{{Short description|Mountainous region in the northwest of Algeria}} thumb|right|Trara Mountains, Algeria The '''Trara Mountains''' are a mountain range in Algeria, located on the northwest coast of the country. The range has an average altitude of {{convert|500|to|1000|m|ft}}, with a maximum altitude of {{convert|1336|m|ft}} at the level of the Djebel Fellaoucene.
The Trara Mountains are a coastal range in the western extension of the Tell Atlas mountains. It represents, in the Tell Oranais, a mountainous block that is difficult to access. This massif appears as a mountainous arch between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the valley of the Wadi Tafna to the east, the Wadi Mouilah to the south and the valley of Wadi Kiss to the west, which determines the Moroccan border.<ref name="Berrayah_p17"/> This space represents a well-identified geographical entity considering its rugged relief of east-west orientation running entirely north of the Wilayah of Tlemcen and the northwest of the Wilayah of Aïn Témouchent.<ref name="Berrayah_p17"/>
The vegetation of the massif is made up mainly of pines and cypresses.<ref>Dominique Auzias et Jean-Paul Labourdette, Algérie 2009-2010, Le Petit Futé, coll. « Country Guide », 4e éd. ({{ISBN|9782746921962}}, OCLC 716716987), p. 299.</ref>
==Population== [[File:Ruines du mihrab de la mosquée de Mokra, Djebel Sidi Sofiane, Honaine, Tlemcen.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the ancient mosque of Mokra, located on Djbel Sidi Sofiane near Tajra in Tlemcen Province]] Like other mountainous regions of North Africa, this regional entity is characterized by a human environment of Berber origin, which is very ancient and highly conservative.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chachoua |first=Kamel |date=2014-07-30 |title=Les montagnes et la montée des clercs dans l'Algérie coloniale. Viticulture, montagnes et réformisme (iṣlāḥ) aux xixe-xxe siècles |url=https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/8753?lang=fr |journal=Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée |language=fr |issue=135 |pages=131–150 |doi=10.4000/remmm.8753 |issn=0997-1327}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Medjahdi |first=Boumediene |last2=Tottou |first2=Mohammed Ibn |last3=Barkat |first3=Djamel |last4=Benabdeli |first4=Khe?louf |date=2009-12-01 |title=La flore vasculaire des Monts des Trara (Nord Ouest Algérien) |url=https://revistas.uma.es/index.php/abm/article/view/6917/6445 |journal=Acta Botanica Malacitana |language=es |volume=34 |pages=57–75 |doi=10.24310/abm.v34i0.6917 |doi-access=free|issn=2340-5074|hdl=10630/4015 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
The tribes living in this area had been grouped since the Middle Ages<ref>{{Cite web |title=Histatra |url=https://www.orient-mediterranee.com/program/histoire-amenagement-et-architectures-de-la-region-des-traras-histatra/ |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=Orient Méditerranée |language=fr-FR}}</ref> into a confederation called Trara,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Admin |date=2024-09-02 |title=Nedroma, une perle historique nichée dans les monts du Trara |url=https://lalgerieaujourdhui.dz/nedroma-une-perle-historique-nichee-dans-les-monts-du-trara/ |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=L'Algérie Aujourd'hui |language=fr-FR}}</ref> named after the same massif. This confederation was composed of seven tribes of the Koumia branch of the Beni Faten:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morizot |first=P. |date=2001-10-01 |title=Ielidassen |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1531?lang=en |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=24 |pages=3639–3641 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1531 |issn=1015-7344}}</ref> Beni Mishel,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Document sans titre |url=https://www.ggrandguillaume.fr/titre.php?recordID=93 |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=www.ggrandguillaume.fr}}</ref> Beni Menir, Beni Ouarsous, Beni Khallad,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Les Kabyles des Traras |url=https://www.vitaminedz.com/fr/Algerie/les-kabyles-des-traras-3596848-Articles-0-0-1.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=vitaminedz.com |language=fr}}</ref> Beni Abed, Beni Frouzech, and Beni Rimâne. They are also called Oulahca<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grandguillame |first=Gilbert |title=Le Petit Tlemcen |date=2008 |publisher=Jean Claude Rosso}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marçais |first=M. |date=1902 |title=Review of Nedromah et les Traras (Publications de l'École des Lettres d'Alger. Bulletin de correspondance africaine, tome XXIV) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41731463 |journal=Revue Archéologique |volume=40 |pages=423–425 |issn=0035-0737}}</ref>
The Koumia tribe<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gautier |first=Émile-Félix |date=1913 |title=Répartition de la langue berbère en Algérie |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/geo_0003-4010_1913_num_22_123_8304 |journal=Annales de géographie |volume=22 |issue=123 |pages=255–266 |doi=10.3406/geo.1913.8304}}</ref> lived in the Trara Mountains,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grandguillaume |first=Gilbert |date=1971 |title=Une médina de l'Ouest algérien : Nédroma |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/remmm_0035-1474_1971_num_10_1_1121 |journal=Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=55–80 |doi=10.3406/remmm.1971.1121}}</ref> near Nedroma. Remarkable for their bravery, they became one of the most powerful tribes of the Almohads thanks to their exploits.<ref name="elmouahidia.dz">{{Cite web |title=Histoire de Nedroma - Association El Mouahidia De Sauvegarde Du Patrimoine Culturel - Nedroma |url=https://www.elmouahidia.dz/std.php?lg=&id=4 |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=www.elmouahidia.dz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nedroma et les Trara |url=https://whc.unesco.org/fr/listesindicatives/1774/ |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=whc.unesco.org |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oufriha |first=Fatima-Zohra |date=2015 |title=Chapitre IV. Les Almohades : l’apogée du Maghreb (1130-1269) |url=https://shs.cairn.info/au-temps-des-grands-empires-maghrebins--9789947391112-page-87?lang=fr |journal=Hors collection |language=fr |pages=87–139}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=René Basset |url=https://archive.org/details/1901-t.-24-nedromah-et-les-traras-r-basset/page/108/mode/1up |title=Nedromah Et Les Traras R Basset |date=1901}}</ref>
== Trara and the Almohads == Abd Al Mumin Ben Ali, the Almohad caliph,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Golvin |first=L. |date=1984-11-01 |title='Abd al-Mu'min fils de 'Alī, fils de 'Alwī, fils de Ya'lā al-Kūmī Abū Muḥammad |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/777?lang=en |journal=Encyclopédie berbère |language=fr |issue=1 |pages=64–70 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.777 |issn=1015-7344}}</ref> is generally regarded as the “founder of Nedroma<ref name="elmouahidia.dz"/>” by popular tradition, which has made him the “founding hero” of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Universalis |first=Encyclopædia |date=2025-01-29 |title=Biographie d'ABD AL-MU'MIN (entre 1094 et 1106-1163) |url=https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/abd-al-mu-min/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=Encyclopædia Universalis |language=fr-FR}}</ref> He was from the Kumia tribe,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kamel Bouslama |date=15 September 2021 |title=Evocation, Abdelmoumène et l'armée almohade : Les Koumia en première ligne |url=https://www.elmoudjahid.dz/fr/culture/evocation-abdelmoumene-et-l-armee-almohade-les-koumia-en-premiere-ligne-14994?__cf_chl_tk=QYmvxCcRg.3y821omnXRd_2TTkJg_IHrJ4DgLfxjyrs-1742749966-1.0.1.1-9.7y2RB424XHe7vpuyIJKgCRwwzNNEdP0gcVvJQXJZM |journal=El Moujahid}}</ref> in the Trara mountains.<ref name="ljallamion.fr">{{Cite web |title=Abdul-Mu'min ben Alī al-Kūmī dit Abd al-Mumin (calife) - Bienvenue sur mon site historique. Bon surf L'histoire pour le plaisir /body |url=https://www.ljallamion.fr/spip.php?article10029 |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=www.ljallamion.fr}}</ref> His place of origin is typically located at the foot of Trara.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Universalis |first=Encyclopædia |date=2025-01-29 |title=Biographie d'Abd Al-Mu'min (entre 1094 et 1106-1163) |url=https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/abd-al-mu-min/ |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=Encyclopædia Universalis |language=fr-FR}}</ref> As noted by Ibn Khaldun,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ibn Khaldun, Apologie des berbères, v. 1370 n-è |website=Culture d'Islam |url=https://www.culture-islam.fr/contrees/maghreb/ibn-khaldun-apologie-des-berberes-v-1370-n-e |access-date=2025-03-23 |language=en-US}}</ref> who primarily relied on his native tribe in his government. Many sources reinforce the idea that Abd al-Mu’min descended from Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad as well as the father of the Prophet’s only male descendants. This ancestry allowed him to legitimise himself as a direct descendant of the Prophet, an essential criterion for holding the highest office in Islam.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buresi |first=Pascal |date=6 August 2022 |title=Entre tribus et État, entre Maghreb et Mashrek : le califat-imâmat almohade (XIe–XIIIe siècle) |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01453038v2/document |website=HAL (dépôt universitaire)}}</ref>
== Notable people == Abdul-Mu'min ben Ali<ref name="ljallamion.fr"/> (1094-1163) Berber leader and the founder of the Almohad dynasty.
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="Berrayah_p17">Mohamed Berrayah, [http://www.univ-tlemcen.dz/these/berrayah.pdf Analyse de la dynamique des systèmes et approche d'aménagement intégrée en zones de la montagne - Cas des montagnes des Trara (wilaya de Tlemcen)], University of Tlemcen, p.17.</ref> }}
{{coord missing|Algeria}}
Category:Mountain ranges of Algeria