Introduction
My name is Youssef Ait Chaib, born on Wednesday, November 8, 1989. I am the son of a mother and father from Ouarzazate, both belonging to families originally established in Zaouiat Sidi Othmane.
I grew up, lived, and continue to live today in the city of Ouarzazate, only a few kilometers away from the village that forms the deepest part of my roots and personal memory.
Zaouiat Sidi Othmane, located just a few kilometers away from where I live today, is the ancestral home of my family and the place where I spent an important part of my childhood and youth. This village is more than just a geographical place; it is a site with a long and rich history. At one point in time, it served as a major economic center of the region, hosting the well-known weekly market of “Khamis Zaouiat Sidi Othmane.”
In late November 2021, my father handed me a collection of reed tubes inherited from his father, who had inherited them from his own father, and so on through seven generations.
These consisted of 37 tubes (36 made of reed and one metal tube), containing a total of 41 documents. Most of them were deeds of purchase—farmland, houses, or palm trees—mainly belonging to my ancestors from the Ait Chaib family. Some documents came from various villages of Ouarzazate such as Tabounte, Talmasla, Tazrout, Taourirt, Tamghzazate, Harbilte in Fint, Tisrkat, Tiket near Tamnougalt, and others.
The documents date from 1721 to 1850, representing nearly three centuries of family history.
After carefully cleaning and preserving them, I began reading their contents. It felt like traveling through time: many of the texts were unclear or difficult to understand, which pushed me to dig deeper into the history of Zaouiat Sidi Othmane, the surrounding villages mentioned in the documents, and the broader history of the Ouarzazate region.
Fortunately, I was not alone in this journey. I received valuable help from several people—some of whom have passed away, and others whom I am grateful to still have among us. I also benefited greatly from the guidance of Mr. Mohamed Oussama Sanhaji, whom I consider a true living encyclopedia. He generously supported me with information, explanations, and rare documents. My gratitude to him, and to everyone who assisted me, is immense.
This experience taught me that history is not an end in itself. The past and the present are merely tools for building a better future.
Reading the past incorrectly leads to a distorted view of the present and the future. We must therefore examine our history carefully, so we can draw the right lessons and avoid repeating the mistakes of those who came before us. It would be foolish to pay the price of the same mistake twice.
For all these reasons, I created this website:
to share the history of my family, Ait Chaib, the history of Zaouiat Sidi Othmane, where my ancestors lived for more than three centuries, and to shed light—through my own approach—on the history of Ouarzazate and its surrounding regions.
I hope this website becomes a useful resource for anyone interested in the history of southeastern Morocco, and that it offers meaningful insights to researchers and curious readers alike.
My warmest regards to you, dear visitor. I hope your time on this website is both enjoyable and beneficial.