ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the transformation of the society: the establishment of kingdoms and empires built out of the ruins of Berber republics. The Berber way of life, eliminated at the level of the canton, finds refuge in the village, the hamlet and the household. In short, the disintegration of Berber society under the Empire generates, in the end, an enormous growth of anarchy, that can be limited for a while by a strong Sultan, but which feeds dangerously on both generalised siba and local revolts. When the Berbers of the Middle Atlas stripped or killed all the followers of the Sultan Moulay Sliman at the beginning of the nineteenth century they treated the sovereign himself with due respect and escorted him back to the safety of the plains. Some Sultans—Moulay el Hassan for example—appointed special officials to be responsible for guarding the property of the Makhzen and for controlling the excesses of the qaids.
