Smara
- For other meanings, see Smara (disambiguation).
Smara, also Semara, is a Sahrawi city (50,000 in 1999) in the Moroccan-Administred Western Sahara, with a population estimated at 42,056[1].
History
The largest city in its province, Smara was founded in the Saguia el-Hamra as an oasis for travellers in 1869. It is the only major city in Western Sahara that was not founded by the Spanish. In the center of the city the remains of a stone fortress can be found, the Zawiy Maalainin, which enclosed a mosque. The Maalainin lived there from 1830 until 1912. It was made a capital and religious center in 1902 by shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn, in what was then Spanish Sahara. The location of the city was intended to ensure its becoming a caravan trade hub in the sparsely populated Sahara desert. The enlargement of Smara was carried out by local Sahrawis as well as craftsmen sent by the sultan Hassan I. In 1902, shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn moved to Smara and declared it his holy capital. Among other things, he created here an important Islamic library, and the town became a center of religious learning.
In 1904 the shaykh declared himself an imam and called for holy war (jihad) against French colonialism, which was increasingly pressing into the Sahara at this time. During the campaign against Ma al-'Aynayn, Smara was sacked almost completely in 1913 by the French Army, and its library destroyed.[2] The town was then handed over to the Spanish. In 1934 the town was once again destroyed after Sahrawi rebellions against the Spanish occupation.
After 1975
In 1975, Morocco took control of Saguia Elhamra as Spain withdrew, according to the Madrid Accords. The Moroccan army took the city from the indigenous Polisario Front in 1976. In the area south of Tindouf, Algeria, there still exists a large Sahrawi refugee camp named after Smara.
Lately, Smara has seen small-scale uprisings and demonstrations against Moroccan rule, for example during the "Smara Intifada" (1999) and the ongoing "Independence Intifada" (2005).
The town is presently controlled by the Moroccan authorities, as part of what the government terms its Southern Provinces, and enclosed by a section of the Moroccan Wall.
The Vieuchange brothers
Reaching Ma el Ainain's mysterious Smara was the goal of the brothers Vieuchange, early 20th century French writers and romantics. Michel Vieuchange's painful journey through the rebel-held Sahrawi lands in 1930 disguised varyingly as a tribesman, a Muslim woman and an American businessman, and the illness that lead to his death on the way back, is documented in his travel diaries. They were published posthumously as Smara: The Forbidden City (1932) by his brother Jean.
References
- ^ Stefan Helders (2006). "Western Sahara - largest cities (per geographical entity)" (in English). World Gazetteer. Retrieved 08-24-2006.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ After a defeat of the French at Lebeyratt colonel Mouret mounts an attack against Smara. Leaving from Teyarett (in the north-west of Atar) on the 9th of february, he arrives in the Zemmour on the first of march to sack the holy city (Smara). He finds her empty of all people.(Le Rumeur (Guy) : Le Grand Méhariste, Paris, Berger Levrault)
External links
- Entry in Lexicorient
- ad for "Smara: The Forbidden City" by Jean and Michel Vieuchange (ISBN 0-88001-146-7)