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Méhariste
''Méhariste'' is a French word that roughly translates to camel cavalry. The word is most commonly used as a designation of military units. French camel corps Origins France created a corps of ''méhariste'' camel companies (''Compagnies Méharistes Sahariennes''), as part of the '' Armée d'Afrique'', in the Sahara in 1902. These units replaced regular units of Algerian spahis and tirailleurs earlier used to patrol the desert boundaries. The newly raised ''Compagnies méharistes'' were originally recruited mainly from the Chaamba nomadic tribe and commanded by officers of the French ''Affaires Indigènes'' (Native Affairs Bureau). Each company of ''Méharistes'' comprised six officers, 36 French non-commissioned officers and troopers, and 300 Chaamba troopers. Their bases were at Tabelbala, Adrar, Ouargla, Fort Polignac (today Illizi) and Tamanrasset. History With their local tribal links, plus their mobility and flexible tactics, the ''Compagnies Méharistes'' provide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consists of several specialties, namely infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, and Airborne forces, airborne troops. It formed part of the Army of Africa (France), Armée d'Afrique, French Army units associated with French colonial empire, France's colonial project in North Africa, until the end of the Algerian War in 1962. Legionnaires are today renowned as highly trained soldiers whose training focuses on traditional military skills and on the Legion's strong ''Morale, esprit de corps'', as its men come from different countries with different cultures. Consequently, training is often described as not only physically challenging, but also very stressful psychologically. Legionnaires may apply for French citize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahara
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic. The name "Sahara" is derived from , a broken plural form of ( ), meaning "desert". The desert covers much of North Africa, excluding the fertile region on the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt and the Sudan. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south it is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, semi-arid tropical savanna around the Niger River valley and the Sudan (region), Sudan region of sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahara can be divided into several regions, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camel Cavalry
Camel cavalry, or camelry (, ), is a generic designation for armed forces using camels as a means of transportation. Sometimes warriors or soldiers of this type also fought from camel-back with spears, bow and arrow, bows, or firearms. Camel cavalry was a common element in desert warfare throughout history in the Middle East, due in part to the animals' high level of adaptability. They were better suited to working and surviving in arid environments than the horses of conventional cavalry. The smell of the camel, according to Herodotus, alarmed and disoriented horses, making camels an effective anti-cavalry weapon of the Achaemenid Persians in the Battle of Thymbra. Early history The first recorded use of the camel as a military animal was by the Qedarites, Qedarite Arab king Gindibu, said to have employed as many as 1,000 camels at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. They were reportedly later used in the Battle of Thymbra in 547 BC, between Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuareg People
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; Endonym and exonym, endonym, depending on Tuareg languages#Subclassification, variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berbers, Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralism, pastoralists, who principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and as far as northern Nigeria, with small communities in Chad and Sudan known as the ''Kinnin''. The Tuareg speak Tuareg languages, languages of the same name, also known as ''Tamasheq'', which belong to the Berber languages, Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. They are a semi-nomadic people who mostly practice Islam, and are descended from the indigenous Berber communities of Northern Africa, whose ancestry has been described as a mosaic of local North Africa, Northern African (Taforalt), Middle Eastern, Genetic history of Europe, European (Early Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Corps Of Colonial Troops
The Royal Corps of Colonial Troops ( or RCTC) was a corps of the Royal Italian Army, in which all the Italian colonial troops were grouped until the end of World War II in North Africa campaign. History Many of the Askaris in Eritrea were drawn from local Nilotic populations, including Hamid Idris Awate, who reputedly had some Nara ancestry. Of these troops, the first Eritrean battalions were raised in 1888 from Muslim and Christian volunteers, replacing an earlier Bashi-bazouk corps of irregulars. The four ''Indigeni'' battalions in existence by 1891 were incorporated into the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops that year. Expanded to eight battalions, the Eritrean Ascaris fought with distinction at Serobeti, Agordat, Kassala, Coatit and Adwa and subsequently served in Libya and Ethiopia. These troops were deployed on all fronts in Africa from the First Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italian-Turkish war, and the conquest of Ethiopia, until World War II. The colonial soldiers always s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armée De Libération Nationale
The National Liberation Army or ALN (; ) was the armed wing of the nationalist National Liberation Front of Algeria during the Algerian War. After Algeria won its independence from France in 1962, the ALN was converted into the regular Algerian People's National Armed Forces. History Algerian Revolution The (National Liberation Front) was established by the (Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action) and organised in March 1954. Around two years later this group absorbed most but not all the Algerian nationalist organisations. It then re-organised itself and established a provisional government. This government included five members in executive and legislative bodies; all the members were district heads. During the ongoing war of independence in Algeria; Colonel Houari Boumedienne (the future President of Algeria) led the military wing of the FLN, the National Liberation Army, against the French. The group grew to nearly 40,000 men in 1957, while France deployed 400, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morice Line
The Morice Line was a defensive line which went into effect in September 1957 during the Algerian War. It was constructed under French authority to prevent supplies reaching the rebel guerrillas of the Algerian National Liberation Front in the then French-controlled Algeria, from the neighbouring country of Tunisia. It was named after then French Minister of Defence André Morice. Design The center of the Morice Line was a 2.5 m high electric fence that ran its entire length. This electric fence carried 5,000 volts and also had barbed wire entanglement on one side. On each side of the fence was a minefield that extended 45 meters to each side. On the Algerian side there was also a patrolled track. The Morice Line was 460 km long along the border with Tunisia and 700 km long along the border with Morocco, and was built with then state-of-the-art electronic systems and a mined barrage. These alarms, radars and searchlights, and the use of anti-personnel landmines helped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuareg Rebellion (2012)
The 2012 Tuareg rebellion was the early phase of the Mali War; from January to April 2012, a war was waged against the Politics of Mali, Malian government by rebels with the goal of attaining independence for the northern region of Mali, known as Azawad. It was led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and was part of a series of insurgencies by traditionally nomadic Tuareg people, Tuaregs which date back at least to 1916. The MNLA was formed by former insurgents and a significant number of heavily armed Tuaregs who fought in the Libyan civil war (2011), Libyan Civil War. On 22 March, President Amadou Toumani Touré 2012 Malian coup d'état, was ousted in a coup d'état over his handling of the crisis, a month before a 2012 Malian presidential election, presidential election was to have taken place. Mutineering soldiers, under the banner of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State, (CNRDR) suspended the 1992 Constitution of Mali, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gandourah
The Gandoura, also Gandura (), is a kind of light tunic, in wool or cotton, with or without sleeves. It normally comes in colored stripes, or more simply white, and is worn primarily in North Africa and Western Asia. The term gandoura is Arabic in origin. In Algeria, there are two varieties of gandoura. The first is worn by women and is also known as Jebba Fergani. It is a traditional Algerian garment made of thick velvet that originated in the Constantine region. The other form of gandoura is one worn by Algerian men; it is a casual clothing similar to the Jellaba but it lacks a hood. See also * Djellaba * Burnous A burnous (), also burnoose, burnouse, bournous or barnous, is a long cloak of coarse woollen fabric with a pointed hood, often white, traditionally worn by Arabs, Arab and Berbers, Berber men in North Africa. Historically, the white burnous was w ... * Fez References Moroccan clothing Robes and cloaks Algerian clothing {{clothing stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Language
French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien language, Francien) largely supplanted. It was also substratum (linguistics), influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the Germanic languages, Germanic Frankish language of the post-Roman Franks, Frankish invaders. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, it was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole, were established. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seroual
Sirwal, also sherwal, saroual, seroual, sarouel or serouelSmith, Robin (199''American Civil War Zouaves'', p. 52. Osprey PublishingAt Google Books. Retrieved 23 August 2013. ( (''sirwāl''), also known, in some contexts, as (a subtype of) Harem pants, are a form of trousers. The word is of Persian language#Old Persian, Persian origin; ''shalwār'' (شلوار) was borrowed into Ancient Greek, Greek as σαράβαρα ''sarábāra'', "loose trousers worn by Scythians". The words used in Balkan sprachbund#Vocabulary, Balkan languages came through the Ottoman Turks and did not continue the Ancient Greek designation. They are typically worn in Muslim countries, but also extensively in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish Commonwealth, in Mallorca, in the Greece, Greek countryside, and other places in the Balkans that were influenced by Ottoman Turks prior to World War I. The trousers are not originally an Arab garment but were introduced from Persia to other Middle East, Mid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timimoun
Timimoun () is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Timimoun Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 1.5%. Timimoun is known for the red ochre color of its buildings. Geography The town of Timimoun lies at an elevation of around in the Gourara region of southern Timimoun Province. It is located on the south-eastern side of an oasis which supports the town's population. A Sabkha, sebkha (salt lake) lies further to the northwest, while the plateau of Tademaït rises to the southeast. Climate Timimoun has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification ''BWh''), with extremely hot summers and warm winters, with minimal rainfall throughout the year. The annual mean temperature almost reaches 25 °C (77 °F). Transportation Timimoun lies on the N51 national highway, a road which runs roughly west to east from the N6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
