Medieval period

Source:^[2]

The mid-12th century marked the disappearance of the term "Ketama" and the exclusive mention of affiliated tribal groups thereafter. Almohad and post-Almohad historiography thus omits the term "Ketama," with the notable exception of Ibn Khaldun (d. 808/1406), who devotes an entry to them titled "Account of the Kutama, descendants of the Baranis, who subjugated other tribes and overthrew the Aghlabid dynasty in the name of the Shiites." In this historical overview, he describes their territory as extending from Biskra in the south to the Mediterranean in the north, and from Bône in the east to Dellys in the west; he notes the decline of the Kutama population due to their exile to the East, as well as the arrival and intermingling of Hilalian tribes in the Constantine and Sétif regions. According to him, the "Banu Sedouikich" constituted the principal community originating from the Ketama; their territory lay between Constantine and Bougie, and they were led by the "Awlad Sawad"^[4] or "Swac"^[2](also spelled "Souac"^[5]).

The dynastic organization fostered clientelism within tribal groups in the medieval Maghreb: the ruling power would ally itself with a tribe's most powerful faction, even if it meant overturning the alliance when the time was right. The Hafsids employed this policy with the Sedouikich. The Swac were divided into two branches: the Ouled Alaoua^[2] (Ibn Souac)^[5] and the Ouled Yousef^[2] (Ibn Hammou Ibn Souac)^[5].

Following the enthronement of Abu Yahya Abu Bakr as Sultan of Constantine in 1310, the Ouled Allaoua—allied with the Prince of Béjaïa—were driven from their territory. The exiled families settled near M'sila among the Ayad, a confederation of Hilalian tribes, and adopted the Arabic language through this contact. Meanwhile, the Ouled Yousef were rewarded by the Hafsid authorities and placed in command of the Sedouikich; they subsequently split into four branches: the Ouled Mohamed Ben Yousef, Ben Mehdi Ben Yousef, Ben Ibrahim Ben Yousef, and the Ben Tazizt. During the Marinid invasion of 1346, the Ouled Allaoua were in turn elevated to prominence. Mehenna assumed command of the tribe; a large tribe in the Skikda's Sahel (foothills) still bears the name Mehenna. This new leader was soon assassinated by his rivals from the Ouled Yousef, prompting the Ouled Allaoua to return to Msila. Ibn Khaldun also notes a faction of the Sedouikich subject to the Beni Sakin—one of their leading families—whose territory bordered that of the Louata near Mount Babor and encompassed the entire province of Béjaïa. Their leader, a Hafsid partisan, had his hands and feet severed by the Marinids, yet the Beni Sakin regained power over Béjaïa upon the Hafsid restoration.^[2]

From the 16th to the 19th century

At the beginning of the 16th century the political situation in Algeria was fragmented, in particular we note that there were in Kabylia the principalities of the Belkadis in Koukou, and of the Beni-Abbas; in Constantinois, between Medjana and Constantine are the dependencies of the Sedouikech tribes, completely to the East, the dependencies of the Harrar tribes.^[6] The Aït Abbas tribe (in Arabic: Beni Abbas) at the origin of the formation of the Sultanate of Aït Abbas (1510–1872) is of Sedouikich origin from the Azizid faction.^[7]