The Wilaya of Tiaret

Tiaret Province ولاية تيارت
—  Province  —
Map of Algeria highlighting Tiaret
Coordinates: 35°23′N 01°20′ECoordinates: 35°23′N 01°20′E
Country	Algeria
Capital	Tiaret
Government
• PPA president
• Wāli
Area
• Total	20,673 km2 (7,982 sq mi)
Population (2008)[1]
• Total	842,060
• Density	41/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+01)
Area Code	+213 (0) 46
ISO 3166 code	DZ-14
Districts	14
Municipalities	42

Tiaret (Berber: ; Tihert orTahert, i.e. "lioness", Arabic: تيارت‎) is a large town in the central Algeria, that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Wilaya de Tiaret' province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of Algiers in the western region of the central highlands, in theTell Atlas, and about 150 km (93 mi) from the Mediterranean coast. It is served by Bou Chekif Airport.

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 Jedarstombs 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 Rustamid, a Ibadi theologist from Persia. 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 many Jews living in the area, until at least the 10th century; including the scholar and doctor Judah ibn Kuraish who became the doctor to the emir of Fes.

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.

From the year 911 Tahert was fought over by a number of tribes, being first captured byMassala 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.^[3] From 933 Tahert attracted many Khariji Muslim settlers from 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 Abdelkader. 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 (120 mi) narrow gauge railway arrived in 1889, connecting the town toMostaganem - today, this rail line is defunct.

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.