Sultanate of Aïr
The Sultanate of Aïr (also Asben ) is a sultanate founded in the 15th century that used to control a territory the size of Bavaria in the north of today's Republic of Niger . Its capital is Agadez . It used to play a significant role in trans-Saharan trade . Today the sultan only has representative functions.
Position and extent
The historical territory of the Sultanate of Aïr ranged between 15 and 20 northern latitude of the city of Agadez in the south to the city Tintellust the north in an area of about 250 km (east-west) by 300 kilometers (north-south) . It thus encompassed most of the Aïr massif. According to reports, a north-south crossing of the empire took seven days.
history
According to tradition, the capital of the Sultanate, Agadez, was founded by Berbers in 1449 . The sultan's palace in Agadez dates from this period . About 50 years later, the area came under the rule of the Songha Empire . During this time the city had about 30,000 inhabitants and developed into an unavoidable stopover for caravans on the routes between Timbuktu and Kano on the one hand and between the house states and the oases of Ghat and Ghadames (in the north of the desert) on the other. As a result, the entire region experienced a heyday, which ended with the conquest of the Songha Empire by Morocco in 1591.
In the following years, Agadez and the entire sultanate came under the control of the Tuareg . Due to the prosperity potential of the region, a kind of tribal federation developed in the area of the sultanate . During this time, the population of Agadez decreased significantly. Around the year 1850 travel reports speak of only 8,000 inhabitants.
The first modern European visitors to the Sultanate of Aïr were two Franciscans (OFM) who were traveling as missionaries . The German Africa explorer Heinrich Barth reached the area in 1850 and made it known after his return to Europe with a first scientific description of its geography and history.
Around 1900 the sultanate came under the control of France , which expanded from Algeria and Senegambia to the south and west as part of its colonial policy . Since then, the Sultan of Aïr has only had a de facto representative and advisory function, but no longer any real political power, which did not change with the establishment of the Republic of Niger.
politics
The head of state of Aïr was the Sultan, who resided in Agadez. He did not have absolute power, because he was elected by representatives of the ruled Tuareg tribes, albeit always from the same clan that was believed to come from Istanbul .
The ruling houses of Aïr maintained contacts with Kanem-Bornu .
economy
The Sultanate of Aïr benefited above all from the caravans that crossed the country on their way from sub-Saharan Africa to Algeria and Fessan , stopped there and stocked up on provisions.
In addition, Heinrich Barth also reported on fertile valleys and oases, which were the basis of extensive agriculture . In addition to palm trees , figs , cereals and tropical fruits were cultivated. In addition, there was certainly also livestock farming . Barth also names a rich fauna ( antelopes , rabbits , pigs , monkeys , jackals ), so that hunting opportunities existed.
From the city of Agadez the production of leather goods and a distinctive wood craft is reported.
The city of Tintellust was considered the most important city in the empire around 1850, although political power was concentrated in Agadez.
See also
literature
- Heinrich Barth: Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa in the years 1849 to 1855 . Gotha 1857–58, 5 vols. / Here vol. 1.
- Gustav Adolph v. Kloeden (Prof. ad municipal trade school in Berlin): Handbook of regional and national studies of Asia, Australia, Africa and America (part 3: Political geography) . 2nd improved and increased edition, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1869, p. 730 f.
- Djibo Mallam Hamani: Au carrefour du Soudan et de la Berberie. Le Sultanat Touareg de l'Ayar (= Etudes nigériennes . No. 55 ). Institut de Recherches en Sciences Humaines, Niamey 1989, ISBN 2-85921-055-5 .
- Joseph Ki-Zerbo: The History of Black Africa . 7th edition, Hammer-Verlag, Wuppertal 1985, ISBN 3872941534 .