'Tiaret' (also called 'Tahert' or 'Tihert', the
Berber for "station") is the name of a large Algerian town, one that gives its name to the wider farming region of '
Wilaya de
Tiaret' province in central
Algeria. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of
Algiers, in the
Tell Atlas, and about 150 km (95 miles) from the sea coast.
Population
The town's population was estimated to be 145,332 in
1998. More than 99 % are
Muslim. The town covered around 300 km² in the early
1990s. Rapid ad-hoc expansion of the town has caused severe and widespread environmental degradation, resulting in
flash floods in
2001 that reportedly made several hundred families temporarily homeless.
Infrastructure & industry
A 1992 study by the
University of Nice reported significant areas contaminated by industrial pollution, and growing squatter settlements on the periphery.
The region is predominantly one of agriculture. There is a large airfield with a tower and terminal, at
Abdelhafid Boussouf. The town is not a tourist destination.
Politics
The province suffered massacres (the largest being the
Sid El-Antri massacre in 1997), killings, and bombings during the
Algerian Civil War, though less so than areas closer to
Algiers. The Africa Institute reported in a May, 2004 monograph
[1] that Tahert's more "arid and mountainous landscape has facilitated terrorist activities". The
MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base reports that Tahert: "is a frequent site of attacks by the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (
GSPC)". The GSPC is: "believed to have close ties to
Osama bin Laden" (''Paris AFX News Agency'', Jul 13, 2005) and
Abu Musab Al Zarqawi (''Asharq Alaswat'' Jul 3 2005), and is reported to be active in
Italy (''Deutsche Welle'', Jul 15 2005).
History
The province has been inhabited since ancient times, and there are numerous megalithic monuments.
The site of the town was originally a
Roman station,
Tingurtia.
The Jedars tombs near Tahert are evidence that the province was inhabited, from at least the 5th Century, by a tribe or tribes that could build in stone.
Tahert grew up as a site under the domination of petty
Berber tribal kingdoms; the first of these being the
Rustamids between
761 and
909 when Tahert served as the capital of the area. However, this capital may have been 10 km (6 or 7 miles) west of the present-day Tahert. It was first founded by
Abd al-Rahman. Tahert was said to be relatively free-thinking and democratic, being a centre for scholarship that permitted a wide range of sects and movements - notably the
Mu'tazilites - which came to trouble Sunni and Shiite followers alike. There were said to be Jews living in the area, until at least the
900s; including the scholar and doctor
Judah ibn Quraysh who became the doctor to the emir of
Fes.
Tahert occupies a strategic mountain pass at 3552 feet, and was thus a key to dominating the central
Maghrib. Later, from the start of the
8th century, it was the key northern terminus of the
West African slave-trading route. As such, it offered a lucrative income from taxes on the trade, and was a desirable prize.
From the year
911 Tahert was fought over by a number of tribes, being first captured by
Massala ibn Habbus of the
Miknasas in the year
911, in alliance with the
Fatimids. Finally, in
933, it was in the hands of the
Fatimids only. After 933 Tahert ceased to be the capital of a separate state. Most of the population was banished to
Wargala and then escaped to the inhospitable
M'Zab Valley[2]. From 933 Tahert attracted many
Khariji Muslim settlers from
Iraq.
From 933 it was administered as part of the sultanate of
Tlemcen, and in the
16th century fell to the
Turks. In
1843 it fell to the
French, after the French defeated Emir
Abelkader. The modern town of Tahert is essentially French-built, around a French redoubt of
1845. The new town attracted many farmers and settlers from France, and the area flourished. A 200 km (122 mile)
narrow gauge railway arrived in
1889, connecting the town to
Mostaganem - today, this rail line is defunct.
In
1962, Algeria regained its independence after the bloody
Algerian War of Independence. Most
pied-noirs (French settlers and Jews) left the same year.
Archeological attractions
Thirty kilometres (18 miles) S.S.W. of Tahert are the sepulchral monuments known as the Jedars. The name is given to a number of sepulchral monuments placed on hill-tops. A rectangular or square podium is in each case surmounted by a pyramid. The tombs date from the 5th to the 7th century, and lie in two distinct groups between Tiaret and
Frenda.
At
Mechra-Sfa ("ford of the flat stones"), a peninsula in the valley of the river
Mina not far from Tahert, are said to be 'vast numbers' of megalithic monuments.
Notes
1. http://www.ai.org.za/electronic_monograph.asp?ID=23/ The Africa Institute monograph. accessed June 10, 2006
2. http://whc.unesco.org/whreview/article2.html URL accessed June 10, 2006
Further reading
★ Bourouiba, Rachid (1982). ''Cités disparus: Tahert, Sedrata, Achir, Kalaâ des Béni-Hammad''. Collection Art et Culture, 14. Algiers Ministère de l'information. '(About notable cultural artifacts and architecture)'.
★ Belkhodja, A. (1998). ''Tiaret, memoire d'une ville''. Tiaret, A. Belkhodja. '(A personal memoir)'.
★ Blanchard, Raoul. (1992). ''Amenagement & Gestion Du Territoire, Ou, L'apport Des Images-Satellite, De La Geoinfographique Et Du Terrain : Applications Aux Paysages Vegetaux De L'Algerie Steppique & Substeppique (Wilaya De Tiaret) Et Aux Espaces Construits (Tiaret Et Alger) 1990-1992''. Laboratoire d'analyse spatiale. Nice, France. '(Plant ecology of the Wilaya De Tiaret region, evidenced using photos from space)'.
★ Cadenat, Pierre. (1938). ''Indication de quelques stations préhistoriques de la région de Tiaret Société de géographie et d'archéologie de la Province d'Oran''. Extrait de son Bulletin, tome 59, fascicule 209, 1938. '(12 pages booklet about the prehistoric monuments in the region)'.
External links
★
Tiaret seen from the air
★
Tahert city plan
★
Old photos and postcards of French Tahert.
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