Moha Ou Hammou Zayani

   He was a member of the Aït Harkat tribe of the Zayan confederation. In 1877, he became the caid of the Zayan confederation, and he ruled from his citadel in the city of Khenifra, which is located on the banks of the Oum Errabi' River. To supplement his pastoral and agricultural activities, the location of his citadel allowed him to collect right of passage taxes on transhumant nomads as well as on traders.

   Moha Ou Hammou was the leader of resistance in the Middle Atlas Mountains during the establishment of the French Protectorate in Morocco in 1912 and before. During the reign of Sultan Moulay Yusuf (1912-1927), which overlapped with the arrival of Louis-Hubert Lyautey's protectorate projects, resistance activity against French occupation intensified. Having allied himself with the sultan for several years, he was able to acquire firearms, and this allowed him to mobilize Zayan men and call for a jihad against the French presence. In 1914, when French troops occupied the fief of Moha Ou Hammou and controlled his capital, Khenifra, he and his followers retreated to the surrounding hills to prepare their revenge. On 13 November, they came down from the hills, set up camp in the village of Elhri (about 15 kilometers south of Khenifra), and launched a devastating attack on the French. The French lost 23 officers, 580 soldiers, 8 cannons, and 10 machine guns. This attack is referred to as the Battle of Elhri and still remains a cause célèbre of Zayan social history. However, this victory was short lived, as the French regrouped and returned in full force to pursue Moha Ou Hammou in the rugged terrain of the Middle Atlas Mountains. The search went on for six years until 1920 when he was killed with arms in his hands.

   See also `Assou Ou Baslam; Khattabi Al-, Abdelkarim.