Maghreb

(see also North Africa, Tamazgha, Arab Maghreb Union, Mashreq)

History

Originally, the Maghreb was inhabited by "white" Cro-Magnoids (Iberomaurusians) in the north and by "black" peoples in the Sahara. Later, about 8000 BC, there came from the east "white" speakers of northern Afro-Asiatic languages such as Berber at least since the Capsian culture.

Related Topics:
White - Iberomaurusian - Black - Afro-Asiatic languages - Capsian culture

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Many ports along the Maghreb coast were occupied by Phoenicians, particularly Carthaginians; with the defeat of Carthage, many of these ports naturally passed to Rome, and ultimately it took control of the entire Maghreb north of the Atlas Mountains, apart from some of the most mountainous regions like the Moroccan Rif.

Related Topics:
Phoenician - Carthaginians - Rome - Rif

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The Arabs reached the Maghreb in early Umayyad times, but their control over it was quite weak, and various Islamic "heresies" such as the Ibadis and the Shia, enthusiastically adopted by some Berbers, quickly threw off Caliphal control in the name of their interpretations of Islam. The Arabic language became widespread only later, as a result of the invasion of the Banu Hilal (unleashed, ironically, by the Berber Fatimids in punishment for their Zirid clients' defection) in the 1100's. Throughout this period, the Maghreb fluctuated between occasional unity (as under the Almohads, and briefly under the Hafsids) and more commonly division into three states roughly corresponding to modern Morocco, western Algeria, and eastern Algeria and Tunisia.

Related Topics:
Umayyad - Ibadi - Shia - Banu Hilal - Fatimid - Zirid - Almohad - Hafsid - Morocco - Algeria - Tunisia

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After the Middle Ages, the area was loosely under the control of the Ottoman Empire, except Morocco. After the 19th century, it was colonized by France, Spain and later Italy.

Related Topics:
Ottoman Empire - Morocco - France - Spain - Italy

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