The Aït Atta
People
Documented biographies. Each portrait states how far it is identified; no words are attributed without a source.
Hasso ou Ba Selem (Assou Oubasslam), portrait published by J. Robichez (1946) — J. Robichez, Maroc central (Arthaud, 1946) ; fichier fourni par le titulaire du projet, Publication autorisée par le titulaire du projet (déclaration du 8 novembre 2026)
Aït Atta
Khoms of the Aït Ouallal and Aït Ounir
- Portrait not documented
Khouya Mimoun
خويا ميمون
? – ?
Old leader of the Nkob, hostile to any tutelage, the Makhzen's as well as the Glaoui's.
- Portrait not documented
Basso ou Mimoun n'Aït Lfmaz
باسو أوميمون نايت لفماز
c. 1893 – ?
Son of Khouya Mimoun, close to the Makhzen and the Glaoui around 1930.
- Portrait not documented
Idir ou el Hajj el Msoufi
إيدير أولحاج المسوفي
? – ?
Former amghar n-ufilla of the Aït Atta; he drew his tribe towards the Glaoui.
Khoms of the Aït Ouahlim
Probable attributionAssou Oubasslam
عسو أوبسلام
ⵄⵙⵓ ⵓ ⴱⴰⵙⵍⴰⵎ
c. 1890 – 16 August 1960
Chief of the Ilemchan (Aït Atta), principal leader of the resistance in the Saghro in 1933.
Unverified information- Portrait not documented
Mohaddach ould el Hajj Faska
موحداش ولد الحاج فاسكا
? – ?
Notable of the Aït Bou Iknifen, ally of the Glaoui in the upper Dadès and the Todgha from 1919.
- Portrait not documented
El Hajj Faska
الحاج فاسكا
? – ?
“Cheikh-el-ʿam of the Aït ʿAtta” in 1919; Beaurpère calls him the “champion of the Glawa cause” from that date.
- Portrait not documented
Hammou ou Lahsen ben Merghi
حمو أولحسن بن مرغي
c. 1860 – ?
Former amghar n-ufilla of the Aït Atta, one of the three notables of the Aït Ouahlim around 1930.
- Portrait not documented
Basso ou Baslam
باسو أوبسلام
? – ?
Brother of Assou Oubasslam; Spillmann names the two brothers as leaders of the resistance in the Saghro in 1933.
Khoms of the Aït Yazza (Aït ʿAïsa Mzin)
Khoms of the Aït Ounebgui
No documented khoms, or a figure shared by the whole confederation
- Portrait not documented
'Ali u-l-Hajj 'Assu n-Ait Bâslâm
علي أولحاج عسو نايت باسلام
? – ?
Qaid of Ikniouen in 1961, of the Ilemchan clan; he allowed Hart to photograph the qânûn of Igharm Amazdar.
Probable attributionDadda 'Atta
دادّا عطا
ⴷⴰⴷⴷⴰ ⵄⵟⵟⴰ
? – ?
Founding, eponymous figure of the Ait Atta tradition, not a demonstrated biological ancestor.
- Portrait not documented
Ali ou Adda
? – ?
Ait Atta intermediary in the negotiations of 24-25 March 1933.
Uncertain attributionAdjou Moh
عدجو موح
c. 1905 – 1933
A woman of the Saghro whom local memory makes a figure of the Bougafer resistance (1933).
Ait Yafelman (Ait Merghad, Ait Hdiddou…)
- Portrait not documented
Zayd ou-Skounti
زايد أوسكونتي
ⵣⴰⵢⴷ ⵓ ⵙⴽⵓⵏⵜⵉ
c. 1890 – 10 July 1943
War leader of the Ayt Ayssa Izem (Ait Merghad), main figure of the last stronghold on the Baddou in August 1933.
Unverified information - Portrait not documented
Ou-Sidi de Tilmi
أوسيدي التلمي
? – 8 June 1933
War leader of the Ait Hdiddou, described by Peyron as the eastern resistance's “charismatic leader of men”.
Unverified information - Portrait not documented
Ali ou Termoun
علي أوطرمون
? – ?
Named among the leaders of the Baddou resistance by the Moroccan press and Wikipedia.
- Portrait not documented
Zayd ou-Hmad
زايد أوحماد
? – 1936
Ait Merghad man who carried on the armed struggle with two or three companions until spring 1936.
French forces
Probable attributionHenry de Bournazel
هنري دو بورنازيل
21 February 1898 – 28 February 1933
Captain commanding a sub-group of goums and partisans in the Giraud group; killed on 28 February 1933.
Probable attributionAntoine Huré
أنطوان هوري
11 February 1873 – December 1949
General, commander-in-chief of the troops in Morocco (1931-1934); commander-in-chief of the Saghro operations.
Georges Catroux
جورج كاترو
1877 – 1969
General, at the head of the Marrakesh mobile group, west of the Bou Gafer.
- Portrait not documented
Henri Giraud
هنري جيرو
1879 – 1949
General, at the head of the Confins mobile group, east of the Bou Gafer.
- Portrait not documented
Lieutenant Bel Madani
الملازم بلمدني
? – ?
Interpreter for General Huré with the Aït Atta in March 1933; photographed with Assou Oubasslam at Tinghir after the fighting.
Makhzen / caidates
Witness / author
- Portrait not documented
Georges Spillmann
جورج سبيلمان
31 July 1899 – 23 June 1980
Native Affairs officer in Morocco (from 1920), author of “Les Aït Atta du Sahara et la pacification du Haut Dra” (1936).
- Portrait not documented
Charles de Foucauld
شارل دو فوكو
1858 – 1916
Explorer; crossed the western Saghro in 1883-1884 and published Reconnaissance au Maroc (1888).
- Portrait not documented
Jean Robichez
? – ?
French officer; collected Amazigh poems on the conquest of the Central Atlas between 1936 and 1938 and published the album Maroc central in 1946.
Scholar
Other
- Portrait not documented
Moulay 'Abdallah bin l-Hsain
مولاي عبد الله بن حساين
? – c. 1568
Patron saint of the Aït Atta, buried at Tamslouht; tradition credits him with authorising the codification of their customary law.
- Portrait not documented
Sidi Lmekki Amhaouch
سيدي المكي أمهاوش
? – ?
Marabout, central figure of the siege of Tazizaout (August-September 1932).