Kutama

The Kutama (Berber: Iktamen) were a major Berber Tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber Confederation of the Bavares. the Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form Koidamousii by the Greek geographer Ptolemy.

The Kutama played a pivotal role during the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), forming the bulk of the Fatimid army which eventually overthrew the Aghlabids who controlled Ifriqiya, and which then went on to conquer Egypt and the southern Levant in 969–975. The Kutama remained one of the mainstays of the Fatimid army until well into the 11th century.

The Kutama are part of the Branes branch of Berbers. The Kutama are related to the Zouaoua, and are located in the larger Kabylia region. They are neighbouring the Zenati of the Ulhassa in the eastern part towards Annaba and the Aures.

In his book, published in 1867, Ernest Mercier mentions the presence of Oulhaça in the vicinity of Annaba in Algeria today.

The Kutamas were a group of Eastern Algeria in the 13th century located at the border terminals Wilayas of Bejaia and Constantine and the borders of the Aures which corresponds to la Petite Kabylie and a part of eastern Algeria Kabylie orientale (far Eastern Kabylia) in the 20th century.

The Zedjala are part of Ulhassa in the Medjana, a plain bordered by the Aures. They are installed near the Aures Mountains Eiad.

Today, representatives of the Ulhaasa live in the neighborhood of Wad Tafna west of modern Algeria in the Wilaya of Ain Temouchent near Tlemcen. The Kutamas on the other hand also settled in the Rif (in the Fatimid Dynasty), this is why we find in the Rif region of Morocco tribes akin to that dynasty (Ketama).

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