Berbers
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The Berbers spread
across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and to some extent Libya and Egypt.
Berbers make up 25% of the population of Algeria.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A18)
The Berbers were Morocco’s 1st inhabitants and their native
language is called Tamazight.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A14)
300
About this time Berbers from North Africa began to
rule Ghana and continued for about the next 400 years. They are thought
to have originated as nomads from the Middle East.
(ATC, p.113)
644-700 Muslims began a wave of invasions across
North Africa. Arabic was imposed on the local Berbers after the Muslims
conquered Morocco.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A14)
711 Jul 9, Berbers under Tarik-ibn
Ziyad occupied Northern Spain. The Umayyads with the help of the
Berbers in North Africa moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and began
the conquest of Spain and Portugal. The Berber leader Tarik crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar and began the Muslim conquest of Spain. The word
Gibraltar comes from the term Jabal-al-Tarik, which means the hill of
Tarik. Gebel-al-Tarik means "Rock of Tarik."
(ATC, p.79)(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)(SFEC,
9/29/96, Z1 p.2)(MC, 7/9/02)
c900-1000 The Bourghwata kingdom translated the Koran
into Berber, but the kingdom was vanquished by Sunni Muslim puritans.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A18)
992 Ghana captured its chief
trading rival, the Berber town of Audoghast.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.172)
1062 Marrakech [Marrakesh], the
Arab name for Morocco, was built as a fortified city by the first
Berber dynasty, the Almoravids. It was the terminus of a trade route
running southward to the Niger River and of another running eastward to
Cairo.
(NH, 5/96, p.40)(SFEC, 7/25/99, p.T10)
1980 In Algeria Berber
anti-government sentiment was mobilized in the “Tamazight Spring”
uprising.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A18)
1988 Oct 11, Violence began to
subside in Algeria, where mass rioting by youths had broken out a week
earlier, prompting the government to declare a state of siege.
(AP, 10/11/98)
1988 Oct, Berber riots left
hundreds dead in the “Black October” riots.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A18)
1994 Sep, In Algeria Lounes
Matoub, a popular Berber singer, was kidnapped by Islamic militants. He
was held for over 2 weeks and released after over 100,000 people
demonstrated for his freedom.
(SFC, 6/27/98, p.A13)
1996 Nov 28, In Algeria a
referendum was passed that banned political parties based on religion,
language and regionalism, a reference to the large Berber community
which has long worked for recognition of its language. Opponents
denounced the elections as a sham.
(SFC, 11/30/96, p.A12)
1998 Jun 25, Lounes Matoub (42), a
popular singer and Berber patriot, was killed near Beni Douala. The
Armed Islamic Group later claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 6/27/98, p.A13)(SFC, 7/2/98, p.C2)
1998 Jul 5, Algeria celebrated
independence and put into effect a new law making Arabic the country’s
sole official language. The Berber minority struggled to have the
government recognize their own language, Tamazight.
(SFC, 6/27/98, p.A13)(SFEC, 7/5/98, p.A18)
2000 Mar, In Morocco Berbers
submitted the “Berber Manifesto,” which called on the state to
recognize Tamazight as a national language.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A18)
2010 Jan 6, In Morocco the first
Berber TV channel in the ancient but marginalized tongue of Amazigh was
launched after a decades-long struggle.
(AFP, 1/18/10)(http://tinyurl.com/yfl4jpp)
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Subject = Berbers
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