About the lot N° 140
Title : Trois Lances Touareg Du Niger En Fer Incrusté De Cuivre Jaune
Notes : The Tuareg (also Twareg or Touareg, Berber: Imuhagh, besides regional ethnyms) are a Berber nomadic pastoralist people. They are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa.[2][3] They call themselves variously Kel Tamasheq or Kel Tamajaq, ??? ??????? (Speakers of Tamasheq), Imuhagh, Imazaghan or Imashaghen (the Free people), or Kel Tagelmust, i.e., People of the Veil.[4] The name Tuareg was applied to them by early explorers and historians (since Leo Africanus).[citation needed] The origin and meaning of the name Tuareg has long been debated with various etymologies advanced, although it would appear that Twar?g is derived from the broken plural of Targi, a name whose former meaning was inhabitant of Targa (the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as Fezzan. Targa in Berber means (drainage) channel, see Alojali et al. 2003: 656, s.v. Targa). The Tuareg are probably descended from ancient Saharan peoples described by Herodotus.[5] He described the ancient Libyan people of the kingdom of the Garamantes, of which archaeological evidence is found in the ruins of Germa. Later (c.500 AD), the Tuareg expanded southward into the Sahel under their legendary queen Tin Hinan from the Tafilalt region. Tin Hinan is credited in Tuareg lore with uniting the ancestral tribes and founding the unique culture that continues to our time. At Abalessa, a grave traditionally held to be hers has been scientifically studied, and was indeed found to contain the remains of a woman, dating from the correct time and buried with items indicating high social status. Tuareg are mostly nomads. For over two millennia, the Tuareg operated the trans-Saharan caravan trade connecting the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara via five desert trade routes to the northern (Mediterranean) coast of Africa.[3] The Tuareg adopted camel nomadism, along with its distinctive form of social organization, from camel-herding Arabs about two thousand years ago, when the camel was introduced to the Sahara from Arabia. The Tuareg once took captives, either for trade and sale, or for domestic labor purposes. Those who were not sold became assimilated into the Tuareg community. Captive servants and herdsmen formed a component of the division of labor in camel nomadism. In the late nineteenth century, the Tuareg resisted the French colonial invasion of their Central Saharan homelands. Tuareg broadswords were no match for the more advanced weapons of French squadrons. After numerous massacres on both sides,[6] the Tuareg were subdued and required to sign treaties in Mali 1905 and Niger 1917. In southern Morocco and Algeria, the French met some of the strongest resistance from the Ahaggar Tuareg. Their Amenokal, traditional chief Moussa ag Amastan, fought numerous battles in defense of the region. Finally, Tuareg territories were taken under French governance, and their confederations were largely dismantled and reorganized. Before French colonization, the Tuareg were organized into loose confederations, each consisting of a dozen or so tribes. Each of the main groups had a traditional leader called Amenokal, along with an assembly of tribal chiefs (im?aran, singular am?ar). The groups were the Kel Ahaggar, Kel Ajjer, Kel Ayr, Adrar n Fughas, Iw?ll?m?dan, and Kel Gres. Tuareg in Mali, 1974 When African countries achieved widespread independence in the 1960s, the traditional Tuareg territory was divided among a number of modern nations: Niger, Mali, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Burkina Faso. Competition for resources in the Sahel have since led to conflicts between the Tuareg and neighboring African groups, especially after political disruption and economic constraints following French colonization and independence. There have been tight restrictions placed on nomadization because of high population growth. Desertification is exacerbated by human activity i.e., exploitation of resources and the increased firewood needs of growing cities. Some Tuareg are therefore experimenting with farming, some have been forced to abandon herding and seek jobs in towns and cities. In Mali, a Tuareg uprising resurfaced in the Adrar N'Fughas mountains in the 1960s, following Mali's independence. Several Tuareg joined, including some from the Adrar des Iforas in northeastern Mali. The 1960's rebellion was a fight between a group of Tuareg and the newly independent state of Mali. The Malian Army suppressed the revolt. Resentment among the Tuareg fueled the second uprising. This second (or third) uprising was in May 1990. At this time, in the aftermath of a clash between government soldiers and Tuareg outside a prison in Tchin-Tabaraden, Niger, Tuareg in both Mali and Niger claimed autonomy for their traditional homeland: (Ténéré, capital Agadez, in Niger and the Azawad and Kidal regions of Mali). Deadly clashes between Tuareg fighters (with leaders such as Mano Dayak) and the military of both countries followed, with deaths numbering well into the thousands. Negotiations initiated by France and Algeria led to peace agreements (January 11, 1992 in Mali and 1995 in Niger). Both agreements called for decentralization of national power and guaranteed the integration of Tuareg resistance fighters into the countries' respective national armies. Major fighting between the Tuareg resistance and government security forces ended after the 1995 and 1996 agreements. As of 2004, sporadic fighting continued in Niger between government forces and Tuareg groups struggling for independence. In 2007, a new surge in violence occurred. Traditionally, Tuareg society is hierarchical, with nobility and vassals. Each Tuareg clan (tawshet) is made up of several family groups, led by their collective chiefs, the amghar. A series of tribes tawsheten may bond together under an Amenokal, forming a Kel clan confederation. Tuareg self identification is related only to their specific Kel, which means those of. E.g. Kel Dinnig (those of the east), Kel Ataram (those of the west). [edit]Nobility The work of pastoralism was specialized according to social class. Tels are ruled by the imúša? (Imajaghan, The Proud and Free) nobility, warrior-aristocrats who organized group defense, livestock raids, and the long-distance caravan trade. Below them were a number of specialised métier castes. The ím?ad (Imghad, singular Amghid), the second rank of Tuareg society, were free vassal-herdsmen and warriors, who pastured and tended most of the confederation's livestock. Formerly enslaved vassals of specific Imajaghan, they are said by tradition to be descended from nobility in the distant past, and thus maintain a degree of social distance from lower orders. Traditionally, some merchant castes had a higher status than all but the nobility among their more settled compatriots to the south. With time, the difference between the two castes has eroded in some places, following the economic fortunes of the two groups. Imajaghan have traditionally disdained certain types of labor and prided themselves in their warrior skills. The existence of lower servile and semi-servile classes has allowed for the development of highly ritualised poetic, sport, and courtship traditions among the Imajaghan. Following colonial subjection, independence, and the famines of the 1970s and 1980s, noble classes have more and more been forced to abandon their caste differences. They have taken on labor and lifestyles they might traditionally have rejected. [edit]Client castes After the adoption of Islam, a separate class of religious clerics, the Ineslemen or marabouts, also became integral to Tuareg social structure. Following the decimation of many clans' noble Imajaghan caste in the colonial wars of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Ineslemen gained leadership in some clans, despite their often servile origins. Traditionally Ineslemen clans were not armed. They provided spiritual guidance for the nobility, and received protection and alms in return. Inhaed?aen (Inadan), were a blacksmith-client caste who fabricated and repaired the saddles, tools, household equipment and other material needs of the community. In most communities, the Inadin were freedmen drawn from the servile éklan caste and not considered outsiders by the other classes. [edit]Bonded castes and slaves The Tuareg once held slaves (éklan / Ikelan in Tamasheq, Bouzou in Hausa, Bella in Songhai). Tuareg moved south on the continent in the 11th century AD, taking slaves from other groups. These éklan once formed a distinct social class in Tuareg society. Some Tuareg noble and vassal men married slaves, and their children became freemen. Eklan formed distinct sub-communities, they were a class held in an inherited serf-like condition, common among societies in precolonial West Africa.[citation needed] When French colonial governments were established, they passed legislation to abolish slavery, but did not enforce it. Some commentators believe the French interest was directed more at dismantling the traditional Tuareg political economy, which depended on slave labor for herding, than at freeing the slaves.[7][8][9][10] Historian Martin Klein reports that there was a large scale attempt by French West African authorities to liberate slaves and other bonded castes in Tuareg areas following the 1914-1916 Firouan revolt.[11] Despite this, French officials following the Second World War reported there were some 50,000 Bella under direct control of Tuareg masters in the Gao-Timbuktu areas of French Soudan alone.[12] This was at least four decades after French declarations of mass freedom had happened in other areas of the colony. In 1946, a series of mass desertions of Tuareg slaves and bonded communities began in Nioro and later in Menaka, quickly spreading along the Niger River valley.[13] In the first decade of the 20th century, French administrators in southern Tuareg areas of French Soudan estimated free to servile Tuareg populations at ratios of 1 to 8 or 9.[14] At the same time the servile rimaibe population of the Masina Fulbe, roughly equivalent to the Bella, made up between 70% to 80% of the Fulbe population, while servile Songhai groups around Gao made up some 2/3 to 3/4 of the total Songhai population.[14] Klein concludes that roughly 50% of the population of French Soudan at the beginning of the 20th century were in some servile or slave relationship.[14] While post-independence states have sought to outlaw slavery, results have been mixed. Traditional caste relationships have continued in many places, including the institution of slavery.[15][16][17][18][19][20] According to the Travel Channel show, Bob Geldof in Africa, the descendants of those slaves known as the Bella are still slaves in all but name. In Niger, where the practice of slavery was outlawed in 2003, a study found that almost 8% of the population are still enslaved. Weapons takoba: 1 meter long straight sword allagh: 2 meter long lance agher: 1.50 meter high shield tagheda: small and sharp assegai taganze: leather covered-wooden bow amur: wooden arrow sheru: long dagger taburek: wooden stick alakkud or abartak: riding crop In 2007, Stanford's Cantor Arts Center opened an exhibition, Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World, the first such exhibit in the United States. It was curated by Tom Seligman, director of the center. He had first spent time with the Tuareg in 1971 when he traveled through the Sahara after serving in the Peace Corps. The exhibition included crafted and adorned functional objects such as camel saddles, tents, bags, swords, amulets, cushions, dresses, earrings, spoons and drums.[29] The exhibition also was shown at the University of California, Los Angeles Fowler Museum in Los Angeles and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. Throughout history, the Tuareg were renowned and respected warriors. Their decline as a military might came with the introduction of firearms, weapons which the Tuareg did not possess. The Tuareg warrior attire consisted of a takoba (sword), allagh (lance) and aghar (shield) made of antelope's skin.Rossini Maison de Ventes aux Enchères, auctioneer, Paris, FR
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Sale title : Tribal Art - Asian Art
Sale date : 21 Feb 2012
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Sale Reference : Live Sale
