It may be added that Retz himself always spelt his designation "Rais."
In 1553 the Turks under Salah Rais, pasha of Algiers, captured Tlemcen and the Sultanate of Tagrart, as it was still frequently called, came to an end.
Aghrem Baba Saad, a small ruined town to the west of Ghardaia, is the fortified post in which the Beni-Mzab took refuge when the Turks under Salah Rais (about 1555) attempted unsuccessfully to subjugate the country.
In 1555 Salah Rais, pasha of Algiers, set men to work to pull it down, but the records say that the attempt was given up because big black wasps came from under the stones and stung them to death.
Among the nomads a different system of titles prevails, the chiefs who are responsible for the taxes and the orderly conduct of their tribes and clans being known as ilklzani, ilbegi (both meaning tribe-lord, but the latter being considered an inferior title to the former), khan, rais, amir, mir, shaikh, tushmal, &c.