About This Project
The purpose, people, and principles behind the Ouchene Digital Archive
The House of Ouchene: A Digital Chronicle
The House of Ouchene is a permanent digital archive dedicated to preserving and publishing the history of the Ouchene (أوشن) dynasty, a noble lineage rooted in the Oriental Rif of Morocco, whose documented heritage spans more than twelve centuries: from the House of Wisdom in Baghdad to the ravines of the Beni Said.
This website exists to make the 275-page private archive assembled by Hassan Ouchen (رحمه الله) accessible to historians, researchers, genealogists, and descendants worldwide. The archive contains royal Dahirs from the Alawite Sultans, allodial land deeds (Mulk certificates), diplomatic correspondence with the Spanish Comandancia General de Melilla, genealogical scrolls (Sajaras), and intelligence reports from the era of the Rif Wars, materials that together document an unbroken tradition of sovereign governance in northern Morocco.
The project was initiated and is led by Omar Ouchene, son of Ali Ouchene and great-grandson of Caíd Mohamed Amar Ouchene, born and raised in the Netherlands. Working alongside family members in Morocco and the Netherlands, Omar used modern AI translation tools to render the Classical Arabic and Spanish sources into English, French, Dutch, and Spanish for the first time.
The site is intended for academic researchers studying Rif history, Moroccan genealogy, or Spanish colonial history; for descendants of the Ouchene lineage seeking to understand their heritage; and for anyone interested in the civilizational contributions of Moroccan noble families to the broader history of the Mediterranean world. A full republication of the archive in written and filmed form is forthcoming.
All content published here is based on primary sources, corroborated by the work of historian Abdelmajid Benjelloun and the archives of the Spanish Military Command of Melilla. The website places this sovereignty permanently beyond the reach of fire, humidity, or political suppression.
275
Pages in the primary archive
12+
Centuries of documented lineage
5
Languages of publication