of Kuku, whose ruling family, the Ait 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 Ait Abbas in the XVI^th century. During the war of the succession of the Iboukhtouchen (fraction of the Ait ou el-Kadhi) in the beginning of the XVIII^th century, the Ait Betroun were divided in two : the Ait Wasif and the Ait Bou-Akkach joined the Çoff (party, tribal alliance) Oufella and took the side of Ourkho. But the Ait Yenni and the Ait Budrar joined the Çoff Bouadda and took the side of Ali, brother of Ourkho. After the collapse of the Kingdom of Kuku in the XVIII^th century, the Ait Betroun 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 Ait Bethrroun, more precisely, the Ait 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 Ait 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 Ait Wasif against the Ottomans, an assembly took place in the territory of the Ait Wasif between the marabouts (saints) of the tribes of the Ait Betroun, including a tribe that disappeared later, the Ait 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 the confederation of Beni Betroun. The general assembly therefore pronounced unanimously:

1. to abolish the right of women to inherit;
2. to abolish the right of everyone (i.e. men as well as women) to exercise shefa'a, the right of pre-emption, in respect of property made over to a habus;
3. to abolish the right of daughters, sisters and orphans to participate in the exercise of the right of pre-emption – shefa'a – of any property;
4. to abolish the right of the wife who has been repudiated or widowed to have her dowry returned to her.

The Ait Betroun weren't the only ones to apply these laws. Other Kabyle tribes, such as the Aït Frawsen, the Aït Iraten, and their allies, the Ait 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 Ait Betroun had five tribes instead of four. One no longer exists, it's the tribe of the Ait U Belqacem. The tribe of the Ait 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 Ait Yenni took Tawrirt El Ḥeǧǧaǧ (taxabit), The Ait 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 Ait Betroun were known for making counterfeit money, especially in the village of Ait Larbɛa of the Ait Yenni. But there were aso many worshops established in the Ait Wasif and in Ait Ɛli U Ḥerzun de la tribu des Ait Budrar. The counterfeit money was called « tasekkakt » in Kabyle (pronunced« thasekkakth »).

French conquest

La conquête du territoire des Zwawa n'a pas été faite en un instant. La première rencontre entre les Zwawa et les français dans un champ de bataille était en l'an 1849 contre les guechtoula. Beaucoup de tribus kabyles ont participés dans cette bataille, notamment les Aït Betroun, qui ont envoyé 1,200 guerrièrs (sur 11,300 guerrièrs totales), dont 700 des Aït Ouacif, 300 des Aït Yenni et 200 des Aït Ɛli U Ḥerzun (tribu des Aït Boudrar). Celui qui avait réunis de nombreux contigents kabyles pour la bataille, le chérif Si-Djoudi, est lui-même des Aït Betroun, plus précisément des Aït Boudrar. Mais la victoire était dans les mains des français.

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 Ait Betroun, who have sent 1,200 fighters (on a total of 11,300 fighters), which includes fighters 700 from the Ait Wasif, 300 from the Ait Yenni and 200 from the village of Ait Ɛli U Ḥerzun (tribe of the Ait Budrar). The one who brought together many Kabyle contigents for the battle, Cherif Si-Djoudi, is himself from the Ait Betroun, more precisely from the Ait 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 Zwawa 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'Sumer 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 Ait Iraten, then defeated them. The Ait Iraten submitted on the mai 28^th. Just after that, their allies, the Ait Aissi, the Ait Fraoussen, the Ait Ghobri and others, also submitted. After the submission of the Ait Iraten and their allies, the colonial troops went against the Igawawen and won against the Ait Yenni, the Ait Mengellet and their allies. The French received their submissions on june 28^th, a month after the submission of the Ait Iraten. One of the villages of the Ait Yenni, Ait 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 Ait 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 Ait Betroun 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 Ait 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 Ait Betroun participated. The whole tribe of the Ait 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 Ait Betroun, like the Ait Wasif and the Ait Budrar, also paid a lot of blood like the rest of the Kabyles.

The tribes

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

The Ait Betroun confederation includes four tribes, which are as follows:

• The Ait Yenni, who had 5,737 habitants spread over 6 villages in 2008. The villages of the Ait Yenni are : Ait Lahcène, Ait 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 Ait Yenni in 1879 was 5,139 inhabitants.
• The Ait Wasif, who had 6,500 inhabitants in 2008, while the commune of Ouacif, Which includes the Ait Bou-Akkach, had 10,313 inhabitants. They're spread over 7 villages : Ait Abbes, Zoubga, Ait Bou-Abderahmane, Tiqidount, Tiqichourt, Ait Eurbaḥ et Tassaft Ouguemoun. During the French conquest, they had 1,220 muskets. The population of the Ait Wasif in 1879 was 5,532 inhabitants.
• The Ait Budrar, who had around 4,500 inhabitants in 2008, while the commune of Iboudraren, which included two Ait Wasif villages, had 5,398. They're spread in 6 villages : Ighil Bouammas, Tala n-Tazart, Ait Ali Ou-Ḥarzoun, Bouadnane, Derna et Ait Ouabane During the French conquest, the had 1,225 muskets. The population of the Ait Budrar in 1879 was 5,958 inhabitants, it was the most populated tribe of the Ait Betroun.
• The Ait Bou-Akkach who had around 3,500 habitants in 2008. The Ait Bou-Akkach are part of the commune ofOuacif, which had 10,313 inhabitants in 2008. The Ait Bou-Akkach are spread in 4 villages : Tiroual, Zaknoun, Tiguemmounin, Ait 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.

Personalities

Politicians and revolutionnaires

• Amirouche Aït Hammouda, from the village of Tassaft Ouguemoune (commune of Iboudraren) of the Ait Wasif, was a colonel of the l'National Liberation Army (ALN) and leader of the wilaya III during the Independence War of Algeria.

  

  Picture of the colonel 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 Ait Lahsen of theAit Yenni, was an Algerian militairy person and statesman and founder of the Military Security (SM).
• Ahmed Boumendjel, from the Ait 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 Ait 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 Ait Boudrar tribe, was an Algerian Berberist militant. He was assassinated in 1957 by the FLN.
• Mustapha Laliam, from the Ait Yenni, was an ancient fighter and revolutionnairy of the FLN during the Algerian War.
• Ahmed Ouyahia, from the village of Bouadnane of the Ait Boudrar, was a politician and ancient Prime Minister of Algeria.
• Bélaïd Abdessalam, from the Ait Boudrar, was an ancient minister under Houari Boumédiène.
• Augustin-Belkacem Ibazizen, from Ait Larbɛa of the Ait Yenni, was a French lawyer, politician and writer.

Litterature and poetry

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

Sports

• Moussa Saib, from the Ait Wasif, was footballer and ancient capitain of the Algerian national football team and JS Kabylie.
• Hocine Metref, from the Ait Yenni, was a footballer who played in USM Alger, JS Kabylie and MC Alger.
• Yazid Mansouri, from the Ait Wasif, was an international Algerian footballer who played as a middlefielder.
• Mahieddine Khalef, from the Ait Yenni, was a player of the Algerian national football team and JS Kabylie.
• Djamel Menad, from the Ait Wasif, was an international Algerian footballer who played as a forward, notably in CR Belouizdad, USM Alger and JS Kabylie.
• Hakim Medane, from the Ait 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 Ait Yenni, was an internationale Algerian footballer who played for JS Kabylie and JSM Béjaia.

Painting

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

Music

• Lounis Aït Menguellet, from d'Ighil Bouammas of the Ait 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 Ait Lahsen of the Ait Yenni, was anAlgerian musician and singer-songwriter of Kabyle expression.
• Amar Ezzahi, from Ighil Bouammas of the Ait Boudrar, was a singer-songwriter of the chaabi music.