Morocco's Arabian Millennium Heritage – Falcon Hunting Falcon hunting, known in Morocco as Tabizaith, is a millennia-old tradition imported from the Arabian Peninsula, an industry that is revered in Islam and has continued for nearly a thousand years.
During the 13th century Morocco's Almohad dynasty (1145–1269), introduced through the Bedouin tribes of the Hejaz region of the Arabian Peninsula, eagle herding became part of popular culture.
Falcon hunting developed rapidly due to the presence of a local species called the Barbary Falcon and became popular among various Sultanates and Caliphate kingdoms, as well as among nomadic and semi-nomadic communities.
Considered a people on horseback, nomads are part of the tent civilization, and nomads are particularly favored for large hunting grounds. Falconry is also a form of recreation, a form of physical activity, and a means of food diversification, which Moroccans are good at.
Some historians have demonstrated this skill over a long period of time, such as Sheikh Ibrahim bin Abdul Abdul Abdul Abdul Al-Husseini, a famous Arab poet of the 16th century and Afijig's falconer, who proved the existence of this method of hunting through his works.
Falconry thus played an important role in Moroccan diplomacy, and ancient documents prove that the Sultan of Morocco had a keen interest in this method of hunting.
At the beginning of the last century, hunting was "an honor sport" among the people of The Doucala region of Morocco, who promoted the art of training birds far and wide. Some Moroccans even train eagles to hunt gazelles. Some regional lords, such as one of the famous leaders of the Doukala-Abda region, were avid falconers and did not shy away from obtaining these birds of prey at any cost.
Abdelhadi Tazi is a historian and former Moroccan ambassador to Iraq and the United Arab Emirates who specializes in books on the role of falcons in Moroccan diplomatic history. Thus, he explained in his 1980 book "Falcon Between Mashrek (2) and Maghreb (1)": Falcons are the most precious gifts, designed to create an atmosphere of relaxation or to strengthen diplomatic relations between countries.
In fact, during the Melinid dynasty of Morocco (1269 - 1554), the Sultan of Fez domesticated falcons. Sultan Abu Hassan possessed dozens and dedicated them to the Egyptian pharaoh.
In Andalusia, the praise of falconry is embodied in poetry, proverbs, songs, calligraphy and even architecture. Falconry of the Emir of the Alhambra (Granada) was placed in the Arab Quarter (Al Baicin) near the castle, and some Iberian treaties attest to this infiltration of oriental culture.
The Sultan of Morocco had diplomatic exchanges with the kings of Europe (especially the kings of France, England, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Sardinia, Naples, Portugal). During the Renaissance, the attractiveness of the East intensified trade between the two shores of the Mediterranean, especially between Sicily and North Africa.
Falconry flourished around the Mediterranean, sparking exchanges on many fronts: both at the practical level and on intellectual and diplomatic gifts (falconry, accessories, etc.).
The Barbary Falcon is highly regarded by most European courts. Falcons were included in royalties and taxes, and between the 15th and 17th centuries some tribes in the Doucala region (the Atlantic coast of central and western Morocco) paid falcons as annual taxes to the Portuguese who settled on certain coasts. The Sultans of the Vatasid Dynasty and the maghreb dignitaries imported many falcons from Europe in the 17th century.
In 1533, King Francis of France presented various falcon items to the Sultan of The Wattaseid dynasty of Morocco (1471-1554), Ahmed bin Mohammed: 30 pearl-rich bird's claw gloves, about sixty accessories, each decorated with pearls and other silk gloves. Around the 17th century, there were many exchanges of falcon accessories between the Dutch Prince of Orange and the Sultan of Morocco.
The Alawite sultan Muhammad bin Abdullah also received a beautiful falcon from King Frederick of Denmark in 1789. In the book "The History of the Falcon in Morocco", it is mentioned that the Alawite dynasty even domesticated royal falcons during the reign of Moulay Ismail. In addition, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah of the Alawite dynasty built a poultry hospital in Fez.
Today, Morocco is an African country inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and falconry is listed as one of the leading countries for the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The Quwwasim, an Arab tribe located near the city of El Jadida, is the only tribe in Morocco that respects a royal decree authorizing it to train falcons. The falconers of Dukara are now known in the Arab world for their skill inheritance of this ancestral art.
The Maghreb (1) Arab region of western North Africa. The Mashreq (2) refers to the Arab region east of the Maghreb.