Amazigh, Ouargla

Locations

Identity

The Ouarglis (Iwarglen, from Wargren, the Berber name of Ouargla) are the Zenati Berbers of the oasis of Ouargla in the Algerian Sahara. Ibn Khaldun named the town after the Beni Wargla, a Zenata tribe, and described its people as dark-skinned Berbers. Their speech, Tagargrent or Ouargli (chelha in daily talk), belongs to the Mzab-Wargla group with the languages of the M'zab and the Oued Righ, which speakers see as dialects of one language. In the old ksar the community is divided into three tribes and quarters, the Beni Brahim (At Brahim), Beni Sissine (At Sisin) and Beni Ouagguine (At Waggin); the oasis of N'Goussa has its own dialect. Ouargla was an Ibadi centre after the fall of Tahert in 909, with the city of Sedrata to its south; from the 11th-13th centuries Maliki communities grew stronger and many Ibadis withdrew to the M'zab. Many ksar families descend from Africans brought by the caravan trade, and the Ouarglis are mostly dark-skinned.

Culture & traditions

The old ksar of Ouargla, a mud-brick town of about 30 hectares with seven gates, keeps its tribal layout: each quarter has its mosque, Qur'an school, gates, djemaa meeting place, cemetery and access to the palm grove. Families are large and marry mostly within the community, though marriages with Arabic speakers now occur, and in mixed homes each parent may keep their own language. Ouargli weddings, the Yennayer (Berber new year) table, palm-wood carving and weaving are celebrated at heritage events, and Ouargli tales and poetry have been collected and published.

Religious practices

Most Ouarglis follow Maliki Sunni Islam with the saint and zawiya practice of the Algerian Sahara: the patron saint Sidi el-Ouargli, visits to saints' tombs, Qur'anic amulets and fear of the evil eye. An Ibadi minority keeps its own great mosque and is represented in the Ibadi councils of the M'zab. The two schools have lived side by side for centuries.

Gospel access

No Scripture has been published in Tagargrent; a translation is recorded as started. IMB reports audio recordings available, and Global Recordings Network lists the language and its varieties; no specific programme in Ouargli was confirmed. There is no Jesus Film. No church among Ouarglis is known.

At a glance

Language: Tagargrent
Language family: Afro-Asiatic
Affinity bloc: Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
People cluster: Amazigh-Saharan
Primary religion: Islam - Sunni
Bible status: Translation started
Jesus Film: No
Audio recordings: No
Gospel recordings: Not Available
Radio broadcasts: Not Available
Religious school: Maliki

Religious breakdown

Religion	%	Denomination	Notes
Islam	majority (share unknown)	Sunni (Maliki)	Maliki great mosque in the ksar; saint and zawiya practice
Islam	minority (share unknown)	Ibadi	Ibadi great mosque in the ksar; tied to the M'zab councils
Christianity	<0.1%	Evangelical	No known church

Presence by country

AlgeriaNativeVerified presence

Population: ~20,000-25,000
Location: The old ksar of Ouargla (Beni Brahim, Beni Sissine and Beni Ouagguine quarters), Ouargli families in the newer city, and the N'Goussa oasis 20 km north, Ouargla Province

The Ouarglis are a Berber people of some 20,000-25,000, the original inhabitants of the Saharan oasis town of Ouargla, most of them dark-skinned descendants of Zenata Berbers and of Africans brought by the caravan trade. They speak Tagargrent, a Berber language close to that of the M'zab, which grandparents still use at home while parents increasingly speak Arabic to their children. Their old mud-brick ksar is divided into three tribal quarters, each with its own mosque, Qur'an school, meeting place, cemetery and palm grove, and keeps both a Maliki and an Ibadi great mosque. Around them Ouargla has grown into an oil city of more than 130,000, in which the Ouarglis are a small minority.

Photos