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BISKRA

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 5 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BISKRA , a See also:

town of See also:Algeria, in the See also:arrondissement of Batna, See also:department of See also:Constantine, 15o m. S.W. of the See also:city of Constantine and connected with it and with See also:Philippeville by See also:rail. It lies in the See also:Sahara 36o ft. above the See also:sea, on the right See also:bank of the See also:Wad Biskra, a See also:river which, often nearly dry for many months in the See also:year, becomes a mighty torrent after one or two days' See also:rain in See also:winter. The name Biskra applies to a See also:union of five or six villages of the usual Saharan type, scattered through an See also:oasis 3 M. in length by less than 1 m. broad, and separated by huge gardens full of See also:palm and See also:olive trees. The houses are built of hardened mud, with doors and roof of palm See also:wood. The See also:foreign See also:settlement is on the See also:north of the oasis; it consists of a broad See also:main See also:street, the See also:rue Berthe (from which a few See also:side streets See also:branch at right angles), lined with See also:European houses, the whole in the See also:style of a typical See also:French winter resort, a beautiful public See also:garden, with the See also:church in the centre, an See also:arcade, a pretentious mairie in pseudo-Moorish style with entrance guarded by terra-See also:cotta lions, some See also:good shops, a number of excellent hotels and cafes, a See also:casino, clubs, and, near by, a street of dancing and singing girls of the tribe of Walad-See also:Nail. See also:East of the public garden is Fort St Germain, named after an officer killed in the insurrection of the Zaatcha in 1849; it is capable of resisting any attack of the See also:Arabs, and extensive enough to shelter the whole of the See also:civil See also:population, who took See also:refuge therein during the See also:rebellion of 187r. It contains See also:barracks, See also:hospital and See also:government offices. To the See also:south-east lies the See also:Villa See also:Landon with magnificent gardens filled with tropical See also:plants. The population (1906) of the See also:chief settlement was 4218, of the whole oasis 10,413. From See also:November to See also:April the See also:climate of Biskra is delightful. Nowhere in Algeria can be found• more genial temperature or clearer skies, and while in - summer the thermometer often registers r ro° F. in the shade, and 90° at See also:night, the pure dryness of the See also:air in this •practically rainless region makes the See also:heat ment and See also:religion, but he was strongly affected by the religious revival of the See also:early years, of the reign of See also:Frederick See also:William IV.; his opinions underwent a See also:great See also:change, and under the See also:influence of the neighbouring See also:country gentlemen he acquired those strong principles in favour of monarchical government,as the expression of the See also:Christian See also:state, of which he was to become the most celebrated exponent.

His religious convictions were strengthened by his See also:

marriage to Johanna vonPuttkamer, which took See also:place in 1847. In the same year he entered public See also:life, being chosen as substitute for the representative of the See also:lower See also:nobility of his See also:district in the estates-See also:general, which were in that year summoned to See also:Berlin. He took his seat with Paella- endurable. The only See also:drawback to the climate is the prevalence of high See also:cold winds in winter. These winds cause temperatures as See also:low as 36°, but the mean See also:reading, on an See also:average of ten years, is 73°. In the oasis are some 200,000 See also:fruit trees, of which about 150,000 are date-palms, the See also:rest being See also:olives, pomegranates and apricots. In the centre of the oasis is the old kasbahor citadel. In 1844 the duc d'See also:Aumale occupied this fort, and here, on the night of the 12th of May of that year, the 68 men who formed the French See also:garrison were, with one exception, massacred by Arabs. In the fort are a few fragments of See also:Roman work—all that remains of the Roman See also:post Ad Piscinam. Biskra is the See also:capital of the Ziban (plural of Zab), a See also:race of mixed See also:Berber and Arab origin, whose villages extend from the See also:southern slopes of the Aures to the Shat Melrir. These villages, built in oases dotted over the See also:desert, nestle in groves of date-palms and fruit trees and waving See also:fields of See also:barley. The most interesting See also:village is that of Sidi Okba, 12 M. south-east of Biskra.

It is built of houses of one See also:

story made of See also:sun-dried bricks. The See also:mosque is square, with a See also:flat roof supported on See also:clay columns, and crowned by a See also:minaret. In the north-See also:west corner of the mosque is the See also:tomb of Sidi Okba, the See also:leader of the Arabs who. in the 1st See also:century of the Hegira conquered See also:Africa for See also:Islam from See also:Egypt to See also:Tangier. Sidi Okba was killed by the See also:Berbers near this place in A.D. 682. On his tomb is the inscription in Cufic characters, " This is the tomb of Okba, son of Nafi. May See also:God have See also:mercy upon him." No older Arabic inscription is known to exist in Africa.

End of Article: BISKRA

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