remain a mystery to this day. In the early 1900s, Sami
Çölgeçen, an exiled Turk living in the Fezzan region of Libya,
then part of the Ottoman Empire, wrote about the possibility
that the Tauregs were, in fact, Turks who came to the region
eons ago.
Herewith TNT presents a somewhat updated version of
Sami Bey's hypothesis, but based primarily on Sami Bey's
original thoughts. The paper was recently presented at the
Altay Communities Symposium held in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
For previous TNT reporting on Sami Bey's exploits, click on
the following links: //
crossing the Sahara Desert
sailing to America
saving a German ship's crew
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Altay-Turkic Traces Among the Taureg Tribe of North Africa
Left, symbol used for a recent Mongol-Buryat festival. Right,
the Taureg flag and its symbol.
The origins of the Taureg peoples of North Africa remain a subject
of controversy among tribe members themselves, as well as among
outside observers. A Turk named Sami Çölgeçen, who was exiled to
Fezzan in southwestern Libya by Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1903, lived
with the Tauregs for five years before he dramatically escaped across
the Sahara Desert with Taureg assistance in 1908 and returned to
Istanbul via Liverpool, England.
In Çölgeçen’s view, the Tauregs may have originally come from
Central Asia, in a way similar, but geographically reverse, to how
today’s Native Americans are linked to southern Siberia’s Altay
region. In 1933 Çölgeçen related his observations about the Tauregs’
possible Turkic connections in a paper entitled “From Asia’s Tibet
Desert to Africa’s Sahara”.
For example, in his thesis he quotes a Taureg chief named Kınna,
who insisted that the Tauregs are Turks, having come to North Africa
through Spain and Egypt many centuries ago. Based on his own
personal knowledge of Turks and Turkic peoples, Çölgeçen
compared the customs and habits of the Tauregs with those of Altay
peoples, in terms of their common bonds vis-a-vis social structure,
hierarchy, marriage, war-fighting, wells, graves, and numerous
other categories.
Fezzan, Libya, is located at the upper right of the Tauregs'
homeland.
Çölgeçen, for example, noted that “Tauregs believe in fortune-telling
and there are those among them who read the “kürek” (shoulder
blade) bone of sheep, as do the Turks.” He submits, as well, that
the Taureg alphabet resembles ancient Göktürk and Hittite writings
and that Taureg dances and music have much in common with both
their Turkic and Native American counterparts. With regard to more
recent ties between the Turk and the Tauregs, in the 14th century, in
response to a request from some tribes, Ottoman Sultan Yıldırım
Beyazıt is said to have sent his son Yunus, whose mother was an
African concubine, to Agades in today’s Niger to rule and the current
Sultan of Agades, İbrahim Oumarou, claims to be a direct descendant.
In this paper, we will present Çölgeçen’s findings so that experts
deeply familiar with Altay-Turkic peoples can assess their validity
vis-a-vis any genuine connectivity between the Tauregs and Turks.
Long after Sami Çölgeçen left Fezzan and wrote about the Tauregs,
the science of DNA emerged as a tool for tracking and identifying
peoples and their origins. A DNA study from 2009 entitled “First
Genetic Insight into Libyan Tauregs: A Maternal Perspective”,
conducted by a joint Libyan-Italian team, focused on the same Fezzan
Tauregs with whom Çölgeçen spent so much time. The study reached
no conclusive judgments, summarizing the findings as follows: “Our
results clearly show low genetic diversity in the sample, possibly due
to genetic drift and founder effect associated with the separation of
Libyan Tauregs from an ancestral population. Furthermore, the
maternal genetic pool of the Libyan Tauregs is characterized by a
major “European” component shared with the Berbers that could
be traced to the Iberian Peninsula, as well as a minor ‘south Saharan’
contribution possibly linked to both Eastern African and Near
Eastern populations.”
Figure 2. Spatial frequency distribution (%) of haplogroup H1 in
western Eurasia and North Africa.
So in light of the continuing uncertainty about the Tauregs’ origins,
Çölgeçen’s idea that they had a Central Asian-Turkic link, while still a very
remote possibility, cannot be totally dismissed and the referenced DNA
study even includes some tantalizing shreds of support for it. In any case,
modern science aside, experts in Central Asia and Turkic culture may find
additional supporting evidence in Çölgeçen’s observations to sustain
interest in his theory.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tevariks (herinafter ‘Tuaregs’)
From Asia’s Tibet Desert to Africa’s Sahara
//Originally an appendix to the book “How I Crossed the
Great Sahara Desert” by Sami Çölgeçen//
Sami (Çölgeçen) Bey wrote this series of articles about the communal structure,
lifestyles, customs and traditions of the Tauregs (Tuaregs), with whom he lived and
came to know during his 5 years of exile in Fezzan, Libya: Muhit newspaper, no: 51,
January 1933, pages 20-24; no: 52, February 1933, pages 8-9, 36, 43-45; no: 53,
March 1933, pages 12-15, pages 12-15; no: 54, April 1933, pages 9-11, 48.
Sami Bey, who was the first Turk to cross the Great Sahara Desert, has been kind
enough to present to Muhit the first portion of his study, based on strong evidence, about the
tribes who are called Tauregs and who came from Asia in ancient times via Egypt. We have
no doubt that these remarkable writings will be read by Muhit’s readers with great pleasure
and delight.
There is no such study in our language and, in fact, studies of this accuracy and
depth are hard to find in the travel and geography literature of any nation. Over the course
of seven years in exile in Fezzan he became close with the Tauregs and was able to research
all of their lifestyles, morals and customs. A Taureg chief even kidnapped him once.
The Tauregs
When one goes to the edges of the Great Sahara Desert in the north of Africa, one
encounters people who are well-built, with a heroic attitude, handsome features, white-
skinned and loud-voiced. The surrounding tribes fear these warriors, the Tauregs.
Tuareg is the plural of Tarkî and the name was given to them by the Arabs because
when the Arabs first occupied north Africa they encountered the “Tarka” tribe and over time
this name was applied to all the Tauregs. But the Tauregs call themselves “İmohag”, their
language “Tamahag” and their writings “Tifinag”. They comprise a great many tribes that
have spread to the north, east and south of the Great Sahara Desert.
Each tribe has a different name and the four classes of each are:
1. ‘Asiller’ (Royals)
2. ‘Reyaya’ (Common people)
3. ‘Murabıt’ (Ascetics/Scribes)
4. ‘Esirler’ (Slaves/Prisoners)
‘Asiller’ (Royals)
They are called “İmogar/free men” in their own languages. The plural is “İmmegaren”.
The royals (free men) are the tribes that hold power and the reason for this is that
their blood is pure. They cannot marry with those not of their level - with regard to
pure blood, not wealth. Royals always defend their own against attacks and
harassment. They willingly shed blood, are brave and famed for their stoudt-
heartedness. Work is directed by them (more will be said on the subject of work later.)
They are called “İmgat” and they own herds and slaves. They deal with agriculture
and trade and have been dispersed among many tribes, a few of which belong to royal
tribes. The “İmgat” pay taxes to the chief of the free men tribe to which they
belong. In return, the free men tribe protects them from attacks and harassment
and settles disputes for them, as well. The common people make petitions to the
chief of the free men tribe they belong to.
‘Murabıtlar’ (Ascetics/Scribes)
They are between the free men and the common people. Since ancient times, the
“Kel-es-souf” and “Tinilküm” tribes have maintained the privilege of training ascetics/
scribes, who are calm, humble and polite individuals. They are not rough and tumble
like the free men, resembling what we Turks call “kalem efendisi” (scribes or monks).
In Algeria and Fezzan they are called ‘fakih’. But they should not be thought of as
religious men since they deal with history, literature and poetry, rather than the
dense pages of religious books. They train preachers and they know the languages
of neighboring tribes, besides their own. In commerce, they serve as translators.
The ascetics/scribes are like leaders who play the biggest role in defending and
preserving national unity.
More than religion, their duty is to inculcate a feeling of nationalism in all Tauregs
and especially in the free men. In fact, thanks to their tireless determination, they
spread the spirit of Tauregism not only among the Tauregs themselves, but
among the mixed-race peoples, as well. The poems of the Tauregs, called ‘şahname’
(historical poems), are transmitted from mouth to mouth by the ascetics/scribes,
who have others memorize them. In particular, they teach women and girls the poems
that depict the Tevarik wars and heroes, playing their ‘rebab’ (three-string violins)
and singing loudly. When a beautiful Taureg girl recites such a poem
accompanied by the ‘rebab’, listeners are inspired. The national pride and
feeling of independence among the Tauregs is the result of learning these poems.
I can say that this inculcation has preserved the blood, colors, languages and self-
esteem of the Tauregs for thousands of years. Thanks to these ascetics/scribes, the
Tauregs have been able to resist the attacks and occupations of many tribes and
nations and defend themselves. They are the living essence of these
inspirational poems, which make the Taureg enter the burning deserts to live free,
rather than as slaves, and to continue their existence.
Compared to others, the ascetics/scribes are an enlightened class and they play the
biggest role in politics, administration, community and the commerce - both social
and economic. They are found not only in surrounding nations but have representatives
in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and France, all of which have relations with the Tauregs.
At times, they have had men in Istanbul, too. Wherever they are they wear the clothes
of that place, learn the language and engage in trade.
The ascetics/scribes write to the tribal chief about important events. Once a royal
tribal chief learns something from them he promulgates it to all his subjects and to other
royal tribal chiefs. In this way, all Tauregs learn about events. At the same time, the
ascetics/scribes write about and report the local prices of animals, leather, wool, gum,
oil and cheese, which are the exports of the Tauregs.
They play the role of both commission agent and trade representative in their local
neighborhood. When there is news of an attack against the Tauregs, the ascetics/
scribes learn the direction the attackers are coming from and report this
intelligence immediately. All of the Taureg women and girls know the
‘Tifinah’ alphabet and they can read and write. They play the one-string ‘rebab’,
as well, which the ascetics/scribes teach them about. The Tauregs call their
own writing ‘Tifinah’.
‘Esirler’ (Slaves/Prisoners)
They are called “Bellas” and are bought and sold. In fact, they are sometimes sold
along with their herds. However, this exchange is done between themselves.
These slaves/prisoners are essentially blacks but over the course of generations of
interaction with the Tauregs they have lost some of their blackness and are now more
like swarthy. The Tauregs treat them very well, behaving quite justly and lovingly
towards them, effectively treating them as family members of the royals. The
Tauregs never oppress their slave/prisoners and concubines like the Arabs do. In fact,
the slave/prisoners dress better than their masters and this is something of a source
of pride for the Tauregs. The children of the slaves/prisoners are the property of
the masters, like the sheep. Rarely, they are sold or traded, but only when there
is a great need and more often they are traded, rather than sold. A concubine can
only be traded for a beautiful camel or horse. But among the surrounding
tribes, the price of a camel is more than that of a slave or concubine. The
Tauregs do not separate camels and women, as far as their value is concerned.
The slaves/prisoners have pedigrees like the royal Tauregs. A generation of mulattos
has resulted from the concubines. These individuals are muscular, adroit and quite
handsome. And the women and girls are more beautiful and enticing than any others.
All travelers have admired them and written about their beauty.
The slaves/prisoners look after the business affairs of the Tauregs and tend the herds,
as well. They also serve as stewards of Tuareg households and rent camels, sell sheep,
make cheese and dig wells. In short, the slaves/prisoners take care of all the matters
of the family to which they belong and procure all their needs. There is yet another
class that comes from these mulattos – “Grassas” (artisans), whose skills are
passed from father to son – blacksmiths, jewelers, tanners, powder-makers, camel
saddle-makers, painters, cutters, gunmakers. As for the girls, they are rug-weavers,
cosmeticians and midwives. Thusly, they have become separate classes and tribes.
//End of Part I//
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