1) A Sahara of Axes and Allegiances
Before modern borders were imposed, the Eastern Sahara formed a network of oases and caravan stops: Figuig, Beni Ounif, Béni Abbès, Igli, Kerzaz, Reggane, Timimoun, In Salah, Aougrout… The routes for salt, dates, hides, and copper connected Tafilalet and Dra to these palm groves, and then towards Timbuktu and Niger.
In this world of distances, authority was exercised through allegiance (bay‘a) to the Cherifian sultan, appointed caïds and moqaddem, tax collection, and conflict arbitration. The zaouïas (brotherhoods) — Nasiriya, Tijaniyya, Qadiriyya — irrigated the space, intertwining spirituality and politics. The cherifian influence relied on Saharan tribes (Tekna, Reguibat, Aït Atta, etc.) and the Makhzen's ability to secure major routes.
2) The Alaouite Era: From Assertion to Intermittence
From the 17th century, the Alaouite sultans projected Moroccan authority into the eastern Sahara. The expeditions of Sidi Mohammed ben Cherif (Tafilalet), followed by Moulay Ismaïl's work, structured the Makhzen’s presence in the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt: appointing governors, justice, protection for caravans and sanctuaries.
However, the influence remained pulsatile: cycles of tribal insubordination, demanding geography, and crises from the center led to retreats and returns. By the end of the 18th century, Moulay Slimane recalibrated the efforts, opening fragile zones where European ambitions took root.
3) The Colonial Break: The "Border" from Algeria
Starting in the second half of the 19th century, the French Algerian army viewed the Eastern Sahara as a strategic space: logistical continuity towards Central Sudan, locking down routes, securing the "Southern Line."
After military missions and installations, France effectively annexed the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt complex to administered Algeria around 1900-1901. This initiative established a border projected from the east, without negotiation with the Makhzen — foreshadowing a division that would later be imposed on all of Morocco with the protectorate (1912).
Since then, continuities of use (tribal, commercial, spiritual) have persisted, but colonial architecture encircles the desert and transforms passage zones into lines of separation.
4) Independence and Crystallization: From the "Inherited Border" to the "Accepted Border"
In 1956, independent Morocco claimed the recovery of historically linked spaces to the Makhzen, while Algeria, at war and then independent in 1962, inherited the French administrative limits.
The Sand War (1963), concerning the regions of Tindouf and Béchar, illustrates the clash between allegiance memory and colonial border. African mediation extinguished the fire, but the delimitation issue remains open until the border agreement in Rabat (1972), a reference legal framework for the two States.
This sequence, often reduced to a dispute, has also produced mechanisms for neighborliness: security coordination, crossings, exchanges, then — depending on the period — closures and reopenings.
5) Memory, Law, and Geopolitics: What the Eastern Sahara Tells Us
Long Memory: For many actors and communities, the Eastern Sahara remains a space with Moroccan ties: dahirs of appointment, religious taxes, support for the zaouïas, recourse to sultanic arbitration.
International Law: The colonial period replaced allegiance logics with state lines. Modern states refer to them for regional stability while recognizing the complexity of historical titles.
Geopolitics: Energy routes, minerals, road interconnections, and Saharan-Sahelian security make the eastern band a pivot. Moroccan-Algerian cooperation on these issues has seen ups and downs; it remains a decisive lever for the Maghreb.
6) Lands, Tribes, Zaouïas: Continuities Beneath the Sand
Beyond the capitals, the human weave of the Sahara thwarts ruptures. Cross-border kinships, oasis cultures, and confraternity networks prolong centuries-old proximities. Date and cattle markets, moussems, pilgrimages to marabouts, and the circulation of fiqh (Islamic law) attest to connections that transcend divisions.
Understanding the Eastern Sahara, therefore, means reading a landscape of continuity where the modern State does not erase history — it reconfigures it.
7) A Future Challenge: To Connect Rather Than Divide
The history of the Eastern Sahara is not a closed report; it is a repertoire of tools for tomorrow:
-Economic corridors (energy, roads, data),
-Water management and oasis resilience,
-Cooperative security against trafficking and Sahelian-Saharan threats,
-Cultural heritage enhancement (ksour, foggaras, manuscripts),
-Structured cultural movements (moussems, Saharan tourism).
Revisiting its Moroccan ties does not mean denying current states; it is recognizing continuities capable of transforming the border into a hinge.
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Chronological Milestones
17th–18th centuries: Alaouite projection and intermittent administration of Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt from the Makhzen (bay‘a, caïds, zaouïas).
1900-1901: French annexation of the T-G-T complex to administered Algeria; colonial redefinition of Saharan boundaries.
1912: Protectorate in Morocco; the colonial order freezes new borders.
1956: Independence of Morocco; claims to historically linked Saharan spaces.
1963: Sand War around Béchar/Tindouf; OAU mediation.
1972: Rabat Agreement fixing the Moroccan-Algerian border line (bilateral legal framework).
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Conclusion
The Eastern Sahara is not a periphery: it is a rich memory. A space of allegiance to the sultan, of caravan routes, knowledge, and sanctuaries, it has been reconfigured by the colonial sequence and then independence. Its Moroccan ties are enduring — administrative, religious, tribal — just as the contemporary state reality is. Between the two lies a pathway: to make the desert a unifying element, not a line of fracture.
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Sources (selected for further reading)
AUSA, Cold War in Africa: Morocco and Algeria (historical synthesis, role from 1956 to 1963).
UN Treaty Collection, Convention concerning the State frontier line established between Morocco and Algeria (Rabat, June 15, 1972).
ICJ, Western Sahara Advisory Opinion (official summary; context of historical titles and self-determination).
Studies and historical notes on Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt (Alaouite administration, allegiances, governors).
Research and syntheses on the Sand War (1963) and the crystallization of post-colonial borders in the Maghreb.
*(This list is not exhaustive; archives, monographs, and specialized academic articles provide further insights by oasis and period.)*
