Guelaya

Guelaya, also known as Iqer'iyen and Iqel'iyen is a region in northern Morocco located in the present-day province of Nador and a composition of central-eastern Riffian tribes. The region encompasses the Cape Three Forks peninsula, the Mar Chica area, and other surrounding zones, historically including the Spanish city of Melilla.

The Iqer'iyen tribe is composed of five major Berber tribes, locally known as "khams khemmas", meaning "five-fifths": These tribes themselves comprise various territorial communities and families. Historically, each tribe was an autonomous entity that contributed to the collective defense, resource management, and social cohesion of the confederation as a whole.

The area around Nador has been known at least since the 11th century by the name ‘‘Bilād al‑Qulūʿ’’ (Arabic for “Land of the Castles”). From this name, the ethnonym of the local Riffians, Iqelʿiyen (“People of the Castles”), is derived.

In the 11th century, prior to the rise of the Almoravids in the Maghreb Al-Aqsa, an emirate of Hammudid origin emerged within the tribal territory of the Iqer'iyen. Muhammad ibn Idris Al-Hammudi, a deposed prince of Malaga and Ceuta, had taken refuge in Almeria when he was called upon by the Berbers of the Guelaya tribal territory, known at the time as the Battuya, to assume power in the eastern Rif. Central to this development was an alliance with the Battuya tribe.