The principles of the Kabyle warrior.
Kabyle laws are certainly harsh with what the elders consider to be “bad women”. We will see here that they are much harsher with “bad men” and extremely firm and punctilious regarding combat and war.
Thus non-participation in a fight would generate absolute shame. Anyone who was frightened during a fight was, depending on the village, either dragged by a donkey and had stones thrown at him, or branded in the face, or their face and hands were coated with tallow and made to walk through the streets. street throwing stones at him, it was forbidden to marry girls and the women made fun of him.
Asking for help from another village against the enemy or asking forgiveness from the enemy was a lack of honor and was punished with very heavy fines and “beating” in public by the assembly. During the battles, the fugitives are branded with a hot iron and their hair is cut by the women who remain before the confrontation.
The ultimate crime was treason, this was absolutely forbidden and for the Kabyle it was one of the greatest “sins” that a being could commit.
These very strict rules probably contributed to the fact that the Kabyles were among the best warriors and fighters in history.
Source: Ancient village laws