120th anniversary of the resistance of Cheikh BOUAMAMA
Mohamed Ben Larbi Cheikh Bouamama was born in 1833 in Moghrar Tahtania in the El Bayadh region. Bouamama learned the Koran, the Sunnah, literature and the Arabic language among eminent scholars and scholars from the “Kairaouane” university. Founded his Zaouia which brought together the Ouled Sidi Echeikh and diluted tribal differences for the same ideal that of the fight against the colonizer. He even managed to unify the currents of the 'Rahmania' and 'Derkaouia' brotherhoods.
Concerning the military aspect, Cheikh Bouamama had made Moghrar Tahtania a military base and erected 32 towers surrounded by a wall as well as a solar gimbal to regulate the guard. He set up a workshop for manufacturing weapons, such as carabiners. The populations of the current wilayas of El Bayadh, Bechar, Naàma, the southern parts of those of Saida, Sidi Bel Abbes and Tlemcen are mobilizing to provide the bulk of the contingents and ensure logistics.
His first feat of arms will be marked by the cessation of railway work near AinSefra, intended to cut through the region to facilitate access to the area. The uprising was of such magnitude that it extended beyond the regions of Frenda and Saida in the west, Laghouat in the east and Ménèa and Timmimoun in the south.
The uprising took a military turn with skirmishes on the ground: 34 battles were fought, including 22 of the fiercest, during the years 1881 to 1903. The battle of Chellala, 80 km from Ain Defla, was the deadliest. Entire battalions led by General Ditri suffered significant losses.
Cheïkh Bouamama remained a great revolutionary, resisting all military and political pressure until his death on October 7, 1908 in Ain Sidi Mellouk.
Concerning the military aspect, Cheikh Bouamama had made Moghrar Tahtania a military base and erected 32 towers surrounded by a wall as well as a solar gimbal to regulate the guard. He set up a workshop for manufacturing weapons, such as carabiners. The populations of the current wilayas of El Bayadh, Bechar, Naàma, the southern parts of those of Saida, Sidi Bel Abbes and Tlemcen are mobilizing to provide the bulk of the contingents and ensure logistics.
His first feat of arms will be marked by the cessation of railway work near AinSefra, intended to cut through the region to facilitate access to the area. The uprising was of such magnitude that it extended beyond the regions of Frenda and Saida in the west, Laghouat in the east and Ménèa and Timmimoun in the south.
The uprising took a military turn with skirmishes on the ground: 34 battles were fought, including 22 of the fiercest, during the years 1881 to 1903. The battle of Chellala, 80 km from Ain Defla, was the deadliest. Entire battalions led by General Ditri suffered significant losses.
Cheïkh Bouamama remained a great revolutionary, resisting all military and political pressure until his death on October 7, 1908 in Ain Sidi Mellouk.