ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the morphology of the little independent Berber states and describes their basic characteristics. It discusses the alliances which are formed both in times of war and in peace time. Within Berber society there exist forms of alliance between groups. If one compares the structure of the Berber states among the pastoralists with those of the settled tribes, one is quite soon led to suggest an hypothesis to account for certain peculiar features observed among the latter. If one studies Berber society in other parts of North Africa one soon realises that the institution of leffs, although showing certain variations from place to place, is a virtually ubiquitous phenomenon. When the Berbers were nomads they clashed in great numbers and came to feel an extremely powerful sense of ethnic kinship, which was represented in their minds by the idea of the confederation.
