of possible links between the Tauregs and the Turks, he gives
further examples. One must concede that the possibility of a
genuine connection is tenuous, at best. Nevertheless, there
is still so much we don't know...//
Ancient Graves
There are graves that the Tauregs call “İdibinen” that are found in the mountains
where they live. Almost all of these graves have been opened and plundered,
although they don’t know who the culprits were. In any case, they call these graves
“the graves of the Chinese” and they lie by these graves seeking help from the souls
of their departed forefathers, as follows: women and girls who hope to learn the fate
of their men fighting in a war, dress up in their finest clothes and put on make-up,
enter the graves and sleep there. In the morning, everyone gathers around the
dreamer and they try to interpret the dream for hours on end.
The Tauregs have the symbol “+” on all of their items, to include their swords,
dagger handles, camel saddles and keys. There are those who claim they got this
“cross” (crucifix) from the Christians, but they themselves do not know that it
represents a “cross”. In fact, these marks are found on very old gravestones. They
say that this is a national custom. In their alphabet “*” is equivalent to the letter “T”.
Perhaps since they call themselves “Tamahag”, this mark is the symbol for the first
letter of their nationality.
Aspects in Common with Turks
The Tauregs make fine locks, which open with pressure. Even if a stranger has the
key, he would have great difficulty opening this lock. The Turks have locks like this
that open with pressure. The Tauregs are also very dedicated to their camels. They
tie the slowest one at the front of their convoys, whereas the Turks tie a donkey to the
front of their camel lines. The Arabs, on the other hand, leave their camels free and
untethered.
Tauregs boil meat in water, eat the meat and drink the water. They don’t know what
bread is. The Başkurts and Kyrgyz are similar – the Başkurts who came to our
consulate in Meshed could not eat our bread so I boiled some meat in water and
offered it to them.
Tauregs fill their pouches with camel milk, add corn and dates, minus the pits, and
hang the bags on their spare camels for their journey. As this mixture bounces around
during the trip, a tasty “boza” results and the Tevarik drink it both as food and for
enjoyment. They drink it around noon after it has cooled from steaming in the pouch
and it induces a fine sleep under the burning sun. Sometimes they add aromatic plants
to this boza. The Kyrgyz also have a boza, which they call “kımız”, but instead of
using camel milk they use “kısrak” (mare’s milk). Tauregs do not eat wheat and if they
are given it they change it for corn, which they crush between two rocks. They then
boil the crushed corn in water, pour it into a bowl and eat it with milk that they put on
top of it. The Kyrgyz also love this corn.
Tauregs have a great capacity to bear thirst and hunger. If they cannot find food or
water they take blood from the hind feet of their camels and suck this blood. In the
event that this cannot be done, they kill the camel, drink the water in its stomach and
eat its meat. The American traveler Schiller wrote that the Kyrgyz, too, can bear two
days without water and a few days of hunger (Türkistan Seyahatnamesi, Basiret
Matbaası, 1294 (1878), pages 51, 92). I had written previously that a bride brings her
groom a tent. The Kyrgyz do this, as well.
The Tauregs know where to dig a well. In fact, they even say beforehand at what
depth water will appear. This is something unique to them and enables them to claim
the land around the wells they dig. The Kyrgyz, though, are similiar in this respect.
Lifestyle of the Tauregs
Tauregs make a boza they call “keşeri”, made with only water and corn. We Turks
have the same thing. Also, they make what they call “egali” by adding cheese to
“keşeri”. The Tauregs are glad when grasshopper time comes around because they
gather them up, dry them and eat them all winter long. The best food for Tauregs is
“talabekket”: they chop up meat into fine pieces and cook it in water. Then they
mash it, put it into a bowl, melt the oil they call “irditvan” from a camel’s hump and
put it on top of the meat. This is their most beloved meal.
Tauregs are just about addicted to tea. If they cannot find any they will boil whatever
plant they find in the valleys and drink it as tea. Those Tauregs who are in the
interior of the Great Desert drink their tea with dried grapes and dates. I have seen the
Başkurt Turks drink their tea with dried grapes, even in the city.
Tauregs dry dates thoroughly in the sun and then mash them and put them in pouches.
They put an amount in a a bowl, mix in water and eat it as a meal.
On a journey, Tauregs divide up the meat from a sheep or a camel that they butcher
and make piles according to how many people there are. One of them goes away and
hides. The remaining individuals each get a stick, add one for the fellow who is
hiding, and mix them up. When the hiding fellow comes the sticks are placed on the
piles of meat and each person gets the pile his stick has been placed on. In this way,
the meat is fairly split up between them. They may cook the meat of all the fellows
all at once and distribute it. They divide up water among themselves bowl by bowl,
too.
Tauregs believe in fortunes and there are those among them who read the “kürek”
(shoulder blade) bone of a sheep, as do the Turks. The Tauregs live to an old age.
Some who are more than 80-years-old can ride a camel like a young man. They are
very gregarious, as well, and always live in the fresh air. They eat sparingly – plants,
corn, dates, dried grapes, milk and meat. They eat meat least of all. Their meals are
eaten twice a day in their tents. While on journeys they drink boza and milk. They
know all the types of plants very well.
//Ed. Note: Sami Bey has much more to say about the Tuaregs and their
possible links to Turks, but TNT space limitations dictate that our telling of
his story ends here. With regard to the current Tauregs, many of them say
they are descendants of Ottoman Sultan Yıldırım Beyazıt, whom they claim
sent his son Yunus, whose mother was an African concubine in the Sultan's
harem, to Agadez in today's Nijer to rule the Tauregs as their Sultan in the
1390s.//
Sami Çölgeçen in 1927.
END PART IV - FINAL
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