Comité d'Etudes Berbères

   In order to facilitate the implementation of General Louis-Hubert Lyautey's vision of dealing with Moroccan Berbers, he founded the Comité d'Etudes Berbères in Rabat to systematize research on Berbers by a decision of 9 January 1915. The committee capitalized on the brain trust on Berber problems provided by such key colonial scholars as Maurice LeGlay, Emile Laoust, Mostapha Abés, S. Nehlil, Gaston Loth, S. Biarnay, Gaillard, Henrys, Colonel H. Simon, and Commandant Berriau, among other protectorate officials. The committee focused on the study of Berbers and was concerned with formulating the Berber Policy. The journal Les Archives Berbères was created, and its first issue appeared in 1915. During the four years of its existence, the journal published the first monograph devoted to a Moroccan Berber tribe and a series of articles on Berber ethnology, customs, and azerf, or law. By 1919, much work had been done on Tamazight, or Berber, and foundations were laid for research on legal studies, ethnology, and history of the Middle Atlas Berbers. Research on Berber society formed the basis of the Dahir of 11 September 1914, a precursor to the full-blown version of the Berber Dahir of 16 May 1930.

   See also Institut des Hautes Édudes Marocaines.