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{{More citations needed|date=June 2018}}
[[File:Western Sahara - Tribes.png|thumb|Map of the tribes of Western Sahara]]
The '''Oulad Tidrarin''' ({{langx|ar|أولاد تيدرارين|Awlād Tīdrārīn}}) is a [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi]] [[tribe]] of Arab origin. They speak [[Hassaniya]] [[Arabic Language|Arabic]]. They are [[Islam|Muslims]], belonging to the [[Maliki]] school of [[Sunni]] [[Islam]]. They live mainly in Western Sahara but also in Morocco and Mauritania.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdaAdBC-_S4C&pg=PA473&dq=Oulad+Tidrarin#q=Oulad%20Tidrarin|title=The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary|last=Olson|first=James Stuart|date=1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313279188|pages=473|language=en}}</ref>

The Oulad Tidrarin settled the [[Saguia el-Hamra]] and [[Río de Oro]] areas of Northwest Africa, their original home. Many live in the [[Cape Bojador]] and the coastline of the south of [[Morocco]], some on the coast of [[Saguia el-Hamra]] and some branches live in the south and east of [[Mauritania]]. There are some members of the Uladsliman and Lidadsa in subgroups in [[Mali]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

== Etymology ==
The name Tidrarin is [[Berber languages|Berber]] and means 'mountain dweller'. It is the [[diminutive]] form of {{Transliteration|ber|idrarin}} ("mountains").<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Howe |first=Bruce |url=https://archive.org/details/stoneagecavesite0028bruc/page/120/mode/2up?q=tidrarin |title=A Stone Age Cave Site in Tangier: Preliminary Report on the Excavations at the Mugharet El 'Aliya, Or High Cave, in Tangier |last2=Movius |first2=Hallam Leonard |author-link2=Hallam L. Movius |date=1947 |publisher=The Museum |volume=28 |pages=121 |language=en |quote=The Ouled Tidrarin, for instance, are supposedly descended from an eponymous ancestor named Hannin, otherwise known as "Tidrarin" meaning literally "man of the mountain", from the Berber word "adrar" which means "mountain" and is also used to designate the region in which [[Ouadane]] is located. And there is still a ruined building at Ouadane known as "the fort of the Ouled Tidrarin".}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ibáñez |first=Esteban |title=Diccionario Español-Baamrani (Dialecto bereber de Ifni) |publisher=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Estudios Africanos |year=1954 |page=206 |language=Spanish}}</ref>

==History==
{{History of Morocco|expanded=false}}
The Oulad Tidrarin are said to be founded by Hannin whose alias was Tidrarin (the mountain dweller). Hannin may have lived in the 15th century and was originally from the [[Adrar Plateau|Adrar]] in Mauritania but was taken to what is today Western Sahara after being captured by a [[Ghazi (warrior)|ghazi]]. Ali, the great-great grandson of Hannin, is said to be the ancestor of most of the fractions of the tribes. Furthermore, seven of the Oulad Tidrarin's fractions descend from Sidi Ahmed Bou Ghambor who was an important and powerful chief at the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th during the Oulad Tidrarin's zenith.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Pazzanita |first=Anthony G. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_Western_Sahara/FkAOAQAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara |date=2006 |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-0-8108-5540-3 |location=United Kingdom |pages=335–337 |language=en}}</ref>

The tribe entered a period of decline in the 18th century and eventually they were forced to pay the [[horma]] to the [[Oulad Delim]] becoming their tributaries. Only the Ahel Taleb Ali avoided this. They were reduced from a [[zawaya]] tribe to the status of a [[znaga]] tribe and were not allowed to bear arms.<ref name=":3" />

In 1888, they rebelled against the Oulad Delim and in retaliation the Oulad Delim killed 22 Tidrarinis at Tah. This caused many Tidrarinis to seek refuge and migrate to Morocco. Eventually, other tribes like the [[Reguibat tribe|Reguibat]] who sided the Oulad Tidrarin and the Ait Lahcen of the [[Tekna]] who joined the Oulad Delim joined the war. However, the Reguibat made peace with the Oulad Delim which led to more of the Oulad Tidrarin migrating to Morocco and the ones who remained being forced to pay tribute to the Oulad Delim.<ref name=":3" />

Because of the imposed Spanish peace, the Oulad Tidrarin were freed from the horma and prospered comparatively to the Oulad Delim. In 1950, they owned more camels than the Oulad Delim and by the 1970s, they were mainly sedentary like other Sahrawi tribes. According to the 1974 Spanish census, they mainly lived in [[Laayoune]], [[Dakhla, Western Sahara|Dakhla]] and [[Boujdour]].<ref name=":3" />

== Subdivisions ==
The Oulad Tidrarin are made up of 10 fractions:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pazzanita |first=Anthony G. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_Western_Sahara/FkAOAQAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara |date=2006 |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-0-8108-5540-3 |location=United Kingdom |pages=563 |language=en}}</ref>

* Ahel Taleb Ali 
* Oulad Moussa - They were one of the fractions that descended from Sidi Bou Ghambor and when the Oulad Tidrarin were forced to pay the horma to the Oulad Delim, they paid the horma to the Loudeikat fraction of the Oulad Delim.<ref name=":3" />
* Oulad Ali 
* Laboubat
* El-Faaris
* Lahseinat/El-Haseinat
* Oulad Souleiman
* Ahel Esteila 
* Ahel Hadj
* Lidadsa

The Lidadsa and the El-Haseinat were adopted into the tribe so they do not descend from Ali, the great-great-grandson of Hannin (Tidrarin).<ref name=":3" />

==Religious activism==
The tribe has established centres for the spread of [[Islamic culture]], particularly along the Atlantic coast region. They have received recognition from the Moroccan sultans for their work in this area.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

==See also==
* [[Beni Hassan]]
* [[Banu Hilal]]
* [[Oulad Delim]]
* [[Reguibat]]

==References==
<references />

{{Ethnic groups in Morocco}}
{{Arab tribes of Morocco}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Arab tribes in Morocco]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Western Sahara]]