مجلة التاريخ المتوسطي
Volume 7, Numéro 1, Pages 304-318
2025-06-30
Methods Of Collecting Algerian Documents During The Colonial Period From The Second Half Of The 19th Century Ad: “the Algerian Historical Society As A Model
Authors : Sahbi Mohamed .
Abstract
The French occupying authorities decided, in 1856 with the encouragement of the Ministry of War, to create the " Algerian Historical Society". Among their assigned objectives: the preparation of a complete campaign of exploration of the Algerian soil, aiming to collect everything that would make it possible to obtain data and information on the zones under their occupation, and to extend it to zones still "outside control". Among the most important things that the association has inscribed in its agenda are documents, collectibles, numismatics and other materials that can reveal the "history" of Algeria and the region since the Libyan (antiquity) era up to the period of Turkish domination. The "Algerian Historical Society" and its spokesperson, the "Revue Africaine", which came into being the same year, decided that all documents that would come into the possession of soldiers or civilians involved in the campaign should be collected, translated and inscribed, mentioning the geographical location in which they were found. Based on the above, this research will be limited to documents in Algeria in particular, in terms of mode of collection, translation and methods of analysis, in the period between the years 1856 - 1871 only - note that this description campaign lasted one hundred and six years - a difficult period in the modern history of Algeria, given that the campaigns of the colonial army on most Algerian cities and regions, which resisted the occupation, have encountered fierce resistance, which lasted over seventy years, such as the resistance of Emir Abdelkader in the west and center, Ahmed Bey in the east, Zaatcha in the south (Biskra), the Mokrani and Awlad al-Sheikh in the rest of the country. The overriding question here is: what were the reasons that led the "colonial authorities" during the aforementioned period to take an interest in Algerian heritage in general, and documentary heritage in particular? What methodology was followed by "Revue africaine," the mouthpiece of the "Algerian Historical Society," in collecting and analyzing these documents? And what results were obtained? This study will be based on the biblio-analytical approach of the documents collected and studied, from the first issues of the Revue Africaine, published in 1856 until the end of the 19th century. This period was marked by an unprecedented activity of research, classification and translation of legal, military, real estate and other documents, carried out by a group of officers, translators and orientalists recognized in the academic world of the time. One of the most important results that we were able to achieve in this research is that the campaign to describe Algeria during this period had the unavowed aim of knowing Algerian society up close, culturally, socially and politically, in order to facilitate the occupation authorities' complete extension of their influence and to make Algeria a French province, or even a Latin-Christian one, as certain French thinkers, such as Louis Bertrand, hoped for throughout the 19th century.
Keywords
Campaign of exploration; Historical Society; Description; Algerian Documents ;
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