Tahert (aka 'Tiaret' or 'Tihert', the Berber for "station") is the name of a large Algerian town, one that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Wilaya de Tiaret' province in central Algeria. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of Algiers, in the Tell Atlas, and about 150 km (95 miles) from the sea coast. The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Map of the provinces of Algeria in alphabetical order. ... Tiaret is a wilaya of Algeria. ... Map of Algeria showing Algiers province Algiers (French Alger, (Arabic: ولاية الجزائر) El-Jazair, The Islands) is the capital and largest city of Algeria in North Africa. ... See also Tell (poker). ... The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in northwest Africa extending about 2400 km (1500 miles) through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, and including The Rock of Gibraltar. ...

Population

The town's population was estimated to be 145,332 in 1998. More than 99 % are Muslim. The town covered around 300 km² in the early 1990s. Rapid ad-hoc expansion of the town has caused severe and widespread environmental degradation, resulting in flash floods in 2001 that reportedly made several hundred families temporarily homeless. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Islām is described as a dÄ«n, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... The 1990s refers to the years 1990 to 1999; the last decade of the 20th Century, but in an economical sense The Nineties is often considered to span from the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 to the September 11 attacks in 2001. ... Flash flooding is rapid flooding of low-lying areas, rivers and creeks that is caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Infrastructure & industry

A 1992 study by the University of Nice reported significant areas contaminated by industrial pollution, and growing squatter settlements on the periphery.

The region is predominantly one of agriculture. There is a large airfield with a tower and terminal, at Abdelhafid Boussouf. The town is not a tourist destination.

Politics

The province has suffered massacres (the largest being the Sid El-Antri massacre), killings, and bombings during the Algerian Civil War, though less so than areas closer to Algiers. The Africa Institute reported in a May 2004 monograph that Tahert's more "arid and mountainous landscape has facilitated terrorist activities". The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base reports that Tahert: "is a frequent site of attacks by the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)". The GSPC is: "believed to have close ties to Osama bin Laden" (Paris AFX News Agency, Jul 13, 2005) and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi (Asharq Alaswat Jul 3 2005), and is reported to be active in Italy (Deutsche Welle, Jul 15 2005). The Sid El-Antri massacre took place on the night of 23- 24 December 1997 in two small villages near Tiaret, Algeria. ... The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. ... Map of Algeria showing Algiers province Algiers (French Alger, (Arabic: ولاية الجزائر) El-Jazair, The Islands) is the capital and largest city of Algeria in North Africa. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (French Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat) is an Algerian Islamist guerilla group which aims to overthrow the Algerian state and institute some sort of Islamic republic. ... Osama bin Laden in a photo from the 1990s Usāmah bin Muhammad bin `Awad bin Lādin (born March 10, 1957) (Arabic: ), commonly known as Osama bin Laden, or Usama bin Laden, (Arabic: ), is the founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. ... Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in one of eight photos from Rewards for Justice, all undated. ...

History

The province has been inhabited since ancient times, and there are numerous megalithic monuments.

The site of the town was originally a Roman station, Tingurtia. The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine Empire. ...

The Jedars tombs near Tahert are evidence that the province was inhabited, from at least the 5th Century, by a tribe or tribes that could build in stone.

Tahert grew up as a site under the domination of petty Berber tribal kingdoms; the first of these being the Rustamids between 761 and 909 when Tahert served as the capital of the area. However, this capital may have been 10 km (6 or 7 miles) west of the present-day Tahert. It was first founded by Abd al-Rahman. Tahert was said to be relatively free-thinking and democratic, being a centre for scholarship that permitted a wide range of sects and movements - notably the Mu'tazilites - which came to trouble Sunni and Shiite followers alike. There were said to be Jews living in the area, until at least the 900s; including the scholar and doctor Judah ibn Quraysh who became the doctor to the emir of Fes. The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... The Rustamid (or Rustumid, Rostemid) dynasty of Ibadi Kharijite imams ruled the central Maghreb for a century and a half from their capital Tahert, until destroyed by the Fatimids. ... Events Telets succeeds Vinekh as king of Bulgaria. ... This article is for the year 909. ... Abdul Rahman (Arabic عبد الرحمن) is a very common Arabic name. ... Mutazilah (Arabic المعتزلة al-mu`tazilah) is a theological school of thought within Islam. ... Centuries: 9th century - 10th century - 11th century Decades: 850s - 860s - 870s - 880s - 890s - 900s - 910s - 920s - 930s - 940s - 950s Years: 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 Events: Categories: 900s ... This article is about the city Fes in Morocco. ...

Tahert occupies a strategic mountain pass at 3552 feet, and was thus a key to dominating the central Maghrib. Later, from the start of the 8th century, it was the key northern terminus of the West African slave-trading route. As such, it offered a lucrative income from taxes on the trade, and was a desirable prize. Maghrib is an Arabic term for of the setting (sun); from the root ghuroob (to set; to be hidden). It is also used in a manner similar to the metaphorical use of to be eclipsed, which is used in the English language. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... West African refers to: West Africa An airline: West African Airlines [1] This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Slave transport in Africa, from a 19th century engraving The African slavery trade dates back thousands of years and reportedly continues today in some isolated parts of Africa. ...

From the year 911 Tahert was fought over by a number of tribes, being first captured by Massala ibn Habbus of the Miknasas in the year 911, in alliance with the Fatimids. Finally, in 933, it was in the hands of the Fatimids only. After 933 Tahert ceased to be the capital of a separate state. Most of the population was banished to Wargala and then escaped to the inhospitable M'Zab Valley. From 933 Tahert attracted many Khariji Muslim settlers from Iraq. the towers fell hahaha i hate black people and jews ... 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 towers fell hahaha i hate black people and jews ... The Fatimid Empire or Fatimid Caliphate ruled North Africa from A.D. 909 to 1171. ... Events Jersey was seized by William Longsword, Duke of Normandy . ... The Fatimid Empire or Fatimid Caliphate ruled North Africa from A.D. 909 to 1171. ... Kharijites were members of an Islamic sect in late 7th and early 8th century AD, concentrated in todays southern Iraq. ...

From 933 it was administered as part of the sultanate of Tlemcen, and in the 16th century fell to the Turks. In 1843 it fell to the French, after the French defeated Emir Abelkader. The modern town of Tahert is essentially French-built, around a French redoubt of 1845. The new town attracted many farmers and settlers from France, and the area flourished. A 200 km (122 mile) narrow gauge railway arrived in 1889, connecting the town to Mostaganem - today, this rail line is defunct. Tlemcen (Arabic: تلمسان) is a town in Northwestern Algeria, and the seat of government for the wilaya of the same name. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Mostaganem (population 125,000) is a city in Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. ...

In 1962, Algeria regained its independence after the bloody Algerian War of Independence. Most pied-noirs (French settlers and Jews) left the same year. 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) was a period of guerrilla strikes, maquis fighting, terrorism against civilians on both sides, and riots between the French army and colonists, or the colons as they were called, in Algeria and the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) and other pro-independence... Pied-noir is a term for the former French colonists of North Africa, especially Algeria. ...

Archeological attractions

Thirty kilometres (18 miles) S.S.W. of Tahert are the sepulchral monuments known as the Jedars. The name is given to a number of sepulchral monuments placed on hill-tops. A rectangular or square podium is in each case surmounted by a pyramid. The tombs date from the 5th to the 7th century, and lie in two distinct groups between Tiaret and Frenda.

At Mechra-Sfa ("ford of the flat stones"), a peninsula in the valley of the river Mina not far from Tahert, are said to be 'vast numbers' of megalithic monuments. Mina is a city in Saudi Arabia in which 251 hajji pilgrims were killed in a stampede on February 1, 2004. ...

External links

• Tiaret seen from the air

• Tahert city plan

• Old photos and postcards of French Tahert.

Further reading

• Bourouiba, Rachid (1982). Cités disparus: Tahert, Sedrata, Achir, Kalaâ des Béni-Hammad. Collection Art et Culture, 14. Algiers Ministère de l'information. (About notable cultural artifacts and architecture).

• Belkhodja, A. (1998). Tiaret, memoire d'une ville. Tiaret, A. Belkhodja. (A personal memoir).

• Blanchard, Raoul. (1992). Amenagement & Gestion Du Territoire, Ou, L'apport Des Images-Satellite, De La Geoinfographique Et Du Terrain : Applications Aux Paysages Vegetaux De L'Algerie Steppique & Substeppique (Wilaya De Tiaret) Et Aux Espaces Construits (Tiaret Et Alger) 1990-1992. Laboratoire d'analyse spatiale. Nice, France. (Plant ecology of the Wilaya De Tiaret region, evidenced using photos from space).

• Cadenat, Pierre. (1938). Indication de quelques stations préhistoriques de la région de Tiaret Société de géographie et d'archéologie de la Province d'Oran. Extrait de son Bulletin, tome 59, fascicule 209, 1938. (12 pages booklet about the prehistoric momuments in the region).

Provinces of Algeria

Adrar | Aïn Defla | Aïn Témouchent | Algiers | Annaba | Batna | Béchar | Béjaïa | Biskra | Blida | Bordj Bou Arréridj | Bouira | Boumerdès | Chlef | Constantine | Djelfa | El Bayadh | El Qued | El Tarf | Ghardaïa | Guelma | Illizi | Jijel | Khenchela | Laghouat | Médéa | Mila | Mostaganem | M'Sila | Muaskar | Naama | Oran | Ouargla | Oum el-Bouaghi | Relizane | Saida | Sétif | Sidi Bel Abbes | Skikda | Souk Ahras | Tamanghasset | Tébessa | Tiaret | Tindouf | Tipasa | Tissemsilt | Tizi Ouzou | Tlemcen