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Haussa
- Tuareg Arm Knife
Telek
Tuareg -1907
Postcard
The Tuareg (also known as
Twareg, Touareg, Amazigh, Imuhagh and Itargiyen, are a nomadic pastoralist
people and the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa.
Today the Tuareg inhabit parts of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso.
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This Haussa / Tuareg knife or
dagger would have originated in Mali or Burkina Faso, where the two peoples
overlap. These were worn concealed under robes, strapped onto the upper arm.
Half the hilt is covered with
finely decorated ironwork.
Tuareg History
Descended from
Berbers in the region that is now Libya, the Tuareg are descendants of ancient
Saharan peoples described by Herodotus, who mentions the ancient Libyan people,
the Garamantes. Archaeological testimony is the ruins of Germa. Later, they
expanded southward, into the Sahel.
For over two millennia, the Tuareg operated the trans Saharan caravan trade
connecting the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara via five desert
trade routes to the northern (Mediterranean) coast of Africa.The Tuareg
adopted camel nomadism along with its distinctive form of social organization
from camel herding Arabs about two thousand years ago, when the camel was
introduced to the Sahara from Saudi Arabia. Like numerous African and other
groups in pre-modern times, the Tuareg once took captives, either for trade or
for domestic purposes; those who were not sold became assimilated into the
Tuareg community. Captive servants and herdsmen formed a component of the
division of labor of these nomads.
In the late nineteenth century, the Tuareg resisted the French invasion of their
Central Saharan homelands for the purpose of colonization. Tuareg broadswords
were no match for the more advanced weapons of French squadrons, and after
numerous massacres on both sides, the Tuareg were subdued and required to
sign treaties in Mali 1905 and Niger 1917. In southern Algeria, the French met
some of the strongest resistance from the Ahaggar Tuareg. Their Amenokal,
traditional chief Moussa ag Amastan, fought numerous battles in defense of the
region. Finally, Tuareg territories were taken under French governance and their
confederations were largely dismantled and reorganized.
Niger - Tuareg
Before French colonization, the Tuareg were organized into loose confederations,
each consisting of a dozen or so tribes. Each of the main groups had a
traditional leader called Amenokal along with an assembly of tribal chiefs. The groups were the Kel Ahaggar, Kel Ajjer, Kel Ayr, Adrar n
Fughas, Iwəlləmədan, and Kel Gres.
German Tuareg
Following the independence of African countries in 1960s, Tuareg territory was
artificially divided into the modern nations of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and
Burkina Faso.
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