Doukkala

Doukkala or Idukalen (Arabic: دكالة, Berber: idukalen, ⵉⴷⵓⴽⴰⵍⴻⵏ) is a natural region of Morocco made of fertile plains and forests. Nowadays it is part of the Casablanca-Settat administrative region.

It is a plain stretching from the Atlantic Ocean south of Oum Er-Rbia River up to some 50 km further southward and the same distance eastward.

The main urban centers are Sidi Smail, Sidi Bennour, Had Ouled Frej and Khemis Zemamra. Sidi Bennour is the fastest developing center of the four.

It is mainly an agricultural region, with few tourist attractions.

History

The name is derived from the Berber adu (under) and akal (land), thus meaning "low land", i.e. 'the plain'. Historically, "Doukkala" (idukalen) referred to a Berber tribe which occupied the territory from Anfa (Casablanca) to Asfi. They revolted against Almohad kings in the 12th century. About 1160, the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min settled Arab bedouin tribes there, a coalition of whom he had defeated earlier in Tunisia.

At the end of the French protectorate (ca 1950), there lived in Doukkala 372,269 Muslims, 2,680 Europeans and 3,933 Jews.