Happy new year !! It is the year 2964

It is the year 2964 in the Berber calendar. This calendar is used in Morocco, it is based on the sun and consequently it is older than the "common calendar".

When you read about this calendar it becomes obvious that the article can do with some polishing. The same is true for the Wikidata entry. It is not obvious at all what data we should register for any and all calendars.
Thanks,
    GerardM

Abdallah II, six times Sultan of #Morocco

When the title of Sultan is supposed to be hereditary, calling the title yours six times in a row is special. Abdallah of Morocco had the dubious pleasure to fight his many brothers to finally gain the upper hand.

On the French Wikipedia, they have visualised this nicely. This  information is available on Wikidata using qualifiers. As the use of qualifiers to indicate who preceded and succeeded as Sultan is not universally liked, the question is very much what could serve as an alternative?
Thanks,
      GerardM

What qualifies as an "Emir of #Morocco"

When you specify things in #Wikidata, some questions are best dodged. For instance when did Morocco become Morocco or England England? Questions like these are particularly relevant when one dynasty replaces another.

When you look at the current border, you can imagine that the border changed rapidly particularly caused by the upheaval of the change of the dynasties. With the change of a dynasty big changes happen. The question is, how does it affect the continuity of a country or its people is not easily expressed in Wikipedia let alone in Wikidata.

Options:

• both emirs of the Saadi dynasty and emirs of the Alaouite dynasty are "Emirs of Morocco"
• however they do not succeed from one dynasty to the other on the person
• the rulers, their dynasty are associated with maps like in this example from an Algerian university
• to do this, we need dated maps or dated animated maps
• annotate the "Emir of Morocco" with both dynasties but not with the country
• you go with the autonym of the country at the time

Whatever is to be done, Wikidata is very much connected to many idiosyncratic Wikipedians who all may bring their strong opinions on such matters to the table. Such discussions are needed as much as dynamic maps are needed to explain the dynamics of power.
Thanks,
      GerardM

The history of #Islam in #Wikidata

You would expect the #Arabic #Wikipedia be the richest resource on the history of the Muslim world. The reality is a bit different. I have been adding information for several Muslim dynasties, particularly those who had their territory in Northern Africa. To my amazement I find that the Catalan Wikipedia does a better job at providing information.

To some extend it makes sense; Spain and Portugal have been ruled by Islam for a long time and consequently these dynasties are part of their history as well.

The genealogy of the Zayyanid dynasty is complicated. What you see in the picture are Zayyanid emirs. The problem is that you have to trust the Wikipedia information it is based on. Abu Hammu III for instance ruled from 1517–1527 and is said to be the son of Abu Abbas Ahmad who ruled from 1430–1461. This means that he was at least 55 when he became emir.. It is possible. His brother is said to be his successor for another 13 years; this I find unlikely.

To create this image, it was necessary to create several Wikidata items, many English labels and all of the genealogy information. It would be really cool when this information is verified and completed with source information. It is only a stub for information in Wikidata.
Thanks,
     GerardM

About succession and countries

When you are adding labels to #Wikidata the infoboxes are the main inspiration and source of information. To the right you find a detail of the infobox of the Almohad caliphate. It shows really interesting information.

When you look at the size of the Almoravid dynasty, you will agree that the Almohads have absorbed other countries as well. In a similar way, the succeeding countries are unlikely to have killed of the Almohads all at the same time. It also becomes obvious that there is little relation to the countries that exist in the territories of these past domains

There are multiple ways to bring some clarity in all this. One is to show overlaying maps and the other is to use qualifiers with the data. The succession is likely to have coincided with events, events like battles. These events have dates and coordinates. These events link back to the countries that are in conflict.

To get such data in a consistent manner in Wikidata will take a lot of effort. I am curious if there are sources that already found their way to express it effectively. I am a fan of importing data but I am equally convinced that there is a lot where judgement and involvement is the only option.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Wikidata needs more data to be useful II

The proposal to require bots to provide sources has been closed. I am really appreciative that it has been rejected.

The stage is set for bots to add much more data. Data from sources that are deemed reliable. There is a lot of data out there and as it finds its way into Wikidata, it finds its way into many Wikipedias like the Occitan Wikipedia.

Even with bots adding the bulk of the data to Wikidata, there is so much more data in Wikipedia that they just cannot parse. Check out the article about the Kingdom of Nekor and particularly the part of the rulers. It is a mess, I can hardly make sense out of it. But it is relevant as part of the history of Morocco.

When data has been entered, it can be sourced later and it can be compared to other repositories of data. The German Wikipedia community has a project with the Deutsche National Bibliothek where they collaborate on dates of birth and dates of death. This is the kind of cooperation where we need our community to concentrate on. This is how we make an even bigger impact.

Anyway, the proposal has been defeated and Wikidata can now move on and increase its relevance.
Thanks,
       GerardM

What to do when #Wikipedia does not provide the information II

King Abd al-Rahman of #Morocco was a nephew of the king that preceded him. His father of mother were probably brothers of king Slimane. As long as I did not know exactly how they are related, the genealogy tool made by Magnus will not show all the rulers of the Alaouite dynasty.

So I did all the usual things to find out:

• I googled
• I went to the library
• I blogged about it
• I asked on Facebook in a SIG with many people from Morocco

All this did not work.. So I asked a friend at the Tropenmuseum. He asked Mohamed Saadouni who told me that "Moulay Abderrahman is the son of Moulay Hicham, a brother of Moulay Slimane". He even provided me with a reference.



When you are adding statements to Wikidata, it helps when you can can get satisfaction out of the visualisation of the facts. Moulay Hicham exists at this time only in Wikidata, t would be good when be showed as a "red link" as there is no article in any Wikipedia about him. i

When you add data on subjects that have their basis in Africa, you will find that the information in Wikipedia is spotty and that it is very much seen from Western eyes. I am for instance not convinced that Morocco was a sultanate. He is called Moulay Hicham and Wikipedia makes "moulay" equal to "Prince". The current "King" is actually a "Malik".. I do not know enough so I remain puzzled.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Moroco is a modern country

When you look at history from the present, it is normal to look for continuity. The history books are written today and they inform about history from a modern perspective. 

When you read an article like "List of rulers of Morocco" the list includes the historical precursors to the modern state. These precursors include to some extend the same territory but the make up of the people can be really different. 

The Idrisid, the Almoravid, the Almohad, the Maranid and the Wattasid dynasties were Berber. Many of them were Shia muslims. Contrast that with the later Arab dynasties and a country that is predominantly Sunni.

It is relevant because it does not make sense to state that an Idrisid ruler is a "Morocon head of state". The question is very much how did the Idrisids or any of the other dynasties call their country because that is what they were ruling.

Another thing to consider is what happens when a country is conquered. It does not make sense to suggest that there is some kind of succession. The reality is that both the dynasty and the country become irrelevant as they are absorbed by the conquering nation.

What is obvious to me is that many of the solutions as used in Wikipedia are based on template logic. With Wikidata we have the opportunity to come up with better solutions. What they will be is not immediately obvious.

Thanks,

       GerardM

The #Tifinagh script for #Berber languages can be typed

In the #Wikimedia #Incubator, the Tifinagh script is used for one of the Berber languages. It is the original script for these languages and it is there to be used. Using it is hard when your computer does not support it.

The Narayam extension does allow the use of input methods on top of an international keyboard. When the Tifinagh script is to be supported, it helps when an organisation is putting its weight behind a particular input method. For the Tifinagh script it is the Royal Institute for the Amazight culture; they defined a keyboard, they provide a manual on how to use it and we are happy to support this keyboard in Narayam.

The Royal Institute produced many beautiful fonts; it would be nice when we find that we can use these as well and truly promote the use of the Amazight culture worldwide.
Thanks,
         GerardM

One language, two scripts

#Tamaziɣt is one of the #Berber languages of North Africa. It is written in two scripts; the Latin script and the Tifinagh script.

As there is a project in the Incubator for a Tamazight Wikipedia, it is relevant to consider if and how the two scripts can be transcribed from one into the other. This is what SPQRobin has done; he has written a program that converts a text between these two scripts.

Transcription is not new to MediaWiki; Serbian and Chinese are two languages where articles can be available in two scripts. It is awesome when we can transcribe in both directions as this allows people to read and write in their preferred script. When a language is also written in for instance the Arabic script, this is impossible because vowels are often not indicated.

With both scripts supported, we hope that the converter will be soon available in the Incubator. This may stimulate more people to learn to write their language and contribute to the dissemination of all knowledge to all people.
Thanks,
       GerardM