People of the veil : $b being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the central Sahara — John Shaqi
People of the veil : $b being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the central SaharaRennell of Rodd, Francis James Rennell Rodd, Baron
History
People of the veil : $b being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the central Sahara
Rennell of Rodd, Francis James Rennell Rodd, Baron
Aïr (Niger); Tuaregs
The necessity of imitating the nomad in his mode of life and warfare
became obvious to Laperrine from his first sojourn in Southern
Algeria, where he made his career as the greatest European desert
leader in history with one solitary exception. The encounter of
Tit was followed by a number of “Tournées d’Apprivoisement,”
patrols to “tame” the desert folk, initiated by Laperrine, and
culminating in 1904 in a protracted reconnaissance through Ahaggar,
which brought about a final pacification. Charles de Foucauld,
soldier, traveller and monk, had accompanied the patrol. He remained
on after it was over as a hermit and student among the Ahaggaren
until his death in 1916. He had been Laperrine’s brother officer
at St. Cyr. Extravagant, reckless and endowed with all the good
things of the world, a member of the old French aristocracy in a
smart cavalry regiment, the Marquis de Foucauld is one of the most
picturesque figures of modern times. After a memorable reconnaissance
of Morocco in 1883-4, disguised as a Jew, he became a Trappist monk,
and eventually entered a retreat at Beni Abbes, in the desert that he
loved too well to leave in all his life. During his years in Ahaggar
as a teacher of the Word of God he made no converts to Christianity,
but sought by his example alone to lead the people along the way of
Truth. It is to be hoped that, in spite of a modesty which precluded
it during his lifetime, the knowledge and lore of the Tuareg which he
collected in the form of notes will eventually be given to the world
in order to supplement his dictionary of the Ahaggar dialect, to-day
the standard work on their language, which is called Temajegh.[9]
To implement the Laperrine policy of long reconnaissances, a post
was built near Tamanghasset in Ahaggar called Fort Motylinski, after
an officer interpreter who was one of the first practical students
of Temajegh. Lately the post has been moved to Tamanghasset itself,
where Father de Foucauld had built his hermitage, and it is now called
Fort Laperrine, in memory of the great soldier who was killed flying
across the desert to Timbuctoo in 1919.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account