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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Berbers in the Maghreb and al-Andalus: settlements and toponymy |
Author: | Felipe, Helena de |
Year: | 1993 |
Periodical: | Maghreb Review |
Volume: | 18 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 57-62 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Maghreb |
Subjects: | Berber place names |
Abstract: | This article examines the close link between Berber tribes and the land on which they were settled in 8th-10th-century North Africa and al-Andalus (Spain). The article is based on toponymical information derived from classical Arabic texts, in particular Ab¯u 'Ubayd al-Bakr¯i's 'Kit¯ab al-Mam¯alik wa-l-Mas¯alik'. It gives an outline of the differences in the way in which Berber settlements were organized on both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar. Throughout al-Bakr¯i's text, the population of the Maghreb is presented as separated into different settlements according to different origins. A substantial part of the population lived within the framework of a tribal structure. Berbers in al-Andalus followed two distinct patterns: groups living in frontier regions outside urban settlements, and groups which were integrated into urban structures. The latter gradually lost their onomastic idiosyncrasy. In al-Andalus, the ethnic factor was not dominant prior to the 11th century. Notes, ref. |