Moulouya River
Ali Amhaouch was born in 1844 and became widely known as a religious figure, of the Darqawa sufi order, who commanded respect across Morocco and was one of the few people capable of bringing peace to warring tribes. He made his own prophecies and considered the Jbel Toujjit mountain, the source of the Moulouya River, to be a sacred site. Amhaouch supported the Ait Sukhman tribe against the rival Zaian Confederation in intermittent warfare lasting from 1877 to 1909. Amhaouch was also a key backer of Si Mhand Laârbi, a member of the Alaouite dynasty, against Moroccan government forces in the 1880s. Laârbi's men were able to defeat a force commanded by Moulay Srou, the uncle of Sultan Hassan I, in battle in 1888.