hassane

{{Short description|The traditionally dominant warrior tribes of Mauritania and Western Sahara}}

{{about|the tribes of north-west Africa|the Arabic given name|Hassane (given name)|other uses|Hassan (disambiguation)}}

The Hassane is a name for the traditionally dominant warrior tribes of the Sahrawi-Moorish areas of present-day Mauritania, southern Morocco and Western Sahara. Although lines were blurred by intermarriage and tribal re-affiliation, the Hassane were considered descendants of the Arab Maqil tribe Beni Hassan (hence the name). They held power over Sanhadja Berber-descended zawiya (religious) and znaga (servant) tribes, extracting from these the horma tax in exchange for armed protection.{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+mr0050%29 |title=Archived copy |website=lcweb2.loc.gov |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041030112857/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+mr0050%29 |archive-date=30 October 2004 |url-status=dead}}

Occasionally, such as in the case of the important Reguibat tribe, Zawāyā Berber groups would rise to Hassane status by growing in power and prestige and taking up armed raiding; they would then often Arabize culturally to fit the prevailing image of Hassane tribes as original Arabs.

A good example of a Hassane tribe is the Río de Oro-centered Oulad Delim, which is considered as among the purest descendants of the Beni Hassan.