Post by Ibrahimi on Mar 24, 2013 0:24:19 GMT -5
Many N. Africans since ancient times before the Arab influx were not Berbers:
كتاب : ذكرى العاقل وتنبيه الغافل
المؤلف : عبد القادر الجزائري
Quote:
وأما الفرنج، فهم من ولد يافث بن نوح، كان يافث، ولد سبعة من الولد، منهم ريعات. ومنه الفرنج، كما في التوراة. ويقال لهم: فرنسوس. وقاعدة بلادهم أفرنس بفتح الهمزة وسكون الفاء وفتح الراء المهملة وسكون النون وبالسين المهملة ويقولون: أفرنك على وزن أفرنس وكأن أفرنس معرب من أفرنك ويقولون: أفرنج والكاف والقاف والجيم تتعاقب في كلام العرب وملكهم، ويقال له: الفرنسيس وبلادهم، بسائط، على عدوة البحر الرومي، وشماله، وجزيرة الأندلس، من ورائهم، في الغرب. تفصل بينهم وبينها، جبال متوعرة، ذات مسالك ضيقة، يسمونها البرث. وسكان تلك الجبال، الجلالقة وهم من شعوب الفرنك وكان الفرنسيس، استولوا من الجزائر الرحرية، علي: صقلية، وقبرص، وأقريطش وجنوة واستولوا علي قطعة من بلادهم من الأندلس، إلى برشلونة. وعلى رومة. وكان الإفرنج أيضاً ملكوا إفريقة، ونزلوا أمصارها العظيمة، مثل: سبيلطه، وجلولا، ورباغية، ولميس... وغيرها من الأمصار. وغلبوا من كان بها من البربر، وأدوا إليهم الجباية، وعسكروا معهم، في حروبهم. ولم يكن للروم فيها ولاية وإنما كان، من كان منهم بإفريقية، جنداً للفرنج، ومن حشدوهم. وكانوا ملكوا، ما بين طنجة وطرابلس الغرب. ومن الفرنج الملك جرجير الذي قتله العرب، أول دخولهم إفريقية، سنة 27 من الهجرة. وكان قاعدة ملكه سبيطلة وهي قبلة القيروان، على مسافة يومين. وكان الفرنج بإفريقية، يؤدون إلى هرقل، ملك القسطنطينية، لما كان الروم، أغلب على الأمم المجاورة لهم، من جميع الجهات، إلى أن كان الملك جرجير. فخلع طاعة الروم، وضرب الدراهم والدنانير على صورته.
ولما دخل العرب إفريقية. وقتلوا الملك جرجير، صار التغلب للبربر على الفرنج. واجتمع البربر والفرنج، على قتال العرب. وما زالت الحرب سجالاً بينهم، إلى سنة أربع وثمانين، فانهزم البربر والفرنج، هزيمةً، لم يقع لهم جمع بعدها. فمن كان من الفرنج، قريباً من البحر، ركب إلى الأندلس، وإلى صقلية، وإلى سردانية، من الفرنج. الذي كانا بإفريقية، ومن كان بعيداً من البحر، اختلط مع البربر، وصاروا جملة واحدة وفي جبل أوراس، كثيراً من الفرنج. ومن تأمل الآن، سكان جبل أوراس، فرق بين البربر والفرنج.
The Reminder of the Conscious one and the Warning to the Unmindful one by Abdelqadir Aljazairi
Concerning the Afrang(western european confederation)m then they are from the lineage of Yafith bin Nuh, Yafith had birthed to him 7 sons , from them is Ri'ath and from him is the Afranj as is mentioned in the torat, they are called Francus. Their capital is in a land called Afrance .....mentioned by them afrank and from this arabized to afranj because the kaf and the qaf and the jeem take each others places in the arabic language. Their king is called Francis and their land is enormous spread from the mediterranean sea to its northern reaches and the Andalus(iberian peninsula) from behind them in a westernly direction. The landmark that cuts them off from their territory(andalus) are rough terrain mountains(pyrenees?) which has very narrow paths. It is called Barth. The population of these mountains are called Galacians(The Pyrenean region possesses a varied ethnology, folklore and history: see Andorra; Aragon; Ariège; Basque Country; Béarn; Catalonia; Navarre; Roussillon. For their history, see also Almogavars, Marca Hispanica.
The principal languages spoken in the area are Spanish, French, Catalan (in Catalonia and Andorra), Basque, and Aragonese . Also spoken, to a lesser degree, are the Occitan language (the Gascon and Languedocien dialects in France and the Aranese dialect in the Aran Valley).)They are from the Frank nations, Francis, from the Rihriya islands had conqured Sicily, Cyprus, Crete, and Genova and conqured a portion of the land of Andalus towards barcelona, and conqured Roma. The Afranj also ruled Ifriqiyya(North Africa), they settled in it's great places and towns like Sabeelta, Gajula, Ribaghiya, Lamees, and other towns and they(Afranj) conqured whoever was there from the Berbers. The Berbers would pay them tribute and the berbers would give them soldiers during time of war. And they never had any allegiance with Rome . The situation was as such that whoever was loving in Ifriqiyya at the time(north africa) was part of a Afranja(western European) army and whoever joined them in their ranks. They(the western europeans)ruled from Tangier to Western Tripoli. The Afranj had a king called jarjeer who the Arabs had killed the first time they entered Ifriqiyya in the year 27 hijri. JArjeer's capital was sabeelta which faces alqiriwan a distance of two days. The afranj(west europeans)were in Ifriqiyya paying tribute to Heraculis, king of constantinople, when rome had conqured most of teh neighboring nations in all directions until jarjeer became king then he left being in their tribute and paid a ransom for it in dinars and dirhams. When the Arabs came in a killed jarjeer, the berbers became to dominate the afranj, and the berbers and the afranj united to fight the arabs. The fighting between the Arabs and the berber/afranj armies continued on until the year 83. Then the Berbers and Afranj lost horribly and they never had the chance to assemble again after that. Then whoever was from the afranj close to the sea sailed to Andalus(Spain), Sicily, Sardonia amongst those the Afranj people in Ifriqiyya(N. Africa). and whoever was far away from the sea mixed with the berbers and became one group. In the Aures mountain(N. Algeria), there are a lot of Afranj people and whoever wants to look now will see the difference of the berber and the Afranj
The sanhaja were a pre-islamic Arab influx into the Berber identity in N. Africa and the Sahara: When I say Berbers, I don't mean the Sanhaja tribes because the Sanhaja, Lemta, Lemtuna, Ketama, etc were Himyarite tribes that became Berberized. The Tuareg, the Toubou, the Zaghawa, etc are all Sanhaja tribes.
Sanhaja: one of the largest Berber tribal groups, comprising 70 tribes, and found almost all over North Africa, and according to Ibn Khaldun some say a third of all the Berber nations are Sanhaja. The Sahara is their home; extending six-months walking:
Telkana (Telkata)
Injfa:
Mazourat
Slaib
Feshtala
Melwana
Shert'a
Lemtouna, in Kakdem:
Wertent'eq
Zmal
S'oulan
Nasja
Msoufa
Kadala
Wetrika or Wetriga
Nawka or Nawga
Zghawa
Lemt'a
Mendla
Warith
Yitisen
Zenaga: (S'enaka or Zenaka): the 'h' in the name of this Sanhaja group was omitted by Arab writers, who used the form: S'enaka
...
Lemta: (Lemt'a): according to one source the Garaments were later subdued by the matrilineal Lemta Berbers before they eventually fused with the aboriginals of the south bank of the Upper Niger; and according to another the Tebu were of Lemta origin:
Lemtuna
Tuareg
Tebu
Sdoykesh:
Sileen (Silin)
Noura
Zeken
Lekhsa
Ibn Kathir (who lived from 1301–1373) mentioned, during his time, a people called Tamaatim, who he said were extremely black. He mentioned them and the Berbers and the Abyssinians as extremely black and the Romans and ٍSlavs as extremely white and the Arabs in between.
In general, it is said that the tribes that I mentioned above are from Himyar and that the Berbers are from Amazigh the son of Kan'aan. Ibn Khaldoun said that he is Amazigh the son of Kan'aan the son of Ham the son of Noah. Others say he is Amazigh the son of Kan'aan the son of Sam the son of Noah. I've spoken before about Kan'aan being the son of Sam.
Al-Hafidh Al-Dhahabi says in Siyar A'alaam Al-Nubalaa:
"It is said that the home of Berbers was in Palestine and that their king was Jalout (Goliath) and when the Prophet Daoud (David) killed him, they (the Berbers) were ousted to Morocco (Al-Maghrib) and they spread to the ends of Sous."
ويقال : إن دار البربر كانت فلسطين ، وملكهم هو جالوت ، فلما قتله نبي الله داود ; جلت البربر إلى المغرب ، وانتشروا إلى السوس الأقصى .
Others say that the Berbers are from Qais 'Ailaan the son of Mudar. Others say that they are from the Amalekites. Others say they are from Ham.
What adds to the confusion is the fact that there are Berbers in the east - like in Somalia. And Berbers in the west - like in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc.
I believe that the Berbers in Somalia where known for their extremely black complexion. Yaqout Al-Hamawi said describing the area of Somalia :
"Berbera is another land and it is between the land of the Habash and the Zanj and the Yemen on the coast of the sea of the Yemen and the sea of the Zanj and its people are extremely black-skinned."
بربرة هذه بلاد أخرى بين بلاد الحبش والزنج واليمن على ساحل بحر اليمن وبحر الزنج وأهلها سودان جدا
Yaqout Al-Hamawi also says the following when speaking about the Somalians:
"These Berbers are different Berbers from the Berbers in Morocco (Al-Maghrib). These are black-skinned, resembling the Zunouj (Zanj). They are a race between the Habash and the Zanj."
”وهؤلاء البربر غير البربر الذين هم بالمغرب، هؤلاء سود يشبهون الزنوج جنس متوسط بين الحبش والزنوج”
The Appearance of the Original Berbers According to European Perceptions
By Dana Marniche
All the early major Berber tribes including the Masmuda, Sanhaja, Ketama Zenata and Nafusa are described as dark reddish brown like the “Indi’ or as “blacks” or Ethiopians in early documents. The notion of the early Berbers as being “whites” or Caucasoid is a new and racist one related to the concept of the African “Hamite”.
Certainly the original Berber-speakers were never referred to as anything but “black” or something near it until the 12th century and were otherwise considered the color of Abyssinians and other so called “Indi”.
Even the Kabyles a notoriously fair-skinned “Berber” people of North Africa are up until the 19th century described as “brown” “apart from a few clans”. (See quotes below).
The knowledge that Europeans were changing the complexion literally and figuratively of North Africa up until the 19th century has disappeared from modern European histories.
Most know about the large part played by sub-saharan black slaves in the making of modern North Africa and Arabia while the white slave trade which was in fact dominant trade in North Africa until the fall of Constantinople (Istanbul in Turkey) in the 15th century had been largely ignored in historical writings of the 20th.
Yet it was only a few centuries ago that Europeans visiting North Africa commenting on the fact that, “on almost every street of the cities of Barbary, Europeans could be seen harnessed to carts like draught horses or selling water from jars loaded on the backs of donkeys”.
1809 Commentary on those called “Moors” by an early 19th century observer: “They carry the Christian captives about the desert to the different markets to sell them for they soon discover that their habits of life render them unserviceable , or very inferior to the black slaves of Timbuktoo. “ from An Account of the Empire of Marocco, by J. G. Jackson published 1809 and 1814.
2003 – “From 1500 to 1650 when trans-Atlantic slaving was still in its infancy more Europeans were taken to Barbary than black African slaves to the Americas. See, Robert Davis Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800, MacMillan Publishers, published 2003.
The impact of the white slave trade and its contribution to the modern biology and appearance of the modern North African stems from before the Arabian and Muslim waves into Africa.
The Roman ruler Claudian spoke concerning Gildo, the “Moorish” ruler of Africa and treatment of Roman women from the Levant by this North African chief and his countrymen:
4th century – Claudian wrote, “ when tired of each noblest matron Gildo hands her over to the Moors. These Sidonian mothers, married in Carthage city must needs mate with barbarians. He thrusts upon me an Ethiopian as a son-in law, a Berber as a husband. The hideous hybrid affrights its cradle.” Claudian, by Claudius Claudianus, translation by Maurice Platnauer, Published by G.P. Putnam’s sons, 1922 p. 113.
(Gildo was brother to other Berber chiefs Firmus and Maseczel. Gildo is related to Aguellid or Galdi which remains the modern Tuarek word for chief. Masek, Amazigh ot Imoshagh was the name for the ancient and modern Tuareg clans in general. The Mezikes tribes were called “Ethiopians” in a Roman text of the time. )
1stt c. A.D. – “Diodorus Siculus speaks in reference to the expedition of Agathocles a Sardinian general, of three Libyan tribes on the coast of Tunisia, the Micatani and Zufoni (see Zafan ),who were nomads and the Asfodelodi, who by the color of their skin resembled the Ethiopians” , p. 50 The Mediterranean Race Book XX, 38, 57 Guiseppe Sergi, 1901. The Micatani were also called Ukutameni and Khethim by Josephus. In later writings they are called Ketama Berbers. The name Maketa or Imakitan remains a name for the eastern branches of the Tuareg.
1st century A.D.– Marcus Valerian Martial was one of the earliest Europeans to use the phrase “woolly hair like a Moor” in one of his Satires, and the phrase was commonly used up until the Middle Ages. See Nature Knows No Color Line by J.A. Rogers, 1952. p. 50 The Muslim era didn’t begin until the birth of Muhammed, the Prophet, over four centuries after Martial.
By the 7th century the word came to be used for Arabians who in the early era of Islam for the most part were also described as of near “black” complexion.
1st century Silius Italicus also describes the Moors with the term ‘Nigra’ meaning black. In the 3rd century Roman dramatist Platus or Plautus maintained the name Maure was a synonym for “Niger” which was a common term for the word black. 6th century Isidore Archbishop of Seville claimed the word Maure meant black according to Brunson and Runoko Rashidi in “The Moors in Antiquity” in Golden Age of the Moor, 1991.
6th A.D.- Corippus uses the phrase “facies nigroque colorus” meaning faces or appearance of black color to describe the North African Berbers. In his book Johannis, I/ 245.
6th A.D. – Procopius in his History of the Wars book IV contrasting the Germanic Vandals who had settled in North Africa with the Maures claimed the Vandals were not “black skinned like the Maurusioi” . The tribes he classified as Maurusioi are those now classified as ancient Berbers, the Numidians, Masaesyle, Gaitules, Massyles and Mezikes several other “Berber” tribes then settled between Tunisia and Morocco.
After the 8th century the term Moor came to be used for the many Arabian clans who had invaded the Mediterranean and Africa because of their complexions which were the same dark brown or near black to absolutely black color of the Berbers.
Bear in mind that the Sanhaja, Lamtuna, Lemta, Zenata, Ketama, Masmuda, and Jeddala are, in reality, not Berbers, but Berberized Himyarite Arabs. As I said in The Unknown Arabs:
The Sanhaja (Muleththimin) are divided into many branches. These branches are Lemta, Auriga, Jedala, Lemtuna, Utzila, Zanziga, Zenega (whence comes the name Senegal), Ketama, Targa, Mesufa, Zaghawa, and Zenata. The Sanhaja (Muleththimin) are also called the Tuareg and most people know them by this name. Bovill says, “The Muleththimin are believed by many to have arrived in Africa as part of a Himyarite invasion from southern Arabia which followed approximately the same route as the much earlier migration of the Gara peoples.” The author of Tarikh El-Sudan, Abdel Rahman El-Saadi, who was from the Muleththimin, quotes Ibn El-Khatib as saying, “These Lamtun are related to the Lamtuna and they are from the children of Lamt. Lamt, Jedal, Lemt, and Mashdhuf are descended from Sanhaja. Lemt is the forefather of Lemta and Masdhuf is the forefather of the Masufa. They are nomadic, transitory people who travel about in the Sahara. The Sanhaja are descended from Himyar. There is no genealogical relation between them and the Berbers except through marriage. They left the Yemen and moved to the Sahara.”
Ibn Hazim says that Ifriqish the son of Qais the son of Saifi left the Arabian Peninsula with Arab tribes and entered the area called Africa. According to him, the area called Ifriqiyya (old name of area from northeast Africa to northwest Africa) was named after Ifriqish. Take a look at tree 3 on page 16 to see Ifriqish’s (Abu Furaiqish) descent. El-Qalqashandi says, “When Ifriqish completed his invasion of the Maghrib (the western part of Africa), he left a garrison of Himyarite tribes of Sanhaja and Ketama there. These two tribes are there until today. They are not of Berber origin. El-Tabari, El-Jirjani, El-Masudi, Ibn Kalbi, El-Suhaili and all Arab genealogists agree on this point.”
Five major tribes of Berbers were spoken of by early Muslim writers including the Sanhaja, Masumuda Zenata, Ketama and Goddula which were categorized into dozens of others which in turn were divided into many more. Among them were the early Kabyles originally a group of Sanhaja Berbers. Most descriptions refer to the modern Kabyles as fair-skinned, but in the 19th century and early 20th, descriptions and in fact many photographs depict them as dark and near black. (Photos from the 19th century show both very dark-skinned and near white skinned Kabyle individuals from different villages in the region).
1890 – “The Kabyles or Kabaily of Algerian and Tunisian territories…besides tillage, work the mines contained in their mountains…They live in huts made of branches of trees and covered with clay which resemble the Magalia of the old Numidians…They are of middle stature, their complexion brown and sometimes nearly black.” Written in The Encyclopedia Britannica: Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature Henry G. Allen Company p. 261 Volume I 1890.
1834 The Scotsman Thomas Campbell says, “The Kabyles…dress like the Arabs and a part from a few tribes, are brown complexioned and black haired” p. 109 Barbary and Enlightenment: European Attitudes Toward the Maghreb in the 18th Century, Ann Thomson. Published 1987
More information will come when i come across it.
كتاب : ذكرى العاقل وتنبيه الغافل
المؤلف : عبد القادر الجزائري
Quote:
وأما الفرنج، فهم من ولد يافث بن نوح، كان يافث، ولد سبعة من الولد، منهم ريعات. ومنه الفرنج، كما في التوراة. ويقال لهم: فرنسوس. وقاعدة بلادهم أفرنس بفتح الهمزة وسكون الفاء وفتح الراء المهملة وسكون النون وبالسين المهملة ويقولون: أفرنك على وزن أفرنس وكأن أفرنس معرب من أفرنك ويقولون: أفرنج والكاف والقاف والجيم تتعاقب في كلام العرب وملكهم، ويقال له: الفرنسيس وبلادهم، بسائط، على عدوة البحر الرومي، وشماله، وجزيرة الأندلس، من ورائهم، في الغرب. تفصل بينهم وبينها، جبال متوعرة، ذات مسالك ضيقة، يسمونها البرث. وسكان تلك الجبال، الجلالقة وهم من شعوب الفرنك وكان الفرنسيس، استولوا من الجزائر الرحرية، علي: صقلية، وقبرص، وأقريطش وجنوة واستولوا علي قطعة من بلادهم من الأندلس، إلى برشلونة. وعلى رومة. وكان الإفرنج أيضاً ملكوا إفريقة، ونزلوا أمصارها العظيمة، مثل: سبيلطه، وجلولا، ورباغية، ولميس... وغيرها من الأمصار. وغلبوا من كان بها من البربر، وأدوا إليهم الجباية، وعسكروا معهم، في حروبهم. ولم يكن للروم فيها ولاية وإنما كان، من كان منهم بإفريقية، جنداً للفرنج، ومن حشدوهم. وكانوا ملكوا، ما بين طنجة وطرابلس الغرب. ومن الفرنج الملك جرجير الذي قتله العرب، أول دخولهم إفريقية، سنة 27 من الهجرة. وكان قاعدة ملكه سبيطلة وهي قبلة القيروان، على مسافة يومين. وكان الفرنج بإفريقية، يؤدون إلى هرقل، ملك القسطنطينية، لما كان الروم، أغلب على الأمم المجاورة لهم، من جميع الجهات، إلى أن كان الملك جرجير. فخلع طاعة الروم، وضرب الدراهم والدنانير على صورته.
ولما دخل العرب إفريقية. وقتلوا الملك جرجير، صار التغلب للبربر على الفرنج. واجتمع البربر والفرنج، على قتال العرب. وما زالت الحرب سجالاً بينهم، إلى سنة أربع وثمانين، فانهزم البربر والفرنج، هزيمةً، لم يقع لهم جمع بعدها. فمن كان من الفرنج، قريباً من البحر، ركب إلى الأندلس، وإلى صقلية، وإلى سردانية، من الفرنج. الذي كانا بإفريقية، ومن كان بعيداً من البحر، اختلط مع البربر، وصاروا جملة واحدة وفي جبل أوراس، كثيراً من الفرنج. ومن تأمل الآن، سكان جبل أوراس، فرق بين البربر والفرنج.
The Reminder of the Conscious one and the Warning to the Unmindful one by Abdelqadir Aljazairi
Concerning the Afrang(western european confederation)m then they are from the lineage of Yafith bin Nuh, Yafith had birthed to him 7 sons , from them is Ri'ath and from him is the Afranj as is mentioned in the torat, they are called Francus. Their capital is in a land called Afrance .....mentioned by them afrank and from this arabized to afranj because the kaf and the qaf and the jeem take each others places in the arabic language. Their king is called Francis and their land is enormous spread from the mediterranean sea to its northern reaches and the Andalus(iberian peninsula) from behind them in a westernly direction. The landmark that cuts them off from their territory(andalus) are rough terrain mountains(pyrenees?) which has very narrow paths. It is called Barth. The population of these mountains are called Galacians(The Pyrenean region possesses a varied ethnology, folklore and history: see Andorra; Aragon; Ariège; Basque Country; Béarn; Catalonia; Navarre; Roussillon. For their history, see also Almogavars, Marca Hispanica.
The principal languages spoken in the area are Spanish, French, Catalan (in Catalonia and Andorra), Basque, and Aragonese . Also spoken, to a lesser degree, are the Occitan language (the Gascon and Languedocien dialects in France and the Aranese dialect in the Aran Valley).)They are from the Frank nations, Francis, from the Rihriya islands had conqured Sicily, Cyprus, Crete, and Genova and conqured a portion of the land of Andalus towards barcelona, and conqured Roma. The Afranj also ruled Ifriqiyya(North Africa), they settled in it's great places and towns like Sabeelta, Gajula, Ribaghiya, Lamees, and other towns and they(Afranj) conqured whoever was there from the Berbers. The Berbers would pay them tribute and the berbers would give them soldiers during time of war. And they never had any allegiance with Rome . The situation was as such that whoever was loving in Ifriqiyya at the time(north africa) was part of a Afranja(western European) army and whoever joined them in their ranks. They(the western europeans)ruled from Tangier to Western Tripoli. The Afranj had a king called jarjeer who the Arabs had killed the first time they entered Ifriqiyya in the year 27 hijri. JArjeer's capital was sabeelta which faces alqiriwan a distance of two days. The afranj(west europeans)were in Ifriqiyya paying tribute to Heraculis, king of constantinople, when rome had conqured most of teh neighboring nations in all directions until jarjeer became king then he left being in their tribute and paid a ransom for it in dinars and dirhams. When the Arabs came in a killed jarjeer, the berbers became to dominate the afranj, and the berbers and the afranj united to fight the arabs. The fighting between the Arabs and the berber/afranj armies continued on until the year 83. Then the Berbers and Afranj lost horribly and they never had the chance to assemble again after that. Then whoever was from the afranj close to the sea sailed to Andalus(Spain), Sicily, Sardonia amongst those the Afranj people in Ifriqiyya(N. Africa). and whoever was far away from the sea mixed with the berbers and became one group. In the Aures mountain(N. Algeria), there are a lot of Afranj people and whoever wants to look now will see the difference of the berber and the Afranj
The sanhaja were a pre-islamic Arab influx into the Berber identity in N. Africa and the Sahara: When I say Berbers, I don't mean the Sanhaja tribes because the Sanhaja, Lemta, Lemtuna, Ketama, etc were Himyarite tribes that became Berberized. The Tuareg, the Toubou, the Zaghawa, etc are all Sanhaja tribes.
Sanhaja: one of the largest Berber tribal groups, comprising 70 tribes, and found almost all over North Africa, and according to Ibn Khaldun some say a third of all the Berber nations are Sanhaja. The Sahara is their home; extending six-months walking:
Telkana (Telkata)
Injfa:
Mazourat
Slaib
Feshtala
Melwana
Shert'a
Lemtouna, in Kakdem:
Wertent'eq
Zmal
S'oulan
Nasja
Msoufa
Kadala
Wetrika or Wetriga
Nawka or Nawga
Zghawa
Lemt'a
Mendla
Warith
Yitisen
Zenaga: (S'enaka or Zenaka): the 'h' in the name of this Sanhaja group was omitted by Arab writers, who used the form: S'enaka
...
Lemta: (Lemt'a): according to one source the Garaments were later subdued by the matrilineal Lemta Berbers before they eventually fused with the aboriginals of the south bank of the Upper Niger; and according to another the Tebu were of Lemta origin:
Lemtuna
Tuareg
Tebu
Sdoykesh:
Sileen (Silin)
Noura
Zeken
Lekhsa
Ibn Kathir (who lived from 1301–1373) mentioned, during his time, a people called Tamaatim, who he said were extremely black. He mentioned them and the Berbers and the Abyssinians as extremely black and the Romans and ٍSlavs as extremely white and the Arabs in between.
In general, it is said that the tribes that I mentioned above are from Himyar and that the Berbers are from Amazigh the son of Kan'aan. Ibn Khaldoun said that he is Amazigh the son of Kan'aan the son of Ham the son of Noah. Others say he is Amazigh the son of Kan'aan the son of Sam the son of Noah. I've spoken before about Kan'aan being the son of Sam.
Al-Hafidh Al-Dhahabi says in Siyar A'alaam Al-Nubalaa:
"It is said that the home of Berbers was in Palestine and that their king was Jalout (Goliath) and when the Prophet Daoud (David) killed him, they (the Berbers) were ousted to Morocco (Al-Maghrib) and they spread to the ends of Sous."
ويقال : إن دار البربر كانت فلسطين ، وملكهم هو جالوت ، فلما قتله نبي الله داود ; جلت البربر إلى المغرب ، وانتشروا إلى السوس الأقصى .
Others say that the Berbers are from Qais 'Ailaan the son of Mudar. Others say that they are from the Amalekites. Others say they are from Ham.
What adds to the confusion is the fact that there are Berbers in the east - like in Somalia. And Berbers in the west - like in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc.
I believe that the Berbers in Somalia where known for their extremely black complexion. Yaqout Al-Hamawi said describing the area of Somalia :
"Berbera is another land and it is between the land of the Habash and the Zanj and the Yemen on the coast of the sea of the Yemen and the sea of the Zanj and its people are extremely black-skinned."
بربرة هذه بلاد أخرى بين بلاد الحبش والزنج واليمن على ساحل بحر اليمن وبحر الزنج وأهلها سودان جدا
Yaqout Al-Hamawi also says the following when speaking about the Somalians:
"These Berbers are different Berbers from the Berbers in Morocco (Al-Maghrib). These are black-skinned, resembling the Zunouj (Zanj). They are a race between the Habash and the Zanj."
”وهؤلاء البربر غير البربر الذين هم بالمغرب، هؤلاء سود يشبهون الزنوج جنس متوسط بين الحبش والزنوج”
The Appearance of the Original Berbers According to European Perceptions
By Dana Marniche
All the early major Berber tribes including the Masmuda, Sanhaja, Ketama Zenata and Nafusa are described as dark reddish brown like the “Indi’ or as “blacks” or Ethiopians in early documents. The notion of the early Berbers as being “whites” or Caucasoid is a new and racist one related to the concept of the African “Hamite”.
Certainly the original Berber-speakers were never referred to as anything but “black” or something near it until the 12th century and were otherwise considered the color of Abyssinians and other so called “Indi”.
Even the Kabyles a notoriously fair-skinned “Berber” people of North Africa are up until the 19th century described as “brown” “apart from a few clans”. (See quotes below).
The knowledge that Europeans were changing the complexion literally and figuratively of North Africa up until the 19th century has disappeared from modern European histories.
Most know about the large part played by sub-saharan black slaves in the making of modern North Africa and Arabia while the white slave trade which was in fact dominant trade in North Africa until the fall of Constantinople (Istanbul in Turkey) in the 15th century had been largely ignored in historical writings of the 20th.
Yet it was only a few centuries ago that Europeans visiting North Africa commenting on the fact that, “on almost every street of the cities of Barbary, Europeans could be seen harnessed to carts like draught horses or selling water from jars loaded on the backs of donkeys”.
1809 Commentary on those called “Moors” by an early 19th century observer: “They carry the Christian captives about the desert to the different markets to sell them for they soon discover that their habits of life render them unserviceable , or very inferior to the black slaves of Timbuktoo. “ from An Account of the Empire of Marocco, by J. G. Jackson published 1809 and 1814.
2003 – “From 1500 to 1650 when trans-Atlantic slaving was still in its infancy more Europeans were taken to Barbary than black African slaves to the Americas. See, Robert Davis Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800, MacMillan Publishers, published 2003.
The impact of the white slave trade and its contribution to the modern biology and appearance of the modern North African stems from before the Arabian and Muslim waves into Africa.
The Roman ruler Claudian spoke concerning Gildo, the “Moorish” ruler of Africa and treatment of Roman women from the Levant by this North African chief and his countrymen:
4th century – Claudian wrote, “ when tired of each noblest matron Gildo hands her over to the Moors. These Sidonian mothers, married in Carthage city must needs mate with barbarians. He thrusts upon me an Ethiopian as a son-in law, a Berber as a husband. The hideous hybrid affrights its cradle.” Claudian, by Claudius Claudianus, translation by Maurice Platnauer, Published by G.P. Putnam’s sons, 1922 p. 113.
(Gildo was brother to other Berber chiefs Firmus and Maseczel. Gildo is related to Aguellid or Galdi which remains the modern Tuarek word for chief. Masek, Amazigh ot Imoshagh was the name for the ancient and modern Tuareg clans in general. The Mezikes tribes were called “Ethiopians” in a Roman text of the time. )
1stt c. A.D. – “Diodorus Siculus speaks in reference to the expedition of Agathocles a Sardinian general, of three Libyan tribes on the coast of Tunisia, the Micatani and Zufoni (see Zafan ),who were nomads and the Asfodelodi, who by the color of their skin resembled the Ethiopians” , p. 50 The Mediterranean Race Book XX, 38, 57 Guiseppe Sergi, 1901. The Micatani were also called Ukutameni and Khethim by Josephus. In later writings they are called Ketama Berbers. The name Maketa or Imakitan remains a name for the eastern branches of the Tuareg.
1st century A.D.– Marcus Valerian Martial was one of the earliest Europeans to use the phrase “woolly hair like a Moor” in one of his Satires, and the phrase was commonly used up until the Middle Ages. See Nature Knows No Color Line by J.A. Rogers, 1952. p. 50 The Muslim era didn’t begin until the birth of Muhammed, the Prophet, over four centuries after Martial.
By the 7th century the word came to be used for Arabians who in the early era of Islam for the most part were also described as of near “black” complexion.
1st century Silius Italicus also describes the Moors with the term ‘Nigra’ meaning black. In the 3rd century Roman dramatist Platus or Plautus maintained the name Maure was a synonym for “Niger” which was a common term for the word black. 6th century Isidore Archbishop of Seville claimed the word Maure meant black according to Brunson and Runoko Rashidi in “The Moors in Antiquity” in Golden Age of the Moor, 1991.
6th A.D.- Corippus uses the phrase “facies nigroque colorus” meaning faces or appearance of black color to describe the North African Berbers. In his book Johannis, I/ 245.
6th A.D. – Procopius in his History of the Wars book IV contrasting the Germanic Vandals who had settled in North Africa with the Maures claimed the Vandals were not “black skinned like the Maurusioi” . The tribes he classified as Maurusioi are those now classified as ancient Berbers, the Numidians, Masaesyle, Gaitules, Massyles and Mezikes several other “Berber” tribes then settled between Tunisia and Morocco.
After the 8th century the term Moor came to be used for the many Arabian clans who had invaded the Mediterranean and Africa because of their complexions which were the same dark brown or near black to absolutely black color of the Berbers.
Bear in mind that the Sanhaja, Lamtuna, Lemta, Zenata, Ketama, Masmuda, and Jeddala are, in reality, not Berbers, but Berberized Himyarite Arabs. As I said in The Unknown Arabs:
The Sanhaja (Muleththimin) are divided into many branches. These branches are Lemta, Auriga, Jedala, Lemtuna, Utzila, Zanziga, Zenega (whence comes the name Senegal), Ketama, Targa, Mesufa, Zaghawa, and Zenata. The Sanhaja (Muleththimin) are also called the Tuareg and most people know them by this name. Bovill says, “The Muleththimin are believed by many to have arrived in Africa as part of a Himyarite invasion from southern Arabia which followed approximately the same route as the much earlier migration of the Gara peoples.” The author of Tarikh El-Sudan, Abdel Rahman El-Saadi, who was from the Muleththimin, quotes Ibn El-Khatib as saying, “These Lamtun are related to the Lamtuna and they are from the children of Lamt. Lamt, Jedal, Lemt, and Mashdhuf are descended from Sanhaja. Lemt is the forefather of Lemta and Masdhuf is the forefather of the Masufa. They are nomadic, transitory people who travel about in the Sahara. The Sanhaja are descended from Himyar. There is no genealogical relation between them and the Berbers except through marriage. They left the Yemen and moved to the Sahara.”
Ibn Hazim says that Ifriqish the son of Qais the son of Saifi left the Arabian Peninsula with Arab tribes and entered the area called Africa. According to him, the area called Ifriqiyya (old name of area from northeast Africa to northwest Africa) was named after Ifriqish. Take a look at tree 3 on page 16 to see Ifriqish’s (Abu Furaiqish) descent. El-Qalqashandi says, “When Ifriqish completed his invasion of the Maghrib (the western part of Africa), he left a garrison of Himyarite tribes of Sanhaja and Ketama there. These two tribes are there until today. They are not of Berber origin. El-Tabari, El-Jirjani, El-Masudi, Ibn Kalbi, El-Suhaili and all Arab genealogists agree on this point.”
Five major tribes of Berbers were spoken of by early Muslim writers including the Sanhaja, Masumuda Zenata, Ketama and Goddula which were categorized into dozens of others which in turn were divided into many more. Among them were the early Kabyles originally a group of Sanhaja Berbers. Most descriptions refer to the modern Kabyles as fair-skinned, but in the 19th century and early 20th, descriptions and in fact many photographs depict them as dark and near black. (Photos from the 19th century show both very dark-skinned and near white skinned Kabyle individuals from different villages in the region).
1890 – “The Kabyles or Kabaily of Algerian and Tunisian territories…besides tillage, work the mines contained in their mountains…They live in huts made of branches of trees and covered with clay which resemble the Magalia of the old Numidians…They are of middle stature, their complexion brown and sometimes nearly black.” Written in The Encyclopedia Britannica: Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature Henry G. Allen Company p. 261 Volume I 1890.
1834 The Scotsman Thomas Campbell says, “The Kabyles…dress like the Arabs and a part from a few tribes, are brown complexioned and black haired” p. 109 Barbary and Enlightenment: European Attitudes Toward the Maghreb in the 18th Century, Ann Thomson. Published 1987
More information will come when i come across it.