The Libyan Fazzān: a crossroads of routes and a thoroughfare of Arab and Berber tribes historically connected with the Murābiṭūn (Almoravids). A historical and tribal reassessment in the light of what is discoverable in the historical literature, both oral and recorded, of the Tuareg peoples of the Central Sahara and the Libyan Fazzān

Abstract

AbstractThe subject of this paper is the presentation and argument of a case for the millennium old record of an apparent steady migration of Berber Saharan nomads, who, at a later stage in their history, have came to be recognized as the principal tribes, federations and Sultanates of the Tuareg people whom we know today. These Berber speakers, who are variosly mentioned as the Lamṭa, Lamtūna, Ilemtin, Dag Elemtei and Azgar (Ifoghas), were the acknowledged ancestors of the so-called ‘Sanhaja’ peoples in the Western, the Central and the Eastern Sahara.The Fazzān contains the remains of the ancient city of Jarma (Garama) and from the evidence which has been found from Tifinagh inscriptions which have been discovered at that site, this ‘capital of the Garamantes’ played a significant role in shaping the linguistic and cultural identity of the Tuareg peoples. This identity is especially centered around the city of Ghāt, which borders both the Algerian and Libyan Sahara. This entire region, the Tassili -n- Ajjer and including Akakus, would appear to correspond to Jabal Ṭanṭāna, a toponym which finds a mention in the writings of a number of Arab geographers and historians. Its location made it pivotal for trans-Saharan trade.