Tessala

The Tessala hills rise between the plains of western Algeria, south of Oran. Their name was applied to a wider country between Tlemcen and Mascara as well as to the mountain chain itself. Ibn Khaldun described the Beni Amer as occupying land extending from Tessala and Mleta towards the heights above Oran. The ridges offered shelter to their inhabitants in troubled times, while the neighbouring plains formed part of the inhabited country of the western Maghreb.