The Tuaregs are one of the most unique peoples in the world, whose representatives have a completely different way of life: here the fair sex enjoys special respect and rights in society, and men are forced to cover their faces and be content with what is allowed to them.
Upon reaching adulthood, young men receive from their father sharp sword and a veil behind which they will hide their face all their lives, removing it only in the presence of their spouse or mistress.
For women of this nationality, life is much better: they not only do not cover their faces, but can also have an unlimited number of lovers and sexual relationships before tying the knot. At the same time, the secret is kept very carefully personal life. This means that a lover must enter a woman’s house and leave it after sunset and before sunrise.
In addition, Tuareg women are the owners of family property, they own housing and livestock, and in the event of a divorce, the wife divides this property at her discretion. In general, even citizens of many European countries can envy the rights and freedom of these ladies.
The Tuareg are also called the “blue people” because of the color of their traditional dress. And since fabrics are dyed this shade by driving particles of a colored substance into the fabric with stones, people’s skin often acquires this color.
The Tuaregs are a mysterious African people.
Women are highly respected in Tuareg society.
Men cover their faces with a special bandage.
After divorce, children traditionally remain with their mother. This photo was taken in December 1967.
Most of the Tuareg people profess Islam.
The Tuaregs have a legend that their roots come from the legendary foremother and great ruler of Queen Tin-Khinan of the Sahara, who was an Amazon and came to Hoggar with her maid from the southern region of the present, called Tafilalet.
In 1925, in the area of the ancient fortification of Abalessa in Ahaggar, a rich burial of a woman was found.
Many Tuaregs believe that this is Tin-Khinan.
Tuaregs wear a huge amount of jewelry.
Men are excellent in martial arts, they are fearless warriors and excellent traders.
Women are guardians cultural heritage, they are the ones who are taught to read and write and continue the folklore tradition.
The Tuaregs roamed the Sahara for more than 1,000 years, driving camels to new pastures.
Camels are essential for survival in the Sahara.
Often a camel is the only thing a man gets after a divorce.
Women's opinions are highly valued by men, who willingly consult wives or mothers.
Women, unlike men, go bare-faced, although they often cover their hair.
After the divorce, the woman gets the tent and all the property, including livestock, on which the tribe survives.
More than a million Tuaregs are believed to live in Africa, divided into many tribes.
The Tuaregs are the only people in the world whose men even home circle are required to cover their face with a bandage.
The Tuaregs constantly wear indigo-dyed clothing, and the dye gives their skin a bluish tint.
That's why in Africa they are called "blue people."
The respect and freedom given to the Tuareg woman is misinterpreted by other tribes, in which women have much less freedom.
Tuareg society itself strongly condemns prostitution.
It has long been the custom here that a man should not reveal his face. On the day of coming of age, the young man receives two main gifts from his father: a double-edged sword and a special face cape.
You can’t go out in public without it, and you need to wear it at home, covering your face even while eating and sleeping.
Modern nomads have preserved ancient culture, and much in them Everyday life seems surprising to us.
A Tuareg proverb says: “A man and a woman are close to each other with their eyes and hearts, and not just in bed.”
A significant part of the Tuareg diet consists of milk and dairy products. In addition, millet and sometimes wheat are used in the diet. Dried dates with camel milk also play an important role.
Although everyone considers the Tuaregs to be livestock breeders, they consume meat only in exceptional cases - at family celebrations, on religious holidays, as well as in case of danger of mass mortality of livestock from lack of food.
In order to win the attention of a girl, a man must have poetic talent and send poems to his beloved, and the girl must respond to her chosen one. At the same time, the writing of women and men of the tribe is different.
The Tuaregs are not the only people in the world who have preserved the matriarchal system to this day. Like lifestyle is also the main one among the Chinese Mosuo tribe, however, there, in addition to housekeeping, women are also engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting and sometimes even military affairs, while the main male occupation is playing checkers.
The Tuaregs are the only people in the world where men, even in the home circle, are required to cover their faces with a bandage.
The Tuaregs are that part of the original Berber population of North Africa that did not want to live under the rule of the Arab conquerors and went south to the Sahara. In the Middle Ages they led a nomadic lifestyle, but today the vast majority of Tuaregs live in villages and towns. Only a few roam the Sahara, mainly in its Algerian part. They also enter the desert regions of Mali, because nomads do not know what borders are. In this country they can easily find mutual language with the local population, a significant part of which are their settled tribesmen. To see how the Tuaregs live, those who still continue to wander, you have to go to the desert.
They live in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Algeria and Libya. The Tuaregs owe their cultural identity to the special position of women. Their kinship is calculated on the maternal side, although property inheritance is on the paternal side. This tradition also includes the custom of young spouses to settle near relatives of the wife’s mother. IN primitive world people believed that the spirits of the stranger and his relatives could harm them. The power of spirits is concentrated in a person’s head and can come out through the mouth, nose or ears. That’s why the Tuaregs still force their husband, a stranger from a different family, to cover his face with a veil. The Tuaregs constantly wear indigo-dyed clothing, and the dye gives their skin a bluish tint. That's why in Africa they are called “ blue people”.
According to their own legend, the original settlement of the Tuaregs was an island in the Atlantic Ocean, and after its disappearance only the traders who were at that moment in the port cities of North Africa survived. According to research, the Tuaregs are considered to be descendants of the Zenaga Berbers (Caucasian race), mixed with the African and Arab populations of North Africa. The Zenaga Berbers were engaged in agriculture in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, but in the 8th century. were driven out by Arab conquerors to North Africa, where they adopted a nomadic lifestyle, while preserving the Berber language and culture.
The Tuareg language "Tamasheq" is a Berber language, although outwardly the Tuareg are very different from the Berbers of the Atlas Mountains. At the same time, the Tuaregs have a special “female” letter “Tifinagh” (in the Tamashek language), which comes from the ancient Libyan letter. Men use the Arabic alphabet.
In a sexual sense, Tuareg women are the freest women in the world. Sometimes it comes down to finding out the identity of the father of a born child. Usually it turns out like this: the whole village gathers for a council and tries to find similar features of the child and the alleged fathers. When evidence is found, the child is recorded without the father's consent.
In Tuareg culture, premarital experience is considered an advantage for both men and women. The respect and freedom given to the Tuareg woman is misinterpreted by other tribes, in which women have much less freedom. Tuareg society itself strongly condemns prostitution.
Before marriage, Tuareg women enjoy amazing freedom. They don't work, and instead of working they dance, sing and write poems. In Tuareg society there is a noble class and a slave class. Some tribal entities serve others through inherited status. Noble women who own slaves work very little. They make cheese and butter, herd goats, and count the days. It is believed that they know how to process leather, and men know how to sew and embroider.
Unlike their neighbors, Tuareg women have the right to choose a mate; Men can have more than one wife, but usually have only one. Sometimes the Tuaregs hold special events - “tendi” and “ahal”, where the newlyweds meet and dance courtship dances. Tendi is usually held in the afternoon, ahal in the evening. The ahal can be played by musicians. The Tuareg even have an equivalent to the medieval "court of love" with a "sultan" and "sultana" chosen to preside over the two events. Often after ahal, the girl sits on a camel and rides all night to meet the man, and then they return to her together. And sometimes the admirer makes truly inhuman journeys just to see his lady.
The Tuareg bride controls all personal property, including livestock; the husband pays for the family expenses. After marriage, both are expected to behave decently, but the woman can have boyfriends and girlfriends (in the Western sense of the word “friend”). A Tuareg proverb says: “A man and a woman are close to each other with their eyes and hearts, and not just in bed.”
The Tuareg culture has a strong matriarchal structure. Men occupy the positions of chiefs and council members, but the position of tribal chief is hereditary female line. Inheritance occurs on the maternal side, and a man who marries a woman from another tribe passes into his wife's tribe. A man can move up the tribal social ladder by marrying a woman of higher rank, but women themselves rarely marry men who are lower in rank than them. Women take part in strength competitions. Tuareg men are considered to be some of the fiercest warriors of the desert and some of the best desert traders. The position of women in the Tuareg tribe is unique.
The Tuaregs retain tribal divisions and significant elements of the patriarchal system: the people are divided into “drum” groups, each headed by a leader, whose power is symbolized by the drum. And above all groups there is a leader.
The largest tribal groups are Yllemiden, Iforas, Kel Ahaggar and Kel Adjer (southern Algeria), Kel Adrar (northern Mali), Kel Air (northern Niger), Kel Geres (Gres) (plain areas), Allemmeden Kel Dennek in the east, Allemmeden Kel Atatam in the west.
The head is the leader. The power of the leader is not unlimited; most decisions are made by a meeting of the leaders of the “drum” groups, and the mother of the amenokal can impose a ban on the implementation of any decision.
By religion, the Tuaregs are Sunni Muslims. However, they retained many pre-Islamic traditions, such as matrilineal clan organization, matrilocal marriage settlement and matrilateral ortho-cousin marriage. Despite the fact that the Tuaregs practice Islam, where polygamy is allowed, a true Tuareg only marries once in his life.
Women are respected in Tuareg society. Girls learn to read and write from an early age, but men are allowed to be illiterate. The main occupation is hoe farming (cereals, legumes, vegetables), combined with breeding small cattle. Some of the Tuaregs who inhabit the Algerian Sahara and the Tenere Desert roam with herds of camels and goats.
Aristocrats are white-skinned, tall and slender. Nobles are usually dressed in a sleeveless shirt and wide pants. A blue cape is worn over it. Two wide ribbons intersect on the chest, woven from multi-colored silk laces, at the ends of which there are tassels. Men cover their heads with a white or blue scarf, which covers their face, leaving only their eyes open. Hair is braided. On the feet are leather sandals. The noble wears a stone bracelet, sometimes a simple silver ring on his finger as jewelry.
A Tuareg aristocratic woman wears her hair in braids. She is dressed in a long white shirt and a blue scarf. The woman has silver jewelry on her neck and rings on her hands. On holidays, women and men paint their eyebrows and eyelids with antimony.
When a young man turns 18, his family organizes a holiday at which the Tuareg is given a blue or white scarf - “tagelmust” (Shash Arabic) or foxes, the length of which can reach up to 40 meters. From this moment on, he is considered an adult; it is no longer proper for him to appear in public without a fox, and only when eating is it permissible to lower the foxes up to his chin. IN old times whoever saw the Tuareg's face faced the unenviable fate of being killed by him. If this could not be done, the Tuareg was obliged to commit suicide. Therefore, it is still considered to meet a Tuareg, for example, in the Tunisian Sahara bad omen. But Tuareg women do not cover their faces.
I don't want you to see my tears,
so that I know how I languish and burn with love.
I'm sad and trembling in the noisy ahal
and amzad falls out of his hands.
Like a hunter in ambush, I sit quietly,
I'm waiting for you to appear, friend.
You will still get caught, even though you are cunning,
You will reach out with your heart to my quiet tent,
Do you want to drink? I am a spring in the waterless desert.
Are you cold? I'll warm you up, you're cold.
The heart of a girl, the heart of a lover—
like hot sand at noon.
Blue People - They are called "blue people" because of the color (indigo) of their "shesh" headdresses.
Lives in the Sahara Desert and surrounding countries mysterious people- Tuaregs. And although this word often appears on the pages of foreign chronicles, in fact not much is known about this people, their history and culture. And at the same time, the Tuaregs are strikingly different from all other peoples of Africa.
Many Tuaregs are light-skinned, tall, blue-eyed, with slightly wavy hair, that is, they have typical appearance inhabitants of the Mediterranean.
Current distribution area and numbers
The main habitat of the Tuaregs
Total: 5.2 million people: Niger - 1.72 million people, Mali - 1.44 million people,
Algeria - 1.025 million people, Burkina Faso - 600 thousand people, Libya - 557 thousand people
Language: Arabic, French, Tamashek
Religion: Islam
The Tuaregs are considered descendants of the Zenaga Berbers (Caucasian race), who mixed with the African and Arab populations of North Africa.
All Tuaregs are dark-skinned, unlike the peoples around them in Tunisia and Libya. The Zenaga Berbers were engaged in agriculture in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, but in the 8th century. were driven out by Arab conquerors to North Africa, where they adopted a nomadic lifestyle, while preserving the Berber language and culture.
In the 11th century Arab conquerors invaded the Tuareg settlement area in North Africa, again shifting the Tuareg settlement area to the west. During this period, the Tuaregs underwent Islamization and Arabization.
During the colonial era, the Tuareg were incorporated into French West Africa. Unlike many other peoples, the Tuaregs resisted the new government for a long time. The French colonial government controlled the Tuaregs through clan leaders, trying to exploit inter-clan contradictions.
As a result of French colonial rule, the Tuaregs lost the ability to dominate sedentary farmers. This reason, as well as exclusion from politics by others ethnic groups, worsening economic situation as a result of droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. led to open armed resistance in Niger, Algeria and Mali. The Tuaregs advocated the creation of the state of Azawad.
Tauregs have different legends about their origin:
The homeland of the Tuaregs was an island in the Atlantic Ocean, after the disappearance of which as a result of a natural disaster, along with the people who inhabited it, only merchants, traders and the people accompanying them remained, who then settled throughout Africa;
The founder of all Tuareg tribes was the great queen Tin Hinan, who arrived from the territory now occupied by Morocco, along with her maidservant. From Tin Khinan, according to legend, came main group Tuareg, and from her maid - subordinate tribes. (Judging by the relationship between the higher Tuareg tribes and the tribes subordinate to them, the latter turned out to be more fertile). The fame of Tin Hinan was so great that the Tuaregs still call her “our mother.”
And what’s most interesting is that during archaeological excavations the unlooted tomb of Tin Hinan was found, as evidenced by the inscriptions found there. Now everything that was found in the tomb has been placed in museums, and the tomb itself has been restored and has become a place of worship;
Another legendary Tuareg ruler, Kahina, organized a very long and extremely fierce resistance to the Arab conquerors; she died in battle. This, by the way, provided the basis for placing the mythical kingdom of the Amazons on the lands of the Tuaregs. But the Tuaregs never submitted to the Arabs - they simply left. And to this day, the nomadic Tuaregs call themselves “imishag” or “imoshag” - free people. They roam the Sahara and adjacent countries, not paying attention to borders.
The Tuareg language Tamashek is a Berber language, although in appearance the Tuareg are very different from the Berbers of the Atlas Mountains. At the same time, the Tuaregs have a special “female” script, Tifinagh (in the Tamashek language), which comes from the ancient Libyan script. Men use the Arabic alphabet.
By religion, the Tuaregs are Sunni Muslims. However, they retained many pre-Islamic traditions. Despite the fact that the Tuaregs are Muslims, where polygamy is accepted, a real Tuareg marries only once in his life.
Women are respected in Tuareg society. Girls learn to read and write from an early age, but men are allowed to be illiterate. The main occupation is hoe farming (cereals, legumes, vegetables), combined with breeding small cattle. Some of the Tuaregs who inhabit the Algerian Sahara and the Tenere Desert roam with herds of camels and goats.
The Tuaregs are the only people in the world whose men, not women, cover their faces with a bandage-veil, which is why they and their related tribes call them “Tigel Must” - the people of the veil. And to this day, a young man who has reached maturity receives two things from his father as a sign of this - a double-edged sword and a face veil.
To appear to anyone without a bandage is considered the height of indecency, just as with us it is to be naked in public. The bandage is not removed even at home, while eating and sleeping.
When a young man turns 18, his family organizes a holiday at which the Tuareg is given a blue or white scarf - the “foxes”. From this moment on, he is considered an adult; it is no longer proper for him to appear in public without a fox, and only when eating is it permissible to lower the foxes up to his chin. And Tuareg women, unlike Muslim women, do not cover their faces.
The main and significant part of the Tuareg diet is milk and dairy products. In addition, millet and sometimes wheat are used in the diet. Dried dates play an important role in the nutrition of the Tuareg (not dried dates, which are sold here, but dried, like pebbles). Dates are crushed and eaten with camel milk. Although everyone considers the Tuaregs to be livestock breeders, they consume meat only in exceptional cases - at family celebrations, on religious holidays, and also when there is a danger of mass mortality of livestock from lack of food (it is better to eat than to be lost).
When eating, the Tuaregs, unlike most Muslim peoples, use spoons, which is typical only for them. They drink water and milk, and since the beginning of the last century, when tea bushes began to be grown in Africa, the Tuaregs began to drink green tea, borrowing this custom from the Arabs.
And finally, the most interesting thing is about the role and place of women in Tuareg society. Among the Tuaregs, the husband comes to his wife's family, and not vice versa, as among other African peoples. Therefore, in particular, in order to protect the wife’s family from the spirits living in the head of the alien stranger, all exits from this head - his mouth, nose and ears - must be tightly covered. Among the Tuaregs, it is women who own the lands and family values, and they exclusively have the right to divorce. The Tuareg house is called by the name of the mistress - its head.
In case of divorce, the husband leaves the house, leaving his wife and children there. A man can improve his status by marrying a woman from a higher social level. But at the same time he himself must be of a noble family. Women choose their own husband. Tuareg men are considered the strongest and most ruthless warriors, the best traders, that is, they are quite independent. And at the same time, having no family property, the husband is obliged to support the family.
Tuareg women play an important role in the accumulation and storage of cultural information. They can read and write, compose and sing songs to the accompaniment of a single-string bowed instrument. musical instrument called "amzad".
Tuareg amulets Tuareg cross The Tuaregs considered the cross to be a very powerful talisman; it was also revered by other tribes. Usually the cross was made of silver, which was highly respected by the Tuaregs. The Tuareg did not usually wear gold because they believed that this metal brought bad luck to people. Often the names of oasis cities were in one way or another connected with the concept of the cross.
Contemporary jewelry created by a Tuareg from Mali (wood carving)
Until the age of 30, Tuareg women refuse to get married. They consider it a sign of bad taste to be faithful to your husband. This custom is approved by both the girl’s parents and all men. But women can only live with men of their own tribe and at the same time have equal status with them. Those women who violate these two rules doom themselves to shame and dishonor.
When a Tuareg woman finally marries, her husband is obliged to consider her his only legal wife. Unlike other Muslim nations, there is no polygamy here. The husband may have concubines, but entry into the family tent is closed to them. During the period of Italian rule, the occupiers attracted various Libyan women into prostitution, but not from the Tuareg.
Taureg jewelry
If a Tuareg had a son from a black slave, he was released; he could not become a full Tuareg, although he had the right to his father’s inheritance. But women from the Tuareg tribe were forbidden to have relations with black slaves, otherwise they would be subjected to public ridicule and kicked out of the tribe in disgrace.
The Tuaregs retain tribal divisions and significant elements of the patriarchal system: the people are divided into tribal or “drum” groups, each headed by a leader, whose power is symbolized by the drum. And above all groups there is a leader.
The head is the leader. The leader's power is not unlimited; most decisions are made by a meeting of the leaders of the "drum" groups, and the mother of the amenokal can impose a ban on the implementation of any decision.
Leader - amenokal
Amenocal mother
The traditional Tuareg social division also includes a division into castes. Castes:
Nobles or nobility own herds of camels.
The guardians of the faith or spiritual guides are non-slemen.
vassals are imgads engaged in goat breeding.
slaves - iklans.
blacksmiths are inedens.
Slaves and blacksmiths have nothing to do with the Tuaregs of the higher castes. They are usually dark-skinned, while the Tuaregs themselves are light-skinned and tall and thin.
There are many stories and legends about the predatory raids of the “blue people” in the Sahara; the Tuaregs often did this. Edien - a robber attack, can be explained by the warlike disposition of the Tuaregs. Edien was committed not only for the purpose of robbery, seizure of food and wells, and not even for the sake of revenge or subordination of other tribes to his power, but simply to distinguish himself in front of women, to bring rich booty as a gift to his ladies. The desire to prove oneself by showing courage and courage found full approval among women.
The concept of theft is completely absent among the Tuaregs. A quiet theft is a shame, while Edien, which took place 100 years ago, is the subject of proud stories. When cattle breeders or camel traders were raided, the attackers limited themselves to taking away the livestock. But if the camp was plundered, the Tuaregs captured Africans, turning them into their servants or slaves. (The line here is very thin; usually only black Africans became slaves)
The Tuaregs despised physical labor and slaves - artisans in the oases played a huge role in their lives.
The life of the Tuaregs changed greatly with the arrival of the automobile in the Sahara.
Trucks hit camel caravans death blow. For a thousand years the Tuaregs were masters of the desert and never worked. Arabs and blacks forced the “blue people” out of trade, who became greatly impoverished.
About the mysterious African tribe Little is known about the Tuaregs. Its culture, traditions, history are strikingly different from other peoples of the continent. Once upon a time, the Tuaregs were nomads who wandered for centuries across the vast expanses of the Sahara. The powerful and warlike tribe was famous for its excellent weapons and war chariots. Without recognizing anyone's authority, the warriors conquered many neighboring tribes. Today they are a settled people numbering about 1 million people. Only a small part of it continues the nomadic life.
Racially, the Tuaregs are classified as southern Europeans, although they profess Islam. Being representatives of the Berber group, at one time they did not want to live under the rule of the Arab conquerors and moved to the southern regions. The Tuaregs managed to preserve their unique language - Tamashek and writing - Tifinagh, although only women speak the ancient script. Men use the Arabic alphabet or the Latin alphabet (in countries that have retained colonial writing). Most Tuaregs are tall, have fair skin and blue eyes like the sky. Even in the home circle, men are required to cover their faces with a veil. A young man of the tribe who reaches adulthood receives as a gift from his father the two most important things - a sword and “tagelmust” - a blue or white scarf, the length of which can reach 40 meters.
Indigo color and covered faces of men in the photo below:
The Tuaregs are characterized by tribal division with preserved features of the patriarchal system. The people are divided into tribal groups, headed by the most worthy representatives. Their power is symbolized by the drum. The head of the entire tribe is the chief with limited power. In the Tuareg tribe, women have occupied a special position since ancient times. Elements of matriarchy are still preserved here. Young spouses, for example, settle near the house of the wife's mother. According to ancient legends, evil spirit lives in a person’s head and can come out at any time through the ears, mouth or nose. Therefore, a young husband who comes to his wife’s house from another family must necessarily cover his face with a veil.
Beautiful photos of women:
Tuaregs prefer to dress Blue colour. They get an incredibly beautiful shade from indigo dye. Moreover, the fabric is not saturated with paint, as is customary, but, to save water, is literally hammered in with stones. The paint often crumbles, turning the body blue. Therefore, the Tuaregs are often called “blue people”. Although the Tuaregs are gradually getting used to European clothing, they still wear dokkali with great pleasure - traditional wide dark blue tunics or thin woolen haik.
A few more photos of the Tuaregs:
Video: Visiting the Tuaregs. Drum jam.
Video: Tuareg tribe
Video: tuaregs
Video: Touareg music
A Tuareg girl wrote about unrequited love:
I don't want you to see my tears,
so that I know how I languish and burn with love.
I'm sad and trembling in the noisy ahal
and amzad falls out of his hands.
Like a hunter in ambush, I sit quietly,
I'm waiting for you to appear, friend.
You will still get caught, even though you are cunning,
You will reach out with your heart to my quiet tent,
Do you want to drink? I am a spring in the waterless desert.
Are you cold? I'll warm you up, you're cold.
The heart of a girl, the heart of a lover -
like hot sand at noon.
Blue People - They are called "blue people" because of the color (indigo) of their "shesh" headdresses.
A mysterious people, the Tuareg, lives in the Sahara Desert and in the neighboring countries. And although this word often appears on the pages of foreign chronicles, in fact not much is known about this people, their history and culture. And at the same time, the Tuaregs are strikingly different from all other peoples of Africa.
Many Tuaregs are fair-skinned, tall, blue-eyed, with slightly wavy hair, that is, they have the typical appearance of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean.
Current distribution area and numbers
The main habitat of the Tuaregs
Total: 5.2 million people: Niger - 1.72 million people, Mali - 1.44 million people,
Algeria - 1.025 million people, Burkina Faso - 600 thousand people, Libya - 557 thousand people
Language: Arabic, French, Tamashek
Religion: Islam
The Tuaregs are considered descendants of the Zenaga Berbers (Caucasian race), who mixed with the African and Arab populations of North Africa.
All Tuaregs are dark-skinned, unlike the peoples around them in Tunisia and Libya. The Zenaga Berbers were engaged in agriculture in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, but in the 8th century. were driven out by Arab conquerors to North Africa, where they adopted a nomadic lifestyle, while preserving the Berber language and culture.
In the 11th century Arab conquerors invaded the Tuareg settlement area in North Africa, again shifting the Tuareg settlement area to the west. During this period, the Tuaregs underwent Islamization and Arabization.
During the colonial era, the Tuareg were incorporated into French West Africa. Unlike many other peoples, the Tuaregs resisted the new government for a long time. The French colonial government controlled the Tuaregs through clan leaders, trying to exploit inter-clan contradictions.
As a result of French colonial rule, the Tuaregs lost the ability to dominate sedentary farmers. This reason, as well as the exclusion from politics by other ethnic groups, the deterioration of the economic situation as a result of the droughts of the 1970-1980s. led to open armed resistance in Niger, Algeria and Mali. The Tuaregs advocated the creation of the state of Azawad.
The Tauregs have different legends about their origin:
The homeland of the Tuaregs was an island in the Atlantic Ocean, after the disappearance of which as a result of a natural disaster, along with the people who inhabited it, only merchants, traders and the people accompanying them remained, who then settled throughout Africa;
The founder of all Tuareg tribes was the great queen Tin Hinan, who arrived from the territory now occupied by Morocco, along with her maidservant. From Tin Hinan, according to legend, came the main group of Tuaregs, and from her maid came the subordinate tribes. (Judging by the relationship between the higher Tuareg tribes and the tribes subordinate to them, the latter turned out to be more fertile). The fame of Tin Hinan was so great that the Tuaregs still call her “our mother.”
And what’s most interesting is that during archaeological excavations the unlooted tomb of Tin Hinan was found, as evidenced by the inscriptions found there. Now everything that was found in the tomb has been placed in museums, and the tomb itself has been restored and has become a place of worship;
Another legendary Tuareg ruler, Kahina, organized a very long and extremely fierce resistance to the Arab conquerors; she died in battle. This, by the way, provided the basis for placing the mythical kingdom of the Amazons on the lands of the Tuaregs. But the Tuaregs never submitted to the Arabs - they simply left. And to this day, the nomadic Tuaregs call themselves “imishag” or “imoshag” - free people. They roam the Sahara and adjacent countries, not paying attention to borders.
The Tuareg language Tamashek is a Berber language, although in appearance the Tuareg are very different from the Berbers of the Atlas Mountains. At the same time, the Tuaregs have a special “female” script, Tifinagh (in the Tamashek language), which comes from the ancient Libyan script. Men use the Arabic alphabet.
By religion, the Tuaregs are Sunni Muslims. However, they retained many pre-Islamic traditions. Despite the fact that the Tuaregs are Muslims, where polygamy is accepted, a real Tuareg marries only once in his life.
Women are respected in Tuareg society. Girls learn to read and write from an early age, but men are allowed to be illiterate. The main occupation is hoe farming (cereals, legumes, vegetables), combined with breeding small cattle. Some of the Tuaregs who inhabit the Algerian Sahara and the Tenere Desert roam with herds of camels and goats.
The Tuaregs are the only people in the world whose men, not women, cover their faces with a bandage-veil, which is why they and their related tribes call them “Tigel Must” - the people of the veil. And to this day, a young man who has reached maturity receives two things from his father as a sign of this - a double-edged sword and a face veil.
To appear to anyone without a bandage is considered the height of indecency, just as in our country it is to be naked in public. The bandage is not removed even at home, while eating and sleeping.
When a young man turns 18, his family organizes a holiday at which the Tuareg is given a blue or white scarf - the “foxes”. From this moment on, he is considered an adult; it is no longer proper for him to appear in public without a fox, and only when eating is it permissible to lower the foxes up to his chin. And Tuareg women, unlike Muslim women, do not cover their faces.
The main and significant part of the Tuareg diet is milk and dairy products. In addition, millet and sometimes wheat are used in the diet. Dried dates play an important role in the nutrition of the Tuareg (not dried dates, which are sold here, but dried, like pebbles). Dates are crushed and eaten with camel milk. Although everyone considers the Tuaregs to be livestock breeders, they consume meat only in exceptional cases - at family celebrations, on religious holidays, and also when there is a danger of mass mortality of livestock from lack of food (it is better to eat than to be lost).
When eating, the Tuaregs, unlike most Muslim peoples, use spoons, which is typical only for them. They drink water and milk, and since the beginning of the last century, when tea bushes began to be grown in Africa, the Tuaregs began to drink green tea, borrowing this custom from the Arabs.
And finally, the most interesting thing is about the role and place of women in Tuareg society. Among the Tuaregs, the husband comes to his wife's family, and not vice versa, as among other African peoples. Therefore, in particular, in order to protect the wife’s family from the spirits living in the head of a stranger, all exits from this head - his mouth, nose and ears - must be tightly covered. Among the Tuaregs, it is women who own lands and family values, and they are the only ones who have the right to divorce. The Tuareg house is called by the name of the mistress - its head.
In case of divorce, the husband leaves the house, leaving his wife and children there. A man can improve his status by marrying a woman from a higher social level. But at the same time he himself must be of a noble family. Women choose their own husband. Tuareg men are considered the strongest and most ruthless warriors, the best traders, that is, they are quite independent. And at the same time, having no family property, the husband is obliged to support the family.
Tuareg women play an important role in the accumulation and storage of cultural information. They are literate, compose and sing songs to the accompaniment of a one-stringed musical instrument called amzad.
Tuareg amulets Tuareg cross The Tuaregs considered the cross to be a very powerful talisman; it was also revered by other tribes. Usually the cross was made of silver, which was highly respected by the Tuaregs. The Tuareg did not usually wear gold because they believed that this metal brought bad luck to people. Often the names of oasis cities were in one way or another connected with the concept of the cross.
Contemporary jewelry created by a Tuareg from Mali (wood carving)
Until the age of 30, Tuareg women refuse to get married. They consider it a sign of bad taste to be faithful to your husband. This custom is approved by both the girl’s parents and all men. But women can only live with men of their own tribe and at the same time have equal status with them. Those women who violate these two rules doom themselves to shame and dishonor.
When a Tuareg woman finally marries, her husband is obliged to consider her his only legal wife. Unlike other Muslim nations, there is no polygamy here. The husband may have concubines, but entry into the family tent is closed to them. During the period of Italian rule, the occupiers attracted various Libyan women into prostitution, but not from the Tuareg.
Taureg jewelry
If a Tuareg had a son from a black slave, he was released; he could not become a full Tuareg, although he had the right to his father’s inheritance. But women from the Tuareg tribe were forbidden to have relations with black slaves, otherwise they would be subjected to public ridicule and kicked out of the tribe in disgrace.
The Tuaregs retain tribal divisions and significant elements of the patriarchal system: the people are divided into tribal or “drum” groups, each headed by a leader, whose power is symbolized by the drum. And above all groups there is a leader.
The head is the leader. The leader's power is not unlimited; most decisions are made by a meeting of the leaders of the "drum" groups, and the mother of the amenokal can impose a ban on the implementation of any decision.
Leader - amenokal
Amenocal mother
The traditional Tuareg social division also includes a division into castes. Castes:
Nobles or nobility own herds of camels.
The guardians of the faith or spiritual guides are non-slemen.
vassals are imgads engaged in goat breeding.
slaves - iklans.
blacksmiths are inedens.
Slaves and blacksmiths have nothing to do with the Tuaregs of the higher castes. They are usually dark-skinned, while the Tuaregs themselves are light-skinned and tall and thin.
There are many stories and legends about the predatory raids of the “blue people” in the Sahara; the Tuaregs often did this. Edien - a robber attack, can be explained by the warlike disposition of the Tuaregs. Edien was committed not only for the purpose of robbery, seizure of food and wells, and not even for the sake of revenge or subordination of other tribes to his power, but simply to distinguish himself in front of women, to bring rich booty as a gift to his ladies. The desire to prove oneself by showing courage and courage found full approval among women.
The concept of theft is completely absent among the Tuaregs. A quiet theft is a shame, while Edien, which took place 100 years ago, is the subject of proud stories. When cattle breeders or camel traders were raided, the attackers limited themselves to taking away the livestock. But if the camp was plundered, the Tuaregs captured Africans, turning them into their servants or slaves. (The line here is very thin; usually only black Africans became slaves)
The Tuaregs despised physical labor and slaves - artisans in the oases played a huge role in their lives.
The life of the Tuaregs changed greatly with the arrival of the automobile in the Sahara.
The trucks dealt a fatal blow to the camel caravans. For a thousand years the Tuaregs were masters of the desert and never worked. Arabs and blacks forced the “blue people” out of trade, who became greatly impoverished.
