BERBER

Berber?

Berber is a type of language and it also represents the people of certain native, non-Arab tribes inhabiting large sections of the Northern part of Africa.The important characteristics, when it comes to the people of Berbers is that they are sparely built and their skin colour range from white and near-white to that of dark brown in colour.The picture below shows the Berber people

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Berber and Arabs

The important part in history is that they mixed with so many other ethnic groups,through the centuary,and the most notable one includes the Arabs.At present the Berbers are usually identified on a linguistic rather than that of an ethnic basis.This has made the Berber language, as a branch of Afro-Asiatic language family and the most interesting thing is that this language comprises of about 300 closely related local dialects. The Berber language is the most primarily a spoken language among their people, but inspite of this language being spoken by many people,the written form is little known and it is not commomnly used.

Berber population

The population of Berber includes about 2.2 crores approximately and it constitutes

1)40 percent of the population of Morocco

2)Nearly 30 percent of the population of Algeria

3)About 1 percent of the population of Tunisia.

But as a matter of fact the number of identifiable Berbers in North Africa is slowly declining as they slowly trying to adopt the language of Arabs.Most of the Berbers are Muslims andthe important thing is that they are less orthodox, however, and their religious rituals includes many elements which was derived from ancient pre-Islamic and pagan religions. The Berbers usually inhabit rural areas and they dwell in tents and clay huts and also use stone houses in larger villages.

Occupation of berber

Traditionally the occupations of Berber includes sheep and cattle raising.Inspite of this,they also concentrate in crop rising. Apart from these two fields Berbers are also well versed in other occupations which includes

1)Flour milling Wood carving

2)The quarrying of millstones

3)The production of domestic utensils, agricultural implements, pottery, jewelry, and leather goods.

Early Existance

The historical evidence says that Berber lived first in Nort Africa and they inhabited the coast of North Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean, for many centuaries and they continued to inhabit these regions till the domination of Arabs in 7th AD and the Arabs drove many Berber tribes inland to the Atlas Mountains and to areas in and near the Sahara. This made them to preach Islam after the Arab conquest and they struggled for their powers for many centuries.The image below shows the Berber Warriors

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Under the French rule

France and Spain subjugated Morocco and Algeria during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1918, after the first world war, the Berber and Arab populations of North Africa began actively to seek independence. The Rif,which was led by the Rif emir Abd el-Krim, repeatedly defeated Spanish troops beginning from 1921 and the Berbers also advanced into French Morocco in 1926 but were repulsed next year by the combination French and Spanish forces.The picture below shows the Rif Tribesman

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Independent at last

It was on August 20, 1955, a force of Berbers from the Atlas Mountains region of Algeria and they also raided two rural settlements in Morocco which resulted in the death of 77 French nationals.Similar kind of attacks took place asn finally French was able to end the exile of Mohammed V in 1955 and they granted independence to Morocoo in 1956.But in the case of Algeria, a violent resistance to French rule by segments of both the Berber and the Arab population continued and finally Algeria was granted independence in 1962.

Written by Raaghavan Krishnamurthy.
In category Social Life.
15 years ago.

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