Fachi
| Fachi rural municipality | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 18 ° 6 ′ N , 11 ° 35 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Niger | ||
| Agadez | |||
| department | Bilma | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | NE-1 | ||
| Residents | 2215 (2012) | ||
Fachi (also: Agram ) is a rural community in the Bilma department in Niger .
geography
The official place name Fachi is a name of the Tuareg , while the Kanuri and Tubu living in the place use the place name Agram .
Fachi is an oasis in the Sahara desert Ténéré in the north of the country and is located about halfway between the (steel) Arbre du Ténéré and Bilma . The neighboring communities are Dirkou in the north, Bilma in the east, N'Gourti and Tesker in the south and Iférouane , Tabelot and Timia in the west. The municipality is divided into the administrative village of Fachi and the water point Fezei. The main town of the rural community is the administrative village of Fachi.
history
Fachi came under the influence of the Sufi brotherhood of the Sanusiya around 1865 . For decades, the brotherhood was the point of contact for all matters relating to Islam . She set the qadis the location and conducted the most local madrassas. The dominance of the Sanusiya lasted a relatively long time in Fachi and was only lost in the early 1930s.
At the beginning of the 20th century there was still a high proportion of local slaves . The prohibition of slavery under French colonial rule in 1906 led to economic problems, at the same time it was difficult for those freed to leave the isolated oasis. In the 1940s, for example, former slaves continued to live with their former masters.
population
At the 2001 census, Fachi had 2,629 inhabitants. At the 2012 census, the population was 2215. The Kanuri dialect Fachi-Kanuri is spoken in the Fachi Oasis , which is closely related to the Bilma-Kanuri of the Bilma Oasis.
Culture and sights
The place is surrounded by a city wall made of clay bricks with five gates. Inside Fachi there is Dada Castle with eight meter high walls and four towers. It served the residents as a refuge in the event of robberies. To this day, every family in the castle has at least one of the clay granaries, some of which are still in use. Since there is a well, the residents had an advantage over the robber besiegers. In the city, a labyrinth of narrow and winding streets leads through between the flat roof houses, which are also made of salt clay bricks.
The architecture in Fachi reflects the basic principle of the square in the floor plan, the rooms and the inner courtyards - all are laid out in a square shape. The building is mainly built with clay, but this can lead to serious damage even if it rains for two days. That is why more and more stones were integrated into the buildings. Basically, all buildings are constructed according to the same scheme. The prosperity is less evident in the size of the house than in the rich furnishings inside.
economy
Date palms
The Kanuri claim to have planted the first date palms , but such plantings probably came about earlier. Date palm plantations are held in high esteem among the Kanuri. Every inhabitant of the oasis owns date palms; even a newborn child receives its first plants when it is named. A well-cared-for possession of date palms is sufficient to secure the nutrition of a family, that is, to acquire the necessary imported basic food.
Natural fertilization by male pollen transmitted by wind or insects is not enough. The fertilization of the female flowers, called in Fachi birra , "date wedding", is an important event that is accompanied by religious events. Fertilization is carried out by inserting a male flower branch into the female one. Every fertilization is accompanied by the saying: "Allahu akbar fero kwa" (fero = virgin, kwa = marry, receive). The fertilization of the individual palms is left to the individual care of the owner, but the birra is a matter for the whole community.
During the date harvest, the entire population is on the move from morning to evening. You have to climb into the top of the palm tree to get to the fruit branches - that is up to the men. The cut branch is thrown down and awaited by women, children and elderly men, who immediately harvest it. The dates are brought into town in baskets or sacks. The time of the date harvest is a time of daily disputes, be it about the right to fallen fruit or the sharing of the harvest of palm trees that have multiple owners. But it is also the time of spontaneous gifts in the face of the accumulated quantities, the generosity in the division, in the repayment of a debt, the indulgence for a thief caught.
Gardens
Gardens are located in the Fachi oasis between the sand dunes, where loamy soil and water occur at an accessible depth. In the event of an economic crisis, the gardens are intended to ensure the livelihood of the Fachi residents by the absence of caravans. One of the most difficult parts of the gardening is removing the sand that lies above the fertile loamy soil. All other work such as sowing, weeding, watering, harvesting is considered to be light work that women and children can be expected to do. The harvest volumes are small and the workload is great, but the joy of harvest makes you forget the troubles involved. Each household has an average of two to three gardens.
The quality of the garden land is divided into “wheat garden” and “lucerne garden”. “Wheat gardens” require a fairly salt-free, particularly good soil and salt-free water for wheat to thrive. They make up about 34% of the garden land used. The “wheat gardens” are watered with draw wells because they need a lot of water. The alfalfa is the most important crop. The "alfalfa gardens" have salty soils and more or less salty well water. Since they require little water, they are watered by hand. They make up about 66% of the garden area used.
Salt pans
The salt pans ( mándari ) of Fachi owe their existence to underground salt deposits, which were probably created by the drying up of the Ténéré lakes. The groundwater flows through these salt deposits, absorbs salt and appears as saturated brine at a shallow depth. In order to develop a salt works, sand and earth have to be removed from the site so that the brine can reach the surface without hindrance. Due to the low humidity and constant exposure to the sun, the water evaporates quickly, the salt separates and is available to people. The peak of salt production is during the hot months from May to September. In summer, the workers in the salt works have to endure temperatures of 70 ° Celsius, which most of them cannot withstand for more than an hour. Saline work is considered to be the hardest work in Fachi.
Salt is produced in two qualities: White, fully crystallized salt is sold under the name beza . As table salt, it is intended for human consumption. The second quality of salt, called kantu , is gray-yellow in color. It is a mixture of different types of salt and is used as cattle salt . In Fachi, about 25% of production comes from beza salt and 75% from kantu salt. To prevent overproduction, inquire with the caravan operators in spring about the probable demand for the next caravan season, which begins in autumn.
The salt is at the heart of the caravan trade. “Fachi would not exist without salt”, this is how one characterizes the elementary importance of the salt trade in Fachi. The caravans are interested in dates, but only in second place. Although salt is of great economic importance, owning salt pans does not confer the same social prestige as owning date palms or gardens. The reason for this is that owning the salt works also means working in the salt works. Of all the jobs, it is the heaviest and dirtiest, a job that the Fachi people believe is incompatible with the dignity of a free Kanuri.
Caravan trade
Fachi is highly dependent on imports. Many products have to be brought in from a distance of more than 1000 kilometers. Because of the sometimes high dunes, Fachi is hardly accessible for trucks.
The highest rank among all commodities the people of Fachi give to grain, their staple food. 98% of the imported grain is millet , which is the only grain available in large quantities. In second place is the need for sheep and goats, which are used as sacrificial animals on religious occasions. The animals have to be introduced because small animal breeding does not take place in Fachi due to the lack of pastures. Dried meat from goats, sheep, camels, cattle or wild animals is offered as food. Fresh meat is rather rare, as the transport of animals is tedious and therefore many losses have to be accepted. According to Fachi, fat comes in the form of butter, peanut and palm oil, and camel fat is also offered in small quantities. The caravans do not have enough fat, so fat is in short supply. Other commodities that come to Fachi via the salt caravans are dairy products and industrial goods. An important need concerns clothing, including sandals and goatskin shoes. Clay pots, which are an indispensable part of household equipment, are not made in Fachi, so they are supplied by the caravans. Charcoal instead of smoking camel dung or rapidly burning palm branches are a luxury. The luxury goods tea and sugar do not belong to the basic needs, but bring joy of life and social prestige. Cola nuts are a highly valued luxury food . At parties, especially weddings, perfume is brought.
A triangular trade takes place between the Sahara Kanuri, the Tuareg and the Hausa . The nomadic Tuareg migrate from the Aïr to the oases of the Kanuri, Fachi and Bilma. There they exchange millet and dairy products for dates and salt. They transport the goods they receive to the Hausa Sahel markets in the south, where they receive millet and money in exchange for dates and salt. Finally, they return to the Aïr, where the triangular trade can start again.
The Kel-Aïr caravans come to Fachi from the west, so-called "western caravans". The caravans of the Kel Gress, Bouzou and Musugu are called "Southern Caravans". Those of the Daza, Aza and Manga also come from the south, but are not part of the "southern caravans".
The first caravans arrive in Fachi in early September. At this time the date harvest in Fachi is complete and the salt stores are full. The first caravans benefit from the lack of grain that prevails in Fachi, because at this time the supplies are mostly used up. The caravan season peaks in December and January. In February the number of caravans is already falling sharply and in April the last caravans will finally arrive. The grain stocks in Fachi must be sufficient for the months between May and September, deliveries are not expected.
Pet ownership
The Fachi people buy goats and sheep from the caravans. They are used as sacrificial animals at festivals. Donkeys are the indispensable riding and pack animals for transport between the city and the gardens and salt pans. The prestige animal in Fachi is the horse. You can ride it in the gardens, go on an excursion or ride out to a caravan. Camels cannot be kept because of the lack of suitable pastures.
Craft
There are no full-time craftsmen in Fachi. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of men and women who have manual skills and who use this partly as a sideline and partly for their own needs. Numerous women weave mats, carrier bags and baskets from the leaves of the date palm. These are very popular and are often sold or given away as "souvenirs". Most of the clothing is made in Fachi itself. Tailoring is a man's job.
literature
- Roland Baumhauer: On the Holocene climate and landscape development in the central Sahara using the example of Fachi / Dogonboulo (NE Niger) . In: Berlin geographic studies . No. 30 , 1990, pp. 35-48 .
- Peter Fuchs : The bread of the desert. Socio-economy of the Sahara Kanuri by Fachi . Steiner, Wiesbaden / Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-515-03764-0 .
- Peter Fuchs: Fachi. Sahara city of the Kanuri . Steiner, Wiesbaden / Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-515-05003-5 .
- Monique Mainguet, Yann Callot: L'erg de Fachi-Bilma, Tchad-Niger: contribution à la connaissance de la dynamique des ergs et des dunes des zones arides chaudes . Éditions du Center national de la recherche scientique, Paris 1978, ISBN 2-222-02190-1 .
- Hans Ritter: Salt caravans in the Sahara . Atlantis, Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7611-0580-0 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jean-Louis Triaud: La Légende de la noire Sanûsiyya. Une confrérie musulmane saharienne sous le regard français (1840–1930) . Volume I. Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, Paris 1995, p. 447 .
- ^ Répertoire National des Communes (RENACOM) . Institut National de la Statistique website, accessed November 8, 2010.
- ^ Republic of Niger: Loi n ° 2002-014 du 11 JUIN 2002 portant création des communes et fixant le nom de leurs chefs-lieux .
- ↑ Jean-Louis Triaud: La Légende de la noire Sanûsiyya. Une confrérie musulmane saharienne sous le regard français (1840–1930) . Volume I. Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, Paris 1995, p. 443, 448 and 452 .
- ^ Paul E. Lovejoy: Salt of the Desert Sun. A History of Salt Production and Trade in the Central Sudan . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1986, ISBN 0-521-30182-3 , pp. 142 .
- ^ Institut Nationale de la Statistique du Niger (ed.): Annuaire statistique des cinquante ans d'indépendance du Niger . Niamey 2010 ( online version ; PDF file; 3.0 MB), p. 53.
- ↑ Presentation of the results globaux définitifs du Quatrième (4ème) Recensement Général de la Population et de l'Habitat (RGP / H) de 2012. (PDF file) Institut National de la Statistique, 2014, accessed on April 18, 2014 (French ).
- ↑ Kanuri, Bilma. In: Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Seventeenth edition. SIL International, 2013, accessed July 18, 2013 .
- ^ Peter Fuchs: Fachi. Sahara city of the Kanuri . Steiner, Wiesbaden / Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-515-05003-5 , pp. 178-179 .
- ↑ a b Peter Fuchs: The bread of the desert. Socio-economy of the Sahara Kanuri by Fachi . Steiner, Wiesbaden / Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-515-03764-0 .
