History of the Shilha

History of the Shilha

Ancient Berber Territories
enwikipedia.org

The Shilha are a sub-culture group of the Berbers. The Berbers are the ethnic group native to North Africa. The Berbers pre-existed the modern day Arab groups that inhabit much of North Africa and particularly Morocco. The Shilha and the other Berber groups descended from the ancient Numidians, who were close allies with the Carthaginians. The Berbers at first resisted conversion to Islam, but around the 7^th century A.D. a vast majority of them converted to Islam. Following their conversion, they played a very important role in the Islamic invasion and eventual takeover of Spain in the 8^th century A.D.

During the 11th and 13th centuries the Berbers existed as two large dynasties: the Almoravids and the Almohads. The Berbers held control over the majority of Spain as well as North Africa. The major split of the Shilha from the greater Berber group is seen in their language. The classical Berbers spoke either Tarifit, Tachelhit or Tamazight. The Shilhan people spoke Tachelhit, whereas many of the other major groups spoke Tarifit or Tamazight. These languages originated sometime around the origin of the Carthaginian people.

Following imperialism throughout much of North Africa the Berbers were split into separate regions based off of the territories they lived in. Many became citizens of these European owned territories and were even converted to Christianity.

   References

 

 

http://www.al-bab.com/arab/background/berber.htm

 

Goodman, Jane E. Berber Culture On The World Stage : From Village To Video. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 5 May 2014.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilha_people