The Kabyles were one of the few peoples in North Africa who remained independent during successive rule by the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantines, and the Ottoman Turks. Even after the
Arab conquest of North Africa, the Kabyle people still maintained possession of their mountains. the
Kutama Berbers from present-day Little Kabylie helped contribute to the founding of the
Fatimid Caliphate, whose support in the conquest of
Ifriqiya resulted in the creation of the Caliphate, although the ruling
Fatimid dynasty was
Arab. After the conquest of Ifriqiya the Fatimids conquered the realm of the
Rustamids on the way to Sijilmasa which they also then briefly conquered and where
Abdullāh al-Mahdī Billah, who at the time was imprisoned, was then freed and then accepted as the Imam of the movement and installed as the Caliph, becoming the first Caliph and the founder of the ruling dynasty. The historian Heinz Halm describes the early Fatimid state as being "a hegemony of the Kutama and Sanhaja Berbers over the eastern and central Maghrib" and Prof. Dr. Loimeier states that rebellions against the Fatimids were also expressed through protest and opposition to Kutama rule. The weakening of the Abbasids allowed Fatimid-Kutama power to quickly expand and in 959 Ziri ibn Manad, Jawhar the Sicilian and a Kutama army conquered Fez and Sijilmasa in Morocco. In 969 under the command of
Jawhar, the Fatimid Kutama troops conquered Egypt from the Ikhsidids, the general
Ja'far ibn Fallah was instrumental in this success: he led the troops that crossed the river Nile and according to al-Maqrizi, captured the boats used to do this from a fleet sent by Ikhshidid loyalists from Lower Egypt. The general Ja’far then invaded Palestine and conquered
Ramla, the capital, he then conquered
Damascus and made himself the master of the city and then he moved north and conquered
Tripoli. It was around this time period that the Fatimid Caliphate reached its territorial peak of 4,100,000 km2.
Zirid dynasty The
Zirid Dynasty was a family of
Sanhadja Berbers with origins in the Kabyle mountains. During their reign they established their rule over the entire Maghreb and also established rule in parts of
Andalusia. They also had
suzerainty over the Emirate of Sicily through the
Kalbite emirs and later assassinated the ruler and took over the island. When the Emirate of Sicily was split into separate
taifas, Ayyub Ibn Tamim entered Sicily and united all of the taifas under his rule until he left the island.
Hammadid dynasty The
Hammadids came to power after declaring their independence from the Zirids. They managed to conquer land in all of the Maghreb region, capturing and possessing significant territories such as:
Algiers,
Béjaïa,
Tripoli,
Sfax, Susa,
Fez,
Ouargla and
Sijilmasa. South of Tunisia, they also possessed a number of
oases that were the termini of
trans-Saharan trade routes.
Kingdom of Ait Abbas and Kingdom of Kuku These two Kabyle Kingdoms managed to maintain their independence and participated in notable battles alongside the
Regency of Algiers, such as the
campaign of Tlemcen and the
conquest of Fez. In the early 16th century Sultan Abdelaziz of the Beni Abbes managed to defeat the Ottomans several times, notably in the
First Battle of Kalaa of the Beni Abbes. :
A seated Kabyle. The Kabyles were relatively independent of outside control during the period of
Ottoman Empire rule in North Africa. They lived primarily in three different kingdoms: the
Kingdom of Kuku, the
Kingdom of Ait Abbas, and the principality of Aït Jubar. Kabylia was the last part of northern Algeria to be colonised by the French during the years 1854–1857, despite vigorous resistance. Such leaders as
Lalla Fatma N'Soumer continued the resistance as late as
Mokrani's rebellion in 1871. French colonists invented the
Kabyle myth in the 19th century which asserted that the Kabyle people were more predisposed than Arabs to assimilate into "French civilization." Lacoste explained that "turning the Arabs into invaders was one way of legitimizing the French presence". of
Tariqa led the resistance against French colonization 1851–1857. Kabyle villages were ruled through an indirect administration based on the preservation of Kabyle traditional political institutions such as the village’s assemblies djemaas, this institution played a central role in the Kabyle’s self-governing. Over time, immigrant workers also began to go to France. In the 1920s, Algerian immigrant workers in France organized the first party promoting Algerians independence.
Messali Hadj, Imache Amar, Si Djilani Mohammed, and
Belkacem Radjef rapidly built a strong following throughout France and Algeria in the 1930s. They developed militants who became vital to the fighting for an independent Algeria. This became widespread after World War II. Since Algeria gained independence in 1962, tensions have arisen between Kabylia and the central government on several occasions. In July 1962, the
FLN (National Liberation Front) was split rather than united. Indeed, many actors who contributed to independence wanted a share of power but the
ALN (National Liberation Army) directed by
Houari Boumédiène, joined by
Ahmed Ben Bella, had the upper hand because of their military forces. In 1963 the
FFS party of
Hocine Aït Ahmed contested the authority of the
FLN, which had promoted itself as the only party in the nation. Aït Ahmed and others considered the central government led by Ben Bella authoritarian, and on September 3, 1963, the
FFS (Socialist Forces front) was created by
Hocine Aït Ahmed. This party grouped opponents of the regime then in place, and a few days after its proclamation, Ben Bella sent the army into Kabylia to repress the insurrection. Colonel Mohand Oulhadj also took part in the
FFS and in the Maquis (
fr) because he considered that the
mujahideen were not treated as they should be. In the beginning, the FFS wanted to negotiate with the government but since no agreement was reached, the maquis took up arms and swore not to give them up as long as democratic principles and justice were a part of the system. But after Mohand Oulhadj's defection, Aït Ahmed could barely sustain the movement and after the
FLN congress on April 16, 1964, which reinforced the government's legitimacy, he was arrested in October 1964. As a consequence, the insurrection was a failure in 1965 because it was hugely repressed by the forces of the ALN, under Houari Boumédiène. In 1965 Aït Ahmed was sentenced to death, but later pardoned by Ben Bella. Approximately 400 deaths were counted amongst the maquis. == Geography ==