!From the test of the thread to the ultimate sacrifice
The warrior customs of the Kabyle people.
With a proud character and a short temper, the Kabyles were once very rarely at peace. There was almost always in a corner of our mountains some conflict between two tribes, two villages, two sofs. Sometimes it was enough for the whim, the mistake, the bad will of one person to lead others to the most deplorable excesses.
In its internal wars, the Kabyle fought, but out of a point of honor, and not to conquer. Barring extraordinary cases, he fought without hatred and for a question of self-esteem. He focused all his fury on the invader, and history testifies to us of his warlike strength and his legendary resistance and his thirst for independence, an independence which unfortunately ended with the French conquest and which lasted until the day of 'Today !
Every Kabyle able to bear arms had to defend the country: rich or poor, young or old, everyone had to fight. When advanced old age no longer allows the body the fatigue of war, one had the right to no longer expose oneself to the fray; but, on the day of the fight, people came to give some more good advice.
As soon as a child can support the weight of a rifle, his father takes pride in presenting him to Tajmaɛt (village council). If it happened that a big, strong boy wanted to persist in not showing up, Tajmaɛt would ask for him to put him through the singular ordeal of the thread!
This test consists of measuring the young man's neck with a thread. The length obtained is doubled; then, we bring together the two ends which we place between the teeth of the patient; This results in a curl that is folded over the head.
If the diameter of the loop is large enough for the head to pass through, it is proof that the young man is capable of taking part in fights and chores.
In addition to the rifle, each individual is armed with a pistol or a bladed weapon, a flissa or Tacaqurt.
The flissa, is a saber originating from the know-how of the Iflissen lebhar hence the origin of its name, with a size ranging from 50 cm to one meter. The flissa is distinguished by a straight shape of the blade, patterns engraved on the blade and a zoomorphic handle. It was the main weapon of the Kabyle. Capable of striking with size as well as thrusting thanks to its long tapered tip. A terrible weapon and particularly suited to ambush warfare.
Tacaqurt is a two-edged instrument, an ax on one side, an adze on the other; in peace as in war, the Kabyle always carries it in his country: he uses it to prune his trees and finish off an enemy.
The warrior costume is completed by a leather apron, which, like the axe, is used in combat and agricultural work.
For attacks on villages, we use a kind of large wooden shield, thick enough to stop the bullet, under the shelter of which two or three combatants advance. One of them passes, through a hole made for this purpose, an instrument called Thanhist, which is nothing other than a very long and strong pole furnished at its end with a steel point; This type of ram, operated by the sheltered men, is used to make a breach in the houses, which leaves those who were locked up there exposed.
Guard houses crenellated on all sides were built around each population center, and in several villages, fairly high towers resembling minarets with several floors were built intended to contain, in the event of attack, a certain number of fighters.
Generally they are whitewashed like mosques. If the attacker managed to penetrate the houses, the most determined of the village would retreat into these small forts and seek to dislodge them with a plunging fire.
In the past, the declaration of war was made in order, if fortuitous circumstances did not cause a spontaneous conflict to break out.
The At Wagnun and the At Djenad, for example, had the custom of exchanging two rifles in times of peace. When one of these tribes wanted to declare war on the other, it returned the weapon it had in storage. The name ''mzerag'' [spear] was given to the objects thus exchanged, undoubtedly because it was a weapon of this type which replaced the rifle before the invention of firearms.
Formerly the majority of tribes acted as
At Wagnun and theAt Djenad.
In general, when a tribe believed itself insulted by another, and wanted to take revenge, it began by having its herds attacked by the young men. The oxen, goats, sheep caught in this coup de main were eaten in lawziɛa.
!From that moment we had to be ready for war
Sometimes the declaration of hostilities took place several days in advance. Each party took advantage of this time to send emissaries in all directions, in order to bring back sooner those who were traveling far away.
Finally, the skirmishes began, the former conciliators immediately entered the campaign; but, as they knew from experience that it would not be in principle that they could succeed in extinguishing the animosity which existed between the combatants, they only sought to calm it by having truces concluded (ṭmana).
Thus, we agreed that we would not fight at night, that such and such days of the week would be guaranteed by ''Laɛnaya''
that we would even suspend hostilities for a certain time.
However, if one of the two parties was too irritated by its losses or by the insult it had received, the voice of the wise was not listened to, things often became very serious. We attacked each other day, night and at all hours. All communication was interrupted. Trenches were dug to get closer to the villages; houses were burned, trees cut down...
Thus, according to the degrees of irritation, the combats changed their character. In the most ordinary case, the warriors of the two parties went to a point consecrated by habit to resolve quarrels, and fought there as skirmishers.
If exasperation has not taken hold of people's minds, communications continue to exist between the warring parties. Between skirmishes and sometimes during combat, women can go freely from one village to another, but via paths designated in advance and over which Laɛnaya reigns. As for men, they can only go to an enemy village during truces and without weapons.
Regardless of the excitement of the combatants, a truce is always granted to bury the dead. Following an affair and before separating, one of the two parties announces to the other out loud that a suspension of arms is necessary, and gives the reason; He is answered in the same tone, and everyone withdraws. The entire village then comes together to dig the graves of those who died during the day.
It often happens that an individual dies a natural death during a war; a truce is still requested in these circumstances, and if the deceased has friends in the hostile tribe, it is not uncommon to see them rushing to pay him their last duties. The entire village, and especially Taxerrubt to which he belongs, takes part in his funeral.
All the inhabitants of the village help to dig the grave which will receive the body of the deceased, and the burial takes place in the midst of a mournful silence on the part of the men, and a deafening concert of shrill cries on the part of the women. .
If one of the parties has only wounded and no dead, during a day of combat, it makes a salvo of musketry. He does not leave the scene of combat without making a general discharge of all his weapons as a sign of triumph. The same thing happens when a friendly friend comes to the aid of another; it is then a reciprocal greeting.
The care given to the wounded is often rudimentary; the dying person is made to chew earth, undoubtedly to cause salivation and thereby prevent his mouth from drying out, because water given to a wounded person is considered to be evil.
Wounds are never washed with water, but with hot oil in which aromatics have been infused. They are bandaged with cotton or wool rags. From time to time a little benzoin is burned, and, by means of the breath, we direct the smoke in the direction of the wound.
If the wound is made by a firearm and the projectile has not come out, but is within reach of being felt under the finger, it is removed after making an incision with the same knife which is used to to slaughter sheep, to finish off an enemy, to shave his head: this first aid given, the wounded man recovers as best he can!
Those who saw the Kabyles' battles up close were astonished at the ease with which they sacrificed their interests to support a question of self-esteem or nationality, going so far as to set fire to their house, so that the enemy does not give himself the satisfaction of penetrating there.
Moreover, it is very rare for a village to be taken by force, if the besieger does not have intelligence in the place, or if a SOF does not defect.
In the event that a village did not have a sufficient number of fighters to hold the countryside against the attack of superior forces, the defenders hastened to combine the means of resistance. Ditches were dug, buildings were erected according to the position of the land to be defended; the exits from the streets were closed by dry stone walls, and, at the time of the attack, everyone occupied the place assigned to them.
Women, young and old, gathered together adorned with their jewels, and, holding hands, sang a war song. From time to time, they uttered cries to stimulate the courage of the defenders. These songs, these war cries uttered by women in the middle of the shooting, have a striking effect.
Things do not happen the same way when it is enemies outside the country who attack; then, the women are sent back to the mountain with the children and the flocks; because, in the case of the capture of the village, they would be taken prisoner, while among the Kabyles the women are always released, and, in whatever cases, no insult is made to them.
The state of war which reigned almost perpetually in our mountains, forced each village to be constantly ready for all eventualities. Also, the cartridge belts were always stocked with powder and bullets, and the rifles carefully held.
Never, dear readers, does a Kabyle mend a garment pierced by a bullet; the reason he gives is that the ''Almighty'' having intended to mark one of his children in a particular place on his clothing, it would be madness to make such marks disappear, a new projectile would emerge by the same route!
There remains much to say about the warrior customs of the Kabyle people, a brave people, forged in pain and lulled by a perpetual threat, that of no longer being free.
Unfortunately, he ended up losing his independence and it is as a submissive person that he continues to live until today. From generation to generation, we ended up forgetting that this country existed, a country submerged by another by the force of another... One day perhaps we will remember!!
That said, thank you for taking the time to read, take care of yourself and have a nice evening
Source: websites