Tuareg 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 ...

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, the ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesAssodé, sacked

Agadez Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...

, placed the

Sultanate of Agadez The Sultanate of Agadez (also known as Tenere Sultanate of Aïr, Sultanate of Aïr, or Asben") was a Berber kingdom centered in the city of Agadez in the Aïr Mountains, located at the southern edge of the Sahara desert in north-central Niger. It ...

under their control, and dispersed the Kel Ayr to the south and west. The confederation was then under the direct suzerainty of the Anastafidet, lord of the Kel Awey.

Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...

passed through the Aouderas valley with a Kel Awey trans-Saharan caravan in 1850, and reported that it was only recently that the Kel Awey had pushed the

Kel Gres Kel Gres is a tribal confederation of Tuareg clans (or "''Drum-groups''"). In the modern era, they have mostly lived in south central Niger, although they are known to have inhabited the Aïr Mountains prior to the 17th century. As pastoralists, the ...

and Kel Itesen Tuareg south and west out of the valley. When the French appeared in force in the 1890s, they found the nomadic the Kel Awey confederation allied now to a confederation led by the Kel Ayr, but remaining the dominant power from the

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, the ...

south to Damergu just north of

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 (2001 census);

.

Central Saharan trade

Throughout the 19th century the Kel Awey controlled the central of three main trade routes from the West African Sahel to the Mediterranean. Kel Awey caravans carried hides, gold, ostrich feathers and slaves north from the borders of the Sokoto Caliphate, beginning in

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

,

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 (2001 census);

,

Agadez Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...

, the Air, to

Ghat Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...

and

Ghadames Ghadames or Ghadamis ( Berber: ''ʕadémis''; ar, غدامس, Libyan vernacular: ''ɣdāməs'', Latin: ''Cidamus, Cydamus'', it, Gadames) is an oasis Berber town in the Nalut District of the Tripolitania region in northwestern Libya. The ...

. The Kel Awey also for some time controlled the Agadez centered trade in salt and dates, called the

Azalai The Azalai (Tamasheq, var. Azalay) is a semi-annual salt caravan route practiced by Tuareg traders in the Sahara desert between Timbuktu and the Taoudenni salt mine in Mali, or the act of traveling with a caravan along that route. The other ...

. This trade was supplemented by grain grown in the fertile Air by bonded servile Tuareg classes, conquered communities, and slaves working plantation estates witnessed by Barth. Barth stayed at a series of estates held by the family of Annur, a high ranking Kel Awey noble, as well as those held by the Anastafidet himself, commenting on their extensive size, geographic spread, and the relative lack of restrictions on the labourers who were, technically, often first generation slaves. Barth reports in the Air seeing the southernmost use of plow agriculture, and detailing Kel Owey plantations, trade villages, and weigh stations deep in the territory of their southern neighbors at Tessawa and Damagaram, and mixed into the territory controlled by the Imazureg Tuareg around Gangara. From the date plantations and salt basins of the

Kaouar The Kaouar (or Kawar) is a series of ten oases in the southern Sahara in northeast Niger, covering about from north to south, and east to west. They are on the eastern edge of the Ténéré desert, between the Tibesti Mountains in the east ...

, huge caravans transported good south to Zinder and Kano.

20th century

After participating in a number of rebellions against French rule and being particularly hard hit by a series of famines in the second decade of the 1900s, their noble and warrior clans were almost destroyed, and some others of their constituent elements have been largely subsumed by other Toureg "Kel"s. The Kel Awey remain powerful in the central Aïr Massif, especially in the Bagzane plateau.For modern study of one aspect of Kel Awey life in the Bagzane, see: Susan J. Rasmussen. ''Spirit Possession and Personhood Among the Kel Ewey Tuareg''. Cambridge University Press (2006).

References

* Samuel Decalo. ''Historical Dictionary of Niger''. Scarecrow Press, London and New Jersey (1979). * Jolijn Geels. ''Niger''. Bradt London and Globe Pequot New York (2006). . * Paul E. Lovejoy. ''Transformations in Slavery - A History of Slavery in Africa''. African Studies series No 36. Cambridge University Press (1983) {{ISBN, 0-521-78430-1 * French Language Wikipedia entry.

Also consult

*GAGNOL L., MOREL A., 2003. "Les Touaregs Kel Owey du massif de l’Aïr (Niger) : peut-on parler d’une identité montagnarde ?" ''Actes du colloque "Identié(s)"'', Poitiers, MSHS, pp. 115-126. *A. Bourgeot., 1994. "L’agro-pastoralisme des Touaregs Kel Owey (Aïr)". Au contact Sahara-Sahel. ''Milieux et sociétés du Niger'' Volume I. pp.137-156. Berbers in Niger History of Niger Tuareg confederations

Central Saharan trade

20th century

See also

References

Also consult