Tiznit

Tiznit or Tiznet is a town in the southern Moroccan region of Souss-Massa, founded in 1881 by the sultan Hassan I. It is the capital of Tiznit Province and recorded a population of 74,699 in the 2014 Moroccan census. Jewish silversmiths moved into the town and established its reputation as the center of silver and silver handicraft in Morocco. Tiznit is well known for its silver jewelry, mint, daggers and sabres. Located near the coast, Sultan Moulay Hassan settled in the area in 1881 to exert his control over dissident Berber tribes of the Souss. In 1912, Ahmed al-Hiba, a populist rebel overthrew the French government and proclaimed himself sultan of Tiznit in the town's mosque. He conquered the Sous by uniting the tribes of the Anti Atlas Mountains. He went on to attack Marrakech but was suppressed by the French. The province of Tiznit is part of west side area of the Anti-Atlas. Tiznit, some 80 km south of Agadir, is a strategic crossroads between the mountains and the Tafraoute region, the Atlantic coast and the great Moroccan Sahara.