thumb|A drawing of a man from the Beni Ahsen tribe {{Short description|Arabian Moroccan tribe}} The '''Beni Ahsen''' ({{langx|ar|بني احسن|Banī Aḥsan}}) sometimes referred to as the '''Beni Hassan''' ({{langx|ar|بني حسن|Banī Ḥasan}}) is a Moroccan Arab tribe belonging to the bigger Maqil tribe located in the region north of Rabat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beni Ahsen |url=http://tribusdumaroc.free.fr/beniahsen.php |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=tribusdumaroc.free.fr}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Suwaed |first=Muhammad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8yhCgAAQBAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2015 |isbn=9781442254510 |location=United Kingdom |pages=40}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Heath |first=Jeffrey |author-link=Jeffrey Heath (linguist) |title=Jewish and Muslim Dialects of Moroccan Arabic |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2013 |isbn=9781136126345 |location=London |publication-date=11 January 2013 |pages=26}}</ref>
== History == thumb|Areas inhabited by the Beni Ahsen in blue The tribe settled in Morocco in the 12th century. Around the 16th century, they moved to the Missour and Almis area between Tafilalt and Fez.<ref name=":1" /> In the 17th century, they advanced northwest to the Sefrou region, in order to reach the Mamoura Forest and the plain of Gharb. In the 18th century they were pushed more westwards by the {{Ill|Aït Zemmour|fr|Zemmours}} tribe, which moved up from the south. Today they are located in the region stretching from Salé to Sidi Slimane.<ref name=":0" />
== Beni Ahsen sheep == The tribe gives its name to the Beni Ahsen sheep breed, an ancestor of the Merino sheep breed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sraïri |first=M.T. |url=http://agritrop.cirad.fr/597287/ |title=Livestock policy |date=2020 |publisher=CIRAD |isbn=978-2-87614-762-1 |editor-last=Tourrand |editor-first=Jean-François |location=Montpellier, France |pages=136 |language=en |chapter=Public policies and their effects on the livestock subsector in the Gharb plain, Northwestern Morocco |doi=10.19182/agritrop/00143 |editor-last2=Waquil |editor-first2=Paulo |editor-last3=Maraval |editor-first3=Marie-Cécile |editor-last4=Sraïri |editor-first4=Mohamed Taher |editor-last5=Duarte |editor-first5=Laura M.G. |editor-last6=Kozloski |editor-first6=G.V.}}</ref>
== See also == * Khlout * Rahamna * Oudaya * Beni Hassan
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Arab tribes of Morocco}} Category:Arab tribes in Morocco {{Morocco-stub}}