Bou-Nouh is a town and commune in Tizi Ouzou Province in northern Algeria.
Geography
Bounouh is the head communeAlgeria's administration is geographically split into 48 Wilayas (regions or provinces) which in turn consist of several Daira (districts or counties) which group several communes (towns) which are formed by a number of villages. within the Arch of Ath Smaïl which is located next to the Djurdjura National Park. Its GPS coordinates are 36.49935,3.936558. In truth, Bounouh is the name of a town and, mistakenly, its name has been given a meaning to represent the whole Arch of Ath Smaïl. This Ath Smaïl should not be mistaken for a namesake in the Wilaya of Bejaïa. The Arch of Ath Smaïl is located to the south west of the Wilaya of Tizi-Ouzou and is in close proximity to the Daïras of Boghni (driving distance from Bounouh is about 10.9 km through Thala Oulili and Amezaourou and under 9.6 km through Ighil Aanane and Amezaourou) and Draâ-El Mizan (driving distance from Bounouh is approximately 13 km) whereas the bird's flight distance from Bou-Nouh to Boghni is merely 5 km and this is testimony of the hilly landscape. Boghni to Draâ El Mizan driving distance is 15.4 km. It has become fashionable to change the spelling of Bou-Nouh to Bounouh! There is also Ait Bounouh in Tiznit, Morocco.
Ait Smaïl is a mountainous region and offers many beautiful landscapes. Thala Oulili is merely 400m above sea level whilst Helouane is at an altitude of more than 1200m. Again there is a namesake Helouane within the Wilaya of Bejaïa. There are sensational panoramic views and splendid walks throughout Ath Smaïl to charm any demanding visitor. The Arch of Ath Smaïl has an area of 26.99 km2 with 80% in rural setting. The population is 9,731 inhabitants distributed over 23 villages. Ath Smaïl is bordered by Boghni to the north, the villages of Ath Mendes and Ath Kouffi (District of Boghni) to the east, The Djurdjura Mountains, Ait Laaziz and Taghzout (Province of Bouira) to the south and finally Frikat and Ain Zaouïa on its western flank. As is customary throughout Kabylia, villages in Bounouh are often perched on hills so as to defend themselves against any invasion. Recently, people from Tizi L Had, Ibouhatène, Chebaba, and other villages have started to settle in the plains of Lemhella where the number of houses has kept increasing year on year.
Driving from Boghni (36.542369,3.953723), heading to Ath Smaïl, and following the road of Ath Mendes and then the road of Frikat, one passes the following places: Thala Oulili (36.516231,3.947715), Taghza (36.517693,3.933147), Lemhella (36.517226,3.929172), Tizi N Chreat (36.517764,3.921472), Thiwririne (36.522644,3.914477), Ichemounene (36.515039,3.918961), Lemqessa (36.513539,3.923296), Tizi L Had (36.511828,3.928797), Chebaba (36.508725,3.929585), Issidikene and Ibouhatène (36.506845,3.928576). Just after Tizi L Had and before Ibouhatène, one can turn right towards Bouzoula (36.50655,3.926935), Ath Si-Ali (36.50602,3.926061), Zaarour (36.469446,3.930506), Ath Telha, Tizi Medene and Helouane (36.489414,3.921999). However, if after Tizi L Had and continuing straight, one passes by Ibouhatène, Bou-Nouh, L’Merdja (36.498005,3.943554), Axxam N Cheikh (Sidi Abderrahmane, 36.493484,3.942578), Baâli (36.492468,3.939777), Ikaananene (36.489598,3.933982), Ath Telha, and then finishing in Helouane. From L’Merdja, one can visit Amalou (36.496125,3.944991) and Awrir (36.502363,3.941618). From Bou-Nouh, one can return towards Taghza following the road of Ath Smaïl-Boghni and passing by Ikhalfounene (36.50155,3.935797), Amezaourou (36.511493,3.944541), Alma B-Uli (36.514571,3.935335), Lejnan N Cheikh (36.515942,3.936376), and Taghza. From Taghza, one could drive back to Boghni following the road of Ath Smaïl-Boghni also known as Ighil Aanane (36.522925,3.941939) and pass at close proximity to the forest of Tazrouts (36.522822,3.944128) and finish at the higher secondary school (Lycée) Zamoum Mohamed of Boghni. History During French occupation of Algeria, Bou-Nouh was a commune within the District of Draâ-El Mizan and ahead of the now Daïra of Boghni. Ath Smaïl entered history at the beginning of the 16th century. The Turks (Ottoman Empire) set up a Bordj, a few hundred metres from the Lycée Zamoum (close proximity to family Terkmani) in Boghni to collect taxes. This was attacked and subsequently destroyed on 16 July 1756 by Iflissen and Ath Smaïl, and consequently the Turks left the garrison. However, nothing is said or mentioned about the megalithicMegalith structures in Tissamamine. Tissamamine is known locally as the shortcut to walk from Bou-Nouh towards Chebaba. Back in the 1970s, it was littered with large, T-shaped structures. Their significance is not clear and not documented. Nowadays, only the large and bulky axial rocks lie on the ground as the flat stones have been broken down and used in the construction of private houses. There was, however, one remaining structurePhotograph needed on the grounds of Cheikh Ben Abderrahmane until 2011 when this one also mysteriously disappeared without a trace, its fate unbeknown to the locals. Even the ground around its placement was completely reshaped to wipe out any trace of existence. Visitors to the mosque could lean at its entrance and call their beloved ones to come back, especially immigrants. It was told that outcomes were excellent.
According to religious records, the Catholic Church was set up in Bou-Nouh in 1876http://www.djurdjurakabylie.com/Les%20chretiens%20de%20Kabylie/Les%20chretiens%20de%20Kabylie.htm and references therein. Also and search for Boghni and Bou-Nouh. and soon after the boys and girls schools (in Bou-Nouh) were founded in 1877 and 1892, respectively. It is not clear from the records as to when Bou-Nouh benefited from a health clinic. The Catholic Church held a conference in 1937 in the commune and this denotes the importance and prestige of Bou-Nouh. However, long before the French set foot in Algeria, one could not forget the illustrious Cheikh Sidi M'hamed Ben Abderrahmane who had set up his own illuminating Tariqa Rahmani in Ait Smaïl in 1769! The Rahmania, which preached a form of passive religious belief, was to play a role in Algerian insurrection against the French. Inside the mosque there is a poster summarizing the spiritual and combative sides of Cheikh Ben Abderrahmane. Even after his death, his mosque continued to play a massive role in all uprisings and this led to several closures as a form of punishment. Cheikh Mohand Ameziane Aheddad, from Seddouk Oufela (Bejaïa), a fervent preacher of the Rahmania which he studied in Ath Irathen and Ath Smaïl, allied himself along El Mokrani in 1871 to lead a rebellion against the French invasion. After his capture, Cheikh Aheddad died on 29 April 1873 at the prison of El Koudiat (Constantine) at the age of 83 and he was initially buried in Constantine against his known wish and then later exhumed and reburied in Seddouk to fulfil his request to be buried in his beloved home town. After the conquest of Kabylie in 1871, the French embarked on founding a number of towns between Draâ-El Mizan and Larbaâ N Ath Irathen (ex Fort Napoléon and Fort National), such as Draâ-El Mizan (1873), Beauprètre (1874), Pirette (now Ain Zaouia) (1875), Tizi-Gheniff (1875) and Boghni (1876). From Larbaâ Nath Irathen to Béjaïa were created Fréha (1882), Azazga (1882) and Yakouren (1888). Then the French adopted, using a number of measures between 1871 and 1878, the American Homestead rule to confiscate and give land free to French Colons and their number swelled to 207,615 on 1 January 1888!Le développement géographique de la colonisation agricole en Algérie, Henri Busson, in Annales de Géographie, Year 1898, Volume 7, Number 31, pp. 34-54. This led to the beginning of the erosion of the socio-economic structure which supported Kabylie and to a larger extent Algeria. Although, it could be argued that land productivity increased, the (agricultural) food exports from Algeria to France soared from 9.7 to in excess of 125million French Francs for only the ports of Algiers, Annaba, and Oran over the period of 1838–40 to 1885–87.
The indomitable Ath Smaïl, who rose against the Turks and French colonisation, played its crucial part in the Algerian war for independence which started in 1954 and lasted until 1962. Many regional leaders originated from Ath Smaïl and several people lost their lives or have been imprisoned. Tizi L Had was turned to rubble by the French canons in November 1958 and, as by miracle, only the mosque stood unshaken. Both Bou-Nouh and Boghni honoured a number of the heroes by naming streets and schools after them. The widows from Ath Smaïl often evoke a number of poems to recount the horrors of the war and their sufferings. Students at the University Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou originating from the Arch of Ath Smaïl took part in the foundation of the Comité Anti-Repression in 1980 and played an active role in the movement that fashioned the Berber Spring which led to the recognition of the Berber language and culture,M'hamed Lakrimi in autobiography, unpublished. threatened with certain extinction.
After independence, the strong but not so rich Bounouh lost its status of commune and the ever-developing Boghni was promoted in its place. At Ath Smaïl, all roads pass by the side of the villages, because the villages came to exist first and the road network followed much later on. At Ath Smaïl, even walking paths had names such as Adjroud, Lburath, Tissamamine, Tassawent L Had, etc. Even small patches of land carried names which are beyond comprehension such as Alma Bwuli (literally land of sheep), Lemhella, Taghza, Tabaquit Irumiyen (literally the French or Roman table), Lemqessa, etc. This demonstrates the historical heritage of Ath Smaïl. In Boghni, however, the road network came to exist first as part of the link between Draâ-El Mizan and Larbaâ Nath Irathen (ex- Fort Napoléon and Fort National) and then people moved in afterwards. Based on knowledge from the early 1970s, a large number of the first inhabitants or the people to set up business in Boghni originated mostly from Ath Smaïl. There was only a tiny influx from neighbouring Mechtras and Ouadhias which were already benefiting from good infrastructure in terms of land, roads and water. The Catholics established a College of Further Education (Centre de Formation Professionnelle) in Boghni where the first 20 technicians to be employed by Sonatrach when it opened the Arzew oil refinery (near Oran) were formedC'était une longue fidélité: à l'Algérie et au Rwanda, Armand Duval, 1998, , page 81. included pupils from Ath Smail.
It was only in 1985 following a new administrative landscape that Bounouh was granted its title of commune againJournal officiel de la République Algérienne [archive], 19 décembre 1984. Décret n° 84-365, fixant la composition, la consistance et les limites territoriale des communes. Wilaya de Tizi Ouzou, page 1505. and tied to the much prosperous and developed Boghni which had already been elevated to the status of Daïra (District). A new Town Hall with better facilities was built and the old town Hall was changed into a Center of Further Education.
Economics and infrastructure