Chiadma

The Chiadma region (Arabic: الشياظمة, romanized: al-Shyāḍma) is situated on the Atlantic coast of Morocco between Safi and Essaouira.

The name Chiadma is of Arabic origin. It comes from the word shayḏ̣am (شيظم) or shayḏ̣amī (شيظميّ) with the plural shayāḏ̣ima (شياظمة) which literally means "tall, big, corpulent, great, burly, young" and can be applied to people and animals like horses and camels. Ultimately, the name derives from the root √sh-ḏ̣-m In the colloquial dialect, it lost the diphthong /ay/ and the phoneme /ḏ̣/ [ظ] became /ḍ/ [ض] resulting in the modern name.^[1][2] The name of the tribe became the toponym of the region.^[2]

The Chiadma tribe, known for its rich cultural heritage, traces its origins to the Arabian Peninsula. Historically, the tribe is believed to have descended from the Arab tribes that migrated to various regions, including North Africa.^[3][4][5][6] The Chiadma people are recognized for their strong sense of identity and tradition, often emphasizing their Bedouin roots.^[7] They are a mix of many Arab tribes like Banu Hilal, Banu Maqil and Jusham. Also some fractions of this tribes have Berber roots like Regraga and Heskala.^[2]

The first references to the Chiadma in historical sources began in the Saadi era.^[2] Some of the authors that mention the Chiadma from this period include Leo Africanus, Luis del Mármol Carvajal and Damião de Góis.^[1][2] Historians from the 16th century agree on the Arab origin of the Chiadma^[1] and they made a clear distinction between the Haha and the Arabs that lived in Chiadma. French orientalist Édouard Michaux-Bellaire argued that they were Arabized Berbers due to their usage of words borrowed from Berber languages like sārūt < tāsārūt ‘key’; mūka <tāmūkt ‘owl’; mūš < āmshīsh ‘cat’. This argument, however, is not convincing since these are common borrowings found in all Moroccan Arabic dialects. Contemporary Moroccan authors also affirmed their Arab origin like Al-Kānūnī and Ar-Regrāgī. The members of the Chiadma claim an Arab origin destinguishing themselves from the Haha who speak Shilha and who the Chiadma call shlūḥ.^[1][2]

The Chiadma territory is divided into two regions. The western portion lies between the sacred mountain of Regraga, Djebel Hadid, and the Atlantic Ocean coastal plain of the Sahel. This area is known for its mariners, and its farmers raise garden crops, providing the local market with vegetables, fruits and fish. Olive oil, grain and livestock are produced in the eastern Kabla region.

The Chiadma annually celebrate a 40-day pilgrimage, the Regraga, in spring. During these weeks, pilgrims visit a series of local shrines from the mouth of the Tensift river south of Safi to the northern outskirts of the High Atlas Mountains, and including the city of Essaouira itself. They are led by two groups on a round trip stopping at every shrine on the way. One group must dress at every shrine a holy tent made of fan palm fibres and dyed with henna, the other group arrives in a procession with a muqaddim (religious leader) riding a white horse.

During droughts in the countryside around Essaouira, it is traditional to carry into the fields a white puppet decorated with white flower blossoms, called the Laâroussa Chta (لعروسة شتى ) in Arabic: Laâroussa meaning "the bride on her wedding day", and Chta meaning "rain".^[8]