Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa, Vol. 1 (of 5) : $b being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the years 1849-1855Barth, Heinrich
History
Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa, Vol. 1 (of 5) : $b being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the years 1849-1855
Barth, Heinrich
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Africa, North -- Description and travel
At present the Azkár form but a small part of the population of the
country which they rule, namely, the region inclosed between the desert
bordered by Wadi Talíya in the east, the valleys Zerzúwa and Áfara in
the west, the well of Asïu towards the south, and Nijbertín towards the
north, and are not able to furnish more than about five hundred armed
men. In fact, they form a warlike aristocracy of five families, divided
into thirty divisions or fayas, each of which has an independent chief.
The names of the five families are Urághen, Ímanang, Ífogas, Hadánarang,
and Manghássatang. The Urághen or Aurághen, meaning the “Yellows,” or
“golden” (in colour), who seem to have once formed a very powerful
family[76], and have given their name to one of the principal dialects
of the Tarkíye or Temáshight, are at present much dispersed, many of
them living among the Awelímmiden on the northern shore of the Isa or
Niger, where I shall have more to say about them. Even among the Azkár
they still form the most important division, and count at least a
hundred and fifty full-grown men. A large body of them is settled in and
about the valley of Arikím, on the direct road from Murzuk to Sudán, and
about fifty miles to the south of Ghát. Their original abode is said to
have been at a place called Asáwa, to the south of Irálghawen. But the
tribe that formerly possessed the greatest authority, and which on this
account is still called Amanókalen, or the sultan tribe, is that of the
Ímanang, who are at present reduced to extreme poverty, and to a very
small number, said not even to reach ten families. But they have still a
very large number of Imghád under their command. Their women are
celebrated for their beauty. They are most of them settled in the valley
of Díder. The third division of the Azkár, to which Hatíta, the friend
of the English, belongs, are the Manghássatang, or Imaghássaten, whose
leather tents are generally pitched in the Valley of Zerzúwa, on the
road from Ghát to Tawát, about six days’ journey from the former.[77]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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