Mohammed el-Mokrani launches a major uprising against French rule

After a prolonged siege, French forces stormed the fortified oasis of Zaatcha, where local resistance had rallied under Cheikh Bouziane. The assault ended in mass killing and the destruction of...

French forces began the major 1857 campaign to impose colonial control over Kabylia, a mountainous region where local communities had maintained substantial autonomy. Kabyle contingents mobilised in...

Kabyle fighters defended the position at Icheriden against a French assault during the 1857 campaign. The battle was intense and costly; the French military account gives the conquerors'...

French troops captured Lalla Fatma N'Soumer, a Kabyle spiritual and political leader who had become a prominent figure in resistance to the conquest. Her capture came after military operations against...

The Senatus-Consulte of 22 April 1863 initiated a major programme to delimit and register land in Algeria. It nominally recognised some collective property while requiring territorial boundaries to be...

In a letter to French military officials, El-Mokrani declared that he would fight and called on people to take up arms. The letter provides a dated record of the uprising's political decision and...

Cheikh Aheddad, leader of the Rahmaniyya religious order, publicly called for participation in the revolt against French rule. The appeal helped turn the uprising into a wider movement involving rural...

French troops confronted and halted insurgent forces advancing from Palestro toward Algiers at Alma. The battle took place within the wider 1871 uprising, whose reach alarmed colonial authorities....

Governor-General de Gueydon proclaimed a state of siege as the revolt spread. The emergency measure widened military powers over civilians and territories and enabled repression under the language...

Mohammed el-Mokrani died during combat near Oued Soufflat as French forces pursued suppression of the revolt. His death did not immediately end the uprising; his brother Boumezrag and other insurgents...