Chleuh
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~4.77 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Morocco-Atlas Mountains, Sous Valley | |
| Languages | |
| Shilha | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Muslim | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Berbers |
The Shilha people, also called Shluh or Chleuh, are a major Berber subgroup primarily inhabiting the southwestern mountains, Sous River, and southern coastal regions of Morocco.
The Shilha traditionally call themselves Shlḥi. This endonym is rendered as Chleuhs in French. The Shilha are also known as Shluh and Shlöh. Among Arabic speakers, Shluh serves as an appellation for Berbers generally, although Amazigh/Imazighin is the proper Berber self-name for Berbers as a whole.
The Shilha people live mainly in Morocco's southern Atlantic coast, the High Atlas Mountains, the Anti Atlas mountains, and the Sous Valley. They are of Berber origin, which along with the Shluh people, includes other ethnic subgroups such as the Tuareg, Rif, Kabyle, Shawia and Beraber. The Shilha people are a part of Morocco's Berber-speaking minority, and the southernmost residing Berber population.
In antiquity, Berbers traded with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians in commercial entrepots and colonies along the northwestern littoral. They established the ancient kingdom of Mauretania, which fell under Roman rule in 33 CE, before eventually being reunited under Berber sovereignty. During the 7th century, the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate invaded the Berber and Byzantine strongholds in the Maghreb, seizing Carthage in 698 AD. Although the Umayyads nominally controlled Morocco over the following years, their rule was tenuous due to Berber resistance. The polity eventually collapsed and was taken over by the Abbasid dynasty. In 789 AD, with the approval of the locals, a former Umayyad courtier established the Idrisid dynasty. It lasted until 970 AD, as various petty states vied for control over the ensuing centuries. After 1053, Morocco was ruled by a succession of Muslim dynasties founded by Berber tribes. Among these were the Almoravid dynasty (1053-1147), the Almohad dynasty (1147-1275), and the Marinid dynasty (1213-1524). In 1668, a sharifan family from the east assumed control and established the incumbent Alawite dynasty.
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