Jbala
Map of Jbala's land in Northern Morocco
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (approximately 1 million) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Northern Morocco, mostly concentrated in the North-West Morocco and Rif Mountains | |
| Languages | |
| Jbala Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Muslim | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Berbers |
The Jebala (Arabic: جبالة, Moroccan Arabic:Jbala) is a group of mountain people, with berber,arab and moriscos (who fled to the Region) ancestors, which inhabit North-West Morocco. The jebala people inhabit the plains from the city of Targuist to the west, in contrast with the Riff people inhabiting the plains from Targuist to the east. The North-West of Morocco include cities such as Tanger (Tingis), Tetouan, Chefchaouen, and Asilah.
The word Jbala comes from Arabic (Arabic: جبالةJbel) which means mountain. Thus Jbala means mountain people. A man or boy is called a Jebli while a woman or a girl is called a Jebliya.
The Jebala speak an arabic Hassani-dialect influenced by Berbers and Andalucians of Northern Morocco and Al-Andalus and the fact that their land lies on the route between these places. The Jebala people should not be confused with the Berbers inhabiting Riffian of Atlas people. They are different from them based on history, ethnicity and linguistically. The inhabitants of the North are divided in two broad traditional ethnolinguistic categories, the Arabic-speaking jebala in the west which trace their maleline to dynasties and tribes such as the Idrisid dynasty and the Maqil tribe. In the East you have the Tarifit-speaking Riffians, with the dividing line and watershed in Targuist. Before the arrival of the Arabian Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes in the 12th century, the Jebala country was the only rural region where non-bedouinic Arabic was spoken, and it still remains the only significant rural region where a non-bedouin Arabic dialect is spoken. Most of the Jebala people are centered in North-West Morocco and the Southern Riff Mountains (Fes-Meknes district), compared to the Berbers which are most centered in the Central and Eastern regions of the Riff Mountains. Next to the Jebala people, the region is also inhabited by Sephardi Jews and native jews. Since they were not accepted in the other regions in the mountains, these classes were only found in the arab tribal lands of the plains to the North-West of the Mountains. Some jewish people today still live in cities like Tanger and Chefchaouen.
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