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Bled es-Siba

20th century map depicting Bled es-Siba (highlighted)

Bled es-Siba or Bled Siba (Arabic: بلاد السيبة, romanized: Bilād al-Sība, lit. 'land of dissidence'), is a historical term in pre-colonial Moroccan history that refers to a lawless area that was out of the control of the Moroccan Sultans.[1]

Etymology

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Bled es-Siba literally means "land of dissidence"[2] or "region of anarchy", as opposed to Bled el-Makhzen, which refers to the region under the control of the Makhzen governing institution.[3]

Sība (سيبة) is a colloquial Arabic word meaning "rebellion",[4] "insolence"[5][page needed] or "stateless".[6] It comes from the classical Arabic term sā'iba meaning "a free, untethered camel"[7] and the first known pre-Islamic instance of the word sība refers “to a camel set aside from the herd, left to fend for itself, as a form of sacrifice.”[8] It comes from the Arabic root sby (meaning to take prisoner, to capture, to fascinate). In the Maghreb, it is synonymous with the classical term fitna.[9]

Historical background

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Morocco has been ruled by the Alaouite dynasty since the 17th century. Many Berber tribes were however, not submissive to the Sultan, which led to two different regions: Bled es-Siba and Bled el-Makhzen.[10]

Historiography

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The distinction between Bled es-Siba and Bled el-Makhzen emerged in French historiography and ethnography[5][page needed] and was important to how the French portrayed their mission in Morocco.[3] The dominant view regarding Bled es-Siba that was held by colonial scholarship was challenged by later scholars of decolonisation like Abdallah Laroui.[9]

Makhzen and Siba

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The relation between the central power of the Makhzen and the region of Bled es-Siba was more complex than a simple territorial separation. Even though tribes in Bled es-Siba were not submissive to central power, the spiritual authority of the Sultan was always accepted.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Hoffman, Bernard G. (1967). The Structure of Traditional Moroccan Rural Society. The Hague and Paris: Mouton.
  2. ^ Vinogradov, Amal Rassam (1974-01-01). The Ait Ndhir of Morocco: A Study of the Social Transformation of a Berber Tribe. University of Michigan Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-932206-53-4.
  3. ^ a b Maghraoui, Driss (1998). "Moroccan Colonial Soldiers: Between Selective Memory and Collective Memory". Arab Studies Quarterly. 20 (2): 31. ISSN 0271-3519. JSTOR 41858246.
  4. ^ Robinson, David (2004-01-12). Muslim Societies in African History. Cambridge University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-521-53366-9.
  5. ^ a b Joffé, George (2015-12-14). North Africa: Nation, State, and Region. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-30450-0.
  6. ^ Addi, Lahouari (2018-07-01). Radical Arab Nationalism and Political Islam. Georgetown University Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-62616-450-5.
  7. ^ Brown, Kenneth L. (1976). People of Salé: Tradition and Change in a Moroccan City, 1830-1930. Manchester University Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-7190-0623-4.
  8. ^ Scheele, Judith (2022-12-01). "Northwest African perspectives on the concept of the state". HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory. 12 (3): 732–746. doi:10.1086/722386. ISSN 2575-1433.
  9. ^ a b Pandolfo, Stefania (1997). Impasse of the Angels: Scenes from a Moroccan Space of Memory. University of Chicago Press. p. 328. ISBN 978-0-226-64532-2.
  10. ^ a b Landmark cases in international law. Kluwer Law Intern. 1998. ISBN 9789041197092. OCLC 40551880.
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