TheKutama (Berber:Ikutamen;Arabic:كتامة) were aBerber tribe in northernAlgeria classified among the Berber confederation of theBavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the formKoidamousii by the Greek geographerPtolemy.[1]
The Kutama played a pivotal role in establishing theFatimid Caliphate (909–1171), forming the bulk of the Fatimid army which eventually overthrew theAghlabids who controlledIfriqiya, and which then went on to conquerEgypt,Sudan,[2]Hijaz and the southernLevant in 969–975. The Kutama remained one of the mainstays of the Fatimid army until well into the 11th century.
The Kutama are attested in the formKoidamousii, by the Greek geographerPtolemy, whose African documentation seems to date from the years 100-110. They were then in the region of the Ampsaga river (oued el-Kebir) inMauretania Caesariensis. He locates them upstream of theKhitouae tribe and downstream of theTodoukae tribe, themselves located near the sources of the river.[3] In the second century, they formed part of theBavares tribal confederation, which gave a hard time to the Roman power, both in Mauretania Caesarean, thenSitifian after 303, and inNumidia. This political and military opposition did not prevent a certainromanization, at least punctually, thus the creation of the milestonerespublica Vahartanensium, probably linked to the need for a road crossing of the massif which is hardly attested until the reign ofHadrian. In 411, their chief town Ceramusa or Ceramudensis plebsis is attested as the seat of a bishopric. The same episcopal seat was occupied by a certain Montanus of Cedamusa during theVandal era. In the 6th century, during the Byzantine rule, the Kutama are attested by a Christian inscription, where a king of theUcutumani—theBerber prefix u- is indicating parentage—is said in LatinDei servus (slave of God). This inscription was discovered at the Fdoulès pass, south ofIgilgili, at one of the last passes before the descent toMilevum.[4]
The oldest accounts of themuslim conquest of the Maghreb,Ibn Abd al-Hakam andKhalifah ibn Khayyat, do not speak of them, any more thanal-Ya'qubi (d. 897) andIbn al-Faqih (d. after 903). Their name appears for the first time among that of otherBerber tribes in theal-Masālik ofIbn Khordadbeh (d. 885). The tribe was not very important at that time.
The Kutama probably had embraced Islam, first asKhawarij, a little before the middle of the 8th century. The fact remains that in 757-758 AD, during the capture ofKairouan by theIbadis, Kutama were among the Kharidjite troops, allied with Abu al-Khattab al-Ma'afiri andAbd al-Rahman ibn Rustam. The latter, then governor of Kairouan, appointed one of their own, Uqayba, to head it.[5]
Little is known about the Kutama for the rest of the eighth century, after the advent of theAghlabids at Kairouan in 789. The Kutama contented themselves with ignoring the Aghlabid authorities and welcoming the rebel soldiers in their inaccessible mountains. Their large population and the isolation in their mountains caused them not to suffer any oppression on the part of this dynasty.[5]
At the end of the 9th century, in Mecca in 893/4 some Kutama notables met theIsma'ilida'iAbu Abdallah al-Shi'i, who attracted them to Isma'iliShi'ism, and accompanied them on their return. In Ikjan, their chief town, theda'i managed to win the sympathy of the population.[5]
It was probably around this time that their geographic expansion began. The territory that the Kutama occupied from this time seems much more extensive than it was in Roman times; it then encompassed the northern mountain ranges that stretch fromBougie to aroundConstantine, whichal-Bakri callsJabal Kutama, "the mountains of the Kutama". This area, limited to the west by the country ofZouaoua (Kabylie of Djurdjura,Soummam valley and Bejaia region), extended south toSétif,Mila, Constantine,Collo andJijel. It was made up ofLesser Kabylia, theCollo Massif, part of the chain of Bibans, the mountains of Ferjioua, the numidic chain. This region has an extremely rugged terrain, with a steep coast, bordered by wooded mountains of very difficult access, the gaps being extremely rare, with mountains reaching almost 2000 m. The villages are perched on peaks and ridges that are difficult to access. The region presents itself as an almost impenetrable natural fortress.[6] Later the Kutama were established further south in the plains. This extension suggests that, taking advantage of the weaknesses of the central government, the Kutama had reconstituted under their own name the old Bavares confederation and had extended to the south by reclaiming the fringe of the high plains bordering the southern flank of their mountains (Mila, Sétif regions, etc), an area favorable to the cultivation of the cereals of which their ancestors had been deprived in Roman times.[6]
Abu Abdallah formed a powerful army and launched his troops against the Aghlabid fortresses inLesser Kabylia. A first attack failed: after occupying Mila in 902, theda'i was defeated by the son of the emirIbrahim II, who however did not succeed in pursuing him until Ikjan. The Kutama were able to adapt and constitute a formidable militia.[6] Under the orders of Abu Abdallah, they took Sétif in 904,Belezma in 905, thenBéja, against superior armies in both number and armament. In 907/8 they attacked the core ofIfriqiya. After the capitulation ofMeskiana andTébessa, they captured Constantine. Abu Abdallah defeated the army ofZiyadat Allah III at al-Urbus (ancientLaribus); the Aghlabids, defeated on all sides, abandoned by their followers, fled to the East. The victors enteredKairouan, parading inRaqqada in March 909.[7] Theda'i proclaimed an amnesty, but distributed the spoils among his forces. Assured of the victory, he revealed the name of his master,Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah, and went toSijilmasa, where he was held, to escort him to Kairouan. On the way, the Kutama army conquered theRustamid imamate and drove theIbadis fromTiaret, who went to take refuge in Sadrata, the capital ofOuargla oasis.[8]
The Kutama were the mainstay and elite of the early Fatimid armies.[9] Although other Berber tribes soon flocked to the Fatimid banner — notably the largeSanhaja confederation during the reign ofal-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah — the Kutama continued to provide the bulk of the Fatimid armies until after theFatimid conquest of Egypt in 969. Their role in the Fatimid state was so great that Ibn Khaldun counted the Fatimids among the Berber dynasties, and several historians trace the origin of the Fatimids to the Kutama Berbers of Kabylia and attribute to the Kutama Berbers the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate after conquering Ifriqiya and installing Abdullāh al-Mahdī Billa as Caliph.[10][11][12][13][14][15] According to the historianHeinz Halm, the early Fatimid state can be likened to a "hegemony of the Kutama", particularly of the four sub-tribes of Jimala, Lahisa, Malusa, and Ijjana.[16] In 948, Caliph al-Mansur publicly remarked that God had granted them pre-eminence among all other peoples, since they had first seen and accepted the truth.[17]
On the other hand, this dominion of the semi-civilized Kutama was greatly resented, not only by the other Berber tribes, but chiefly by the Arab and Arabicized inhabitants of the cities.[18] As Halm writes, the situation was similar to a scenario where, "in the early eighteenth-century North America, theIroquois, converted to Catholicism byJesuit missionaries, had overrun thePuritan provinces ofNew England, installed their chieftains as governors in Boston, Providence and Hartford, and proclaimed a European with dubious credentials as King of England".[18] Inevitably, the arrogance and exactions of the Kutama led to rebellions in the newly conquered Fatimid domains, in which the Kutama particularly were singled out and killed by the rebels.[19]
After the move of the seat of the caliphate to Egypt in 973, a large number of Kutama accompanied the dynasty east. However, the forays into the Levant in the 970s revealed the inadequacies of an army based solely on the Kutama, and from 978, the Fatimids began incorporating ethnic groups, notably theTurks andDaylamites, from the eastern Islamic lands into their army.[20] In combination with the increasing difficulty of renewing their pool of Kutama recruits afterc. 987/88, these events challenged the position of the Kutama in the army. Thereafter, a fierce rivalry developed between the Kutama and the "Easterners" (Mashāriqa).[21]
In 996, on the accession ofal-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Kutama refused to acknowledge the new caliph unless the Kutama leaderal-Hasan ibn Ammar[disputed –discuss] was appointed asvizier. This was done, but Ibn Ammar's blatantly pro-Berber regime quickly alienated other members of the elite, and he was overthrown a year later.[22][23] Finally, when al-Hakim assumed the reins of government in 1000, he launched a purge of the Fatimid elites, during which Ibn Ammar and many of the other prominent Kutama were executed.[24]
Thereafter the position of the Kutama steadily declined,[25] so that in November 1025, during an official review, the once numerous and proud Kutama were reduced to demanding bread to sate their hunger.[26] Shortly after, they were unable to mobilize even 100 horsemen at short notice.[27] On the other hand, the Persian travellerNasir Khusraw mentions that there were 20,000 Kutama horsemen during his visit to Egypt in 1047.[25]
During the chaos of the years 1062–1073, the Kutama allied themselves with theSudān against the Turks and the Daylamites.[25] The last remnants of the Kutama were dismissed from the Fatimid army afterBadr al-Jamali came to power in 1073.[25] In Algeria, the Kutama will give a subdivision: theSedouikech tribes between the région ofBéjaïa andConstantine.[28]