Ilahiane Hsain. Historical dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen)

Lanham, Maryland - Toronto - Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, 2006. — xxxviii + 319 p. — (Historical dictionaries of peoples and cultures 5). — ISBN13: 978-0-8108-5452-9, ISBN10: 0-8108-5452-X.The Berbers are the remnants of the original inhabitants of North Africa, presently living in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, where they account for much of the population, and Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, and Niger, where they are smaller minorities, with a notable diaspora in France. That much is known, but not much more, not even roughly how many of them there are, while their origins are still shrouded in mystery. This is not surprising, after surviving Punic, Roman, Byzantine, Vandal, Arab, Ottoman, French, Italian, and Spanish invasions and settlement and not really being tolerated by the governments of the modern states. They contributed heavily to the spread of Islam and are Muslims, but that, as well as pressures from a long succession of conquerors, has dampened their identity and constricted those using the language. Yet the Imazighen (or free men) are still there and still cling to the hopes of greater acceptance and representation. This makes the Historical Dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen) like some others in this series more significant than ordinary reference works because it has to provide information about another people whose past is less well known and whose future is less certain. This is done in several ways, not least of which is a chronology that reaches all the way back and comes up to the present. The introduction places the Imazighen in context, showing just what they are up against. And the dictionary, the foundation of the book, provides an impressive collection of entries on important persons, places, events, institutions, and aspects of culture, society, economy, and politics, past and present. Given the difficulty in finding out about the Berbers, the bibliography is a precious tool and leads to further sources of information. This volume was written by one of the few specialists and himself an Amazigh from Morocco, Hsain Ilahiane. After studying at the Lycee in Morocco and American universities, he joined the faculty of Iowa State University, where he is presently associate professor of anthropology. Dr. Ilahiane has written many scholarly articles on the Berbers, Arabs, and Haratine and is the author of the book Ethnicities, Community Making, and Agrarian Change: The Political Ecology of a Moroccan Oasis. This historical dictionary takes him much further in many directions, expanding his own horizons and also contributing to expanding those of interested readers (Jon Woronoff).