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The Inadan, also referred to as Enad or Tinadan, have been one of the historic artisan castes in
The Inadan, also referred to as Enad or Tinadan, have been one of the historic artisan castes in West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
, particularly among the Tuareg people
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...
. Sometimes referred to as an endogamous caste and sometimes as endogamous marginalized class within the Tuareg, the Inadan are found in Niger
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, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesMali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
, Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, Sahel and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
The Inadan have been a part of the Tuareg society that has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation. These hierarchical systems have included nobles, clerics, craftsmen and unfree strata of people. According to the anthropologist Jeffrey Heath, Tuareg artisans have been a separate endogamous castes known as the ''Inhædˤæn'' (Inadan) within this social stratification.
The Inadan live in Tuareg settlements, are sedentary, considered subordinate and lowly, and endogamous because of social taboos towards inter-marriage between their strata and other members of the Tuareg tribe. Their hereditary occupation has been artisanal smith-related work and leather work, but they have diversified into providing labor services such as in tourism in contemporary Tuareg communities. According to Heath, Inadan have included the blacksmith, jewelers, wood workers and leather artisan castes. They produced and repaired the saddles, tools, household items and other items for the Tuareg community. In Niger and Mali, where the largest Tuareg populations are found, the artisan castes were attached as clients to a family of nobles or vassals, and carried messages over distances for their patron family. They also are the ones who traditionally sacrifice animals during Islamic festivals.
See also
*Caste systems in Africa Caste systems in Africa are a form of social stratification found in numerous ethnic groups, found in over fifteen countries, particularly in the Sahel, West Africa, and North Africa. These caste systems feature endogamy, hierarchical status, inh ...
References
Bibliography
* * *Eike Haberland
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* Eike Batista (born 1956), entrepreneur
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(1993), Hierarchie und Kaste : zur Geschichte und politischen Struktur der Dizi in Südwest-Äthiopien, Stuttgart : Steiner, (in German)
* {{cite journal , last=Todd , first=David M. , title=Caste in Africa? , journal=Africa , publisher=Cambridge University Press , volume=47 , issue=4 , year=1977 , pages=398–412 , doi=10.2307/1158345 , jstor=1158345
Castes
Ethnic groups in Niger