Sahrawis

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Sahrawis other spellings Sahraouis, Sahrawis, Saharaui; are a Moorish ethnic group in Western Sahara . The ethnonym is from the Arabic word Sahara (صحراء, DMG ṣaḥrāʾ ), derived from “desert”, in Tamazight ⵉⵙⴻⵃⵔⴰⵡⵉⵢⴻⵏ Iseḥrawiyen .

history

Distribution of the Sahrawi tribes

According to reports by Arab geographers of the Middle Ages , at the beginning of the Islamization of North Africa, the veiled Sanhajas were the dominant Berber group in the western Sahara. They formed the core of the Almoravids , which in the 11th century spread as a religious renewal movement from Western Sahara to the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula . The following intellectual and cultural heyday has an impact on the Spanish-Moorish culture and architecture to this day. In the 13th century the political unity of the Maghreb finally fell apart. In several waves, groups of Arab nomads, presumably of Yemeni origin, moved with their herds to North Africa. The Maqil , especially the tribal association of the Dui Hassan , settled in the Western Sahara and influenced the Berber population up until then. They brought their tent shape with them, which is still characteristic of the “black tent” (Khaima) today. The men's Moorish camel riding saddle , the Rahla, is unmistakable and typical . The predominant language in Western Sahara today is named after the Dui Hassan: Hassania . It is an Arabic dialect with Berber influences.

Compared to other countries in Africa, the colonial period in Western Sahara was quite short. In 1884 the Spaniards declared the area between La Gouira in the south and Cape Bojador to be their protectorate . They only maintained a few smaller trading posts on the coast. Only from 1930 to 1934 did Spanish colonial troops advance inland.

The Spanish troops finally left the country in 1976, whereupon Mauritania annexed the southern part and Morocco the northern part . The proclaimed state of Western Sahara still has its government in exile in the camps in Western Algeria. Their military arm, the Polisario Front , was successful in the fight against Mauritania, which withdrew completely from Western Sahara. After bloody battles against the Moroccan army , the Polisario Front dominates about a third of the claimed desert area.

The 1991 armistice did not resolve the situation either. 308,000 people still live in Western Sahara, 200,000 Sahrawi refugees live abroad, most of them in Algeria. Shortly across the border, a large group of around 165,000 Sahrawis live in four tent cities in the Algerian Sahara in the Tindouf area . These camps have so far been supplied by the UNHCR , and a rudimentary infrastructure has developed there. Given the lack of prospects in the camps, many of the young people try to flee to neighboring countries or to Europe.

Society and culture

The traditional livelihood of the nomadic Sahrawis is the breeding of camels, sheep and goats. In the past, the caravan trade was also of great importance. The hierarchical class division from ruling warriors to former slaves, which still prevailed in Mauritania, was largely lost in the Western Sahara during the course of the 20th century, with the Polisario's egalitarian social model making a significant contribution from the 1970s onwards.

Music plays a big role in cultural life. About ten traditional musical instruments are known, three of which are widely used. The melody instrument played mainly by men is the long-necked spit lute tidinit , which, like the women's bow harp, Ardin , goes back to ancient Egyptian roots. Women usually accompany their chants with the kettle drum t'bal . Since the 1980s, the tidinit has been pushed into the background by the louder-sounding electric guitar .

literature

  • Annegret Poppen, Liliane Stauder (ed.): Tent stories from the Western Sahara. DTV, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-423-12047-9 .
  • Gundi Dick: One hand alone cannot clap. Western Sahara - in conversation with women. Löcker Verlag, Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-85409-722-8

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