El Jadida - Mazagan

 

◙ The Moroccan city of El-Jadida is located on the Atlantic coast, and Moroccan administrations write the name of this city in the deformed French way El-Jadida.

 

◙ But the majority of Moroccans and perhaps the majority of the inhabitants of EL-Jadida may not know that its original local name is Maziɣen, Mazighen , مازيغن (in Arabic) . 

 

◙ The name of this city is described as "Mazighen" Maziɣen in several ancient historical and geographical sources from the 12th century AD, such as the Book

( Nuzhat Al mushtaq نزهة المشتاق) of the Idrissi Traveler. 

 

◙ The name Maziɣen is a dilution of the Imaziɣen name by removing the Amazigh identification tool (i), which is common and common in the names of people and cities. 

 

◙ The Amazigh/Moroccan historical sources that mentioned the "Mazighen" marina as an important commercial port for the export of wheat and barley, are sources that date back centuries before the Portuguese occupation. This confirms that "Mazighen" Maziɣen has been a long-known Amazigh commercial city and port. 

 

◙ After the portuguese occupation in the 16th century, the name of the city of Mazighen was tarnished Maziɣen by the Portuguese to Mazagao ,and the Spanish distorted it to Mazagan ,and the French took away from them this distorted formula.

 

◙ From the distorted Spanish/French version Mazagan emerged a modern version distorted in Morocco with the Arabic letter " مازاغان" because the current Moroccans apparently thought that the French version (distorted) Mazagan wanted to say " مازاغان" and this is wrong... The real original name of El-Jadida, written centuries before the Portuguese occupation, is "Mazighen" Maziɣen , مازيغن.

 

◙ The city and marina of Mazighen have been mentioned in several ancient historical and geographical sources, as we have said. Such as (Nuzhat Al Mushtaq) by the geographer and the traveler Idrissi (born: 1100 A.D; Died: 1165). He said about it:

"... From Fadala [Meaning: Muhammadiyah] to the marina of Anfa [Casablanca] 40 miles is a deliberate marina where boats come and carry wheat and barley and connect to it in the area of the berber land from Beni Yedfar, Dokala and others. From Anfa to The Marina of Mazighen, sixty-five Russian miles [direct]. And from Mazighen to White Joun [means: Bay] thirty miles. From Al-Bayda to Al-Gheit Marina 50 miles away is Joun [Bay] II. And from the gheit to Assafi (Safi, آسفي) fifty miles. And from Assafi to the tip of iron mountain sixty miles. And from the tip of The Iron Mountain to the Gheit, which is fifty miles away. And also from the side of Mazighen to Assafi eighty-five miles [direct], and hundred and thirty miles curved [curved path] " .

 

◙ Idrissi's book, Nuzhat Al Mushtaq, was translated into Latin in 1619 under the title Geographia Nubiensis by Gabriele Sionita. In that Latin translation, the name of the city of Mazighen was written in Latin: Mazighen. The name of The City of Anfa (Casablanca) is also written in Latin letters as follows: Anfa.