Quelques remarques sur le nomadisme préhilalien au Maghreb (viiie-xie siècle)

Abstract

This article proposes an overview of the history of nomadism in the Maghrib prior to the Hilalian migrations in the mid-11th century. This subject has been little-studied in comparison with nomadism in North Africa in ancient times, in which considerable advances have been made recently. High Middle Age Arabic sources contain a large variety of terms to designate nomadic populations and their ways of life. Residence, territory and socio-economic aspects predominate in the way that nomads are portrayed in these sources. The practice of nomadism in the High Middle Ages presented numerous regional variations in response to ecological conditions, the prevailing kinds of agro-pastoral production and forms of land occupation. The article concludes with a number of questions as to the nature and the evolution of the living spaces of nomadic populations.

Keywords

• Nomadic and sedentary populations
• Nomadism in the Maghrib
• Tents
• Transhumance
• Tribal organisation
• Nwāla