Biography
In Ait Atta tradition, “Dadda” (grandfather) 'Atta is the figure from whom the confederation takes its name. All its tribes claim him, but, as Hart, Morin-Barde and Trecolle write, “none is able to trace exactly its genealogical links with this figure”. The common genealogy is a language of belonging and alliance, not an established biological descent.
The same authors describe a composite confederation since at least the 16th century: mostly Amazigh groups, but also Berberised Arabs, groups of sub-Saharan origin (the Ignaouen of the Ait Ahlim), haratin and converted Jewish families (Ait bu Ya'qub). The history of alliances, territories and institutions is what explains the confederation.
What is told of his life belongs to “more or less legendary” stories: from the Saghro, he is said to have died fighting the Ma'qil Arabs and to rest at Taqqat n-Ilektawen, south of Tagounite. A friend or disciple of Moulay 'Abdallah ben Hsain (died 1568 or 1571), he may have lived in the 16th century: a dating Hart finds plausible, not proven.
Assisted translation, not validated
Uncertainties
- No established date of birth or death; no contemporary document mentions him.
- The biological descent of all Ait Atta from Dadda Atta is not demonstrated and must not be presented as fact.
- Descent through Jalut (Goliath) is a medieval genealogical fiction (Peyron): Hart never heard it among the Ait Atta.
Sources — 5 sources cited · 5 independent documentary line(s)
- Édisud — « Djalut (Jalut, Goliath) »Full text consulted · Academic research
