Tafilalt or Tafilet is the most important oasis of the Moroccan Sahara, 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 of the reigning dynasty of Morocco around 1250, this dynasty owes its rise to power. The word Fez can refer to: Fez, a type of hat. ... The abbreviation ATLAS can stand for one of several things: Abbreviated Test Language for Avionics Systems, a tool for testing military avionics equipment. ... Binomial name Phoenix dactylifera L. The Date Palm Phoenix dactylifera is a palm, extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. ... Events December 13 - Death of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IX of France is captured by Muslims and has to ransom himself Mabinogion appears Albertus Magnus isolates the element arsenic Vincent of Beauvais writes proto-encyclopedic The Greater Mirror City of Stockholm founded Alphonso III of Portugal takes Algarve...

Since 1648 it has been the custom of Moorish sultans to despatch superfluous sons and daughters to Tafilalt. The inhabitants occupy fortified villages. In Ifli, the central portion, formerly existed the town of Sagilmasa, 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. Events Peace treaty signed at Westphalia ends the Thirty Years War. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group indigenous to the Maghreb, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Events March 9 - A major earthquake strikes Palestine and Syria Offa becomes king of Mercia. ... Tangier (in Berber and Arabic Tanja, in Spanish Tánger and in French Tanger) is a city of northern Morocco with a population of 350,000, or 550,000 including suburbs. ...

The name Tafilalt means "the Country of the Filali", as its inhabitants are called, because they were descended from the Arabian tribe of Hilal, who settled here.

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 Caill&eacute (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. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 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. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...