Traghan or Traghen and Turaghan () is a small town in the Murzuk Desert in

Murzuq District Murzuq ( ''Murzuq'') is a districts of Libya in the south of the country. Its capital is Murzuk. The city was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1578 and served as the capital of Fezzan off and on until the Ottomans ceded Libya to Italy in 1912. ...

in southwest Libya. It is located east of

Murzuk Murzuk, Murzuq, Murzug or Merzug () is an oasis town and the capital of the Murzuq District in the Fezzan region of southwest Libya.Robinson, Harry (1960) "Murzuq" ''The Mediterranean Lands'' University Tutorial Press, London, p. 414 It lies on ...

and Zizau. A good high road is said to link Traghan to Zizau in the west, with frequent incrustations of salt. The word is of Toubou (Goran) origin and is pronounced Taraghan or Turaghan both correct, with three syllables: Tu or Ta means "land," ra refers to "inhabitants," and ghan means "small." Altogether, ''Turaghan'' translates to “inhabitants of the small land (or homeland).”

History

Traghan was founded by the Saifawa dynasty around the 13th century, a remarkable feat as Traghan lies 1,380 kilometres from

Njimi Njimi, also called Birni Njimi, N'Jimi, N'jimi, and Anjimi, was the capital of the Kanem–Bornu Empire until the 14th century. Njimi is first recorded in texts from the 12th century but was probably the empire's original capital, perhaps establishe ...

, the Saifawa capital. The Saifawa were said to have "gained control of the

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

by establishing a post in the oasis of Traghan about twenty miles east of modern

and some seventy miles west-south-west of ancient Zawila." Traghan was approached by western explorers on 29 November 1822. In the late 1820s, Traghan was described as was formerly as considerable a place as

; and was, about sixty years ago, the residence of a sultan, who governed eastern Fezzan. It was described as being in a flat, desert plain, with gardens and date groves. It contained four mosques with small mud minarets and houses that were mostly large but in ruin. The population in the late 1820s was estimated to be 500-600 but it had previously been far more populous. Major Denham noted that the people of Traghan were exceptionally skilled in carpet making and their carpets rivaled those of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. Hugh Murray later noted its fine carpets in the early 1850s. The town was the site of a battle between the

Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...

and

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

ian militants in 2018 during the

Second Libyan Civil War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

References

Populated places in Murzuq District Sahara Baladiyat of Libya {{Libya-geo-stub