reached the mountains, which saw violent resistance to French attempts to impose their authority there. While many Kabyle tribes and leaders engaged in raids and attacks on French positions and outposts as part of "jihad" before, mainly under the leadership of Mohamed ben Zamoum the region of Kabylia itself was only attacked in the 1830s. Through the 1830s and 1840s, many Kabyle tribes (such as the Igawawen or the Iflissen Umellil) swore allegiance to the emirate of Mascara led by Emir Abdelkader, which's goal was to liberate and establish a modern Algerian states, these tribes would be defeated and the region fo Kabylia penetrated in 1846-1848. In 1849, a young Fatma entered the resistance and rallied to the cause of Si Mohammed El-Hachemi, a marabout who had waged an insurrection in the Dahra Range since 1847. There, she met Sherif Boubaghla, another Algerian rebel from the western region of Saida who would be another leader and ally in the following years. In 1850, Sherif Boubaghla started an anti-French rebellion in the Babor Mountains. A local assembly of Soumer, the tajmâat, also rebelled. They delegated leadership of the volunteer soldiers to Sidi Tahar (Fatma's brother) and Fatma herself, perhaps leading to the time when she began going by Lalla Fatma N'Soumer. The Soumer-focused rebellion was in the Djurdjura region of the Tell Atlas, and drew from several villages in the area such as Illilten. In the spring of 1854, a French incursion led by came to near N'Soumer's villages. The Battle of the Sebaou River then occurred at the Sebaou River near Aïn El Hammam. N'Soumer's forces were able to repel the French; allied cavalry led by Sherif Boubaghla were able to harass the retreating French, but French superiority in cavalry ensured they made their escape. The surrounding villages remained independent. Boubaghla was said to be quite taken with N'Soumer and to have obtained permission from her brother to court her, but her husband continued to refuse to grant a divorce, so the two stayed merely friends. Another force led by Marshal Jacques Louis Randon arrived in the summer. The French were able to inflict significant damage along their line of march, but were counterattacked by N'Soumer and her allied militia in skirmishes. The two sides fought a more decisive battle at the Battle of Tachekkirt, where Boubaghla and N'Soumer's forces emerged victorious. After the battle, the French and Kabyle came