Lalla Aicha, regent of Touggourt

Lalla Aicha (Arabic: للا عائشة‎) (known as Aichouche) (Arabic: عيشوشة‎) was regent of Touggourt from 1833–1846.[1][2] She was from the Ben-Gana family,[3] which was granted the title ‘cheikh el-Arab’ by the French.[4][5][6] She married Amer, Sultan of Touggourt (1822–1830),[7] and was the mother of Sultan Abd ar-Rahman (1840–52).

Aicha and a faction of courtiers rebelled against her brother-in-law Sultan Ali (Sulayman's father) and maintained power by killing other potential rivals, including Sulayman's infant son.[8] Aicha apparently poisoned Ali before taking power in the name of her son Abd er-Rahman, then aged eight. Assuming the title “khalifa”[9] she took over the direction of government, managing state affairs with great ability. Accounts say that she rode a horse, wore pistols on her belt and even smoked tekrouri (hemp). She governed the state on her own until her son was old enough to take over.[3]

According to an 1854 account by Sulayman IV, last of the Beni Djellab sultans, the period of Lalla Aicha's rule was characterised by extreme violence within the ruling family, although this was not entirely unusual.[8]

References
  1. Willy Jansen (1987). Women Without Men: Gender and Marginality in an Algerian Town. Brill Archive. p. 83. ISBN 90-04-08345-6.
  2. Cahoon, Ben. "Algeria". worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  3. "تاريخ دولة بني جلاب فرنسي". touggourt.org. جوهــــــرة الواحات تقــــرت. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  4. Benjamin C Brower (2009-07-07). A Desert Named Peace: The Violence of France's Empire in the Algerian Sahara, 1844-1902. Columbia University Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-231-51937-3.
  5. Algeria: Tableau de la situation des établissements français dans l'Algérie en 1837-54. Journal des opérations de l'artillerie pendant l'expedition de Constantine, Oct. 1837. Tableau de la situation des établissements français dans l'Algérie précédé de l'exposé des motifs et du projet de loi, portant demande de crédits extraordinaires au titre de l'exercice. 1841. p. 4.
  6. Kielstra, Nico (1987). "The decline of tribal organization in the Souf (S.E. Algeria)". Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée. 45: 11–24. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  7. "سلاطيــــــــــــــن تقرت "فرنسي" (citing Magali-Boisnard, Sultans de Touggourt Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1933". touggourt.org. جوهــــــرة الواحات تقــــرت. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  8. René Pottier (1947). Histoire du Sahara. Nouvelles Editions Latines. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-2-7233-0859-5.
  9. Algeria: Moniteur algerién. Journal officiel de la colonie. nr. 532-880 (5 avril 1843-10 fevr. 1848) 2 v. 1843. p. 703.
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