Tafilalt or Tafilet (Arabic: تفيلالة) is a region and the most important oasis of the Moroccan Sahara; it is also considered one of the largest oasis in the world, the oasis is entirely located along the Ziz River. The oasis is ten days' journey south of Fez, across the Atlas. It is celebrated for its large and luscious dates, to the successful cultivation of which, soon after the arrival of an ancestor (Al Hassan Addakhil) of the reigning dynasty of Morocco (the Alaouite Dynasty) around 1250, this dynasty owes its rise to power. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... This article is about the city Fez in Morocco. ... For other uses, see Atlas (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Phoenix dactylifera L. The Date Palm Phoenix dactylifera is a palm, extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. ... The Alaouite Dynasty is the name of the current Moroccan royal family. ... // April 30 - King Louis IX of France released by his Egyptian captors after paying a ransom of one million dinars and turning over the city of Damietta. ...

Since 1648 it has been the custom of Moroccan sultans to despatch superfluous sons and daughters to Tafilalt. The inhabitants occupy fortified villages (Ksar). In Ifli, the central portion, formerly existed the town of Sijilmasa, founded by Miknasa Berbers in 757. It was on the direct caravan route from the Niger to Tangier, and attained a considerable degree of prosperity. It was destroyed, but its ruins still extend five miles along the river bank. 1648 (MDCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... Ruins of the ksar at Timimoun, Algeria. ... Sijilmasa (or Sijilmassa) was a mediaeval trade centre in the western Maghreb. ... The Miknasa were a Berber tribe in Morocco and western Algeria The Miknasa Berbers originated in Tripolitania and southern Tunisia, but migrated westwards into central Morocco and western Algeria in pre-Islamic times. ... The Amazighs (also called Berber people or Imazighen (ⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⴻⵏ), free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group autochthonous to Northwest Africa and speak various Berber languages. ... Events March 9 - A major earthquake strikes Palestine and Syria Offa becomes king of Mercia. ... A view of Tangier bay at sunrise as seen from Cape Malabata Tangier(Tanja طنچة in Berber and Arabic, Tânger in Portuguese, and Tanger in French), is a city of northern Morocco with a population of 669,685 (2004 census). ...

The name Tafilalt is a Berber name meaning "the Country of the Hilali", as its inhabitants are called, because they were descended from the Arabian tribe of Banu Hilal, who settled here^{[citation needed]}. The Banu Hilal were an Arab tribe that migrated from Arabia into North Africa in the 11th century, having been sent by the Fatimids to punish the Zirids for abandoning Shiism. ...

Medieval Traveler Ibn Batuta visited Sijilmasa (near Tafilalt) in the fourteenth century on his journey from Fez to "the country of the blacks".

The first European to visit Tafilalt was René Caillié (1828), the next Gerhard Rohlfs (1864). A later visit to the oasis by WB Harris is described in his book Tafilet (London, 1895). René Caillié (September 19, 1799 - May 17, 1838) was a French explorer, and the first European to return alive from the town of Timbuktu. ... Gerhard Rohlfs (1831 - 1896) was a German geographer and adventurer who was the first European to cross Africa north to south. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Tafilalt region web site