View source for Azalai

{{Short description|Salt caravan route practiced by Tuareg traders in the Sahara desert}}
[[File:Bilma-Salzkarawane1.jpg|thumb|right|A camel train traveling from Agadez to Bilma (Niger), 1985.]]
[[File:Mopti sel.jpg|thumb|right|Slabs of salt from the mines of Taoudenni stacked on the quayside at the port of Mopti (Mali)]]
[[File:Salt selling Mopti Mali.jpg|thumb|right|Rock salt at the market in Mopti. It is sold here in slabs, broken and weighed, and packaged into smaller amounts.]]
The '''Azalai''' ([[Tuareg language|Tamasheq]], var. '''Azalay''') is a semi-annual [[salt]] [[Camel train|caravan]] route practiced by [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]] traders in the [[Sahara]] desert between [[Timbuktu]] and the [[Taoudenni]] [[salt mine]] in [[Mali]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061122151820/http://www.wildfrontiers.com/showarea.asp?AreaInfoID=91 Mali - Azalai] - URL retrieved July 6, 2008</ref> or the act of traveling with a caravan along that route.
The other major West African salt caravan route, heading from around [[Agadez]] to [[Fachi]] and [[Bilma]] in [[Niger]], is called '''Taghlamt''' (in Tamasheq, or '''Taglem''' or '''Tagalem''' in [[Hausa language]]).
The two are among the last caravan routes in the Sahara that are still in use. Both caravans have largely been replaced by unpaved truck routes.
== Timbuktu-Taoudenni ==
At one time the caravan route from [[Timbuktu]] extended through [[Taoudenni]] to [[Taghaza]], another salt-mining site, and on to the lands north of the Sahara on the Mediterranean Sea. Caravans with up to 10,000 camels carried gold and slaves north, returning with manufactured goods and salt from Taghaza and Taoudenni.<ref>{{cite web|last1=de Villiers|first1=Mark|last2=Hirtle|first2=Sheila|title=Space, Time, and Timbuktu|journal=Natural History|url=http://nhmag.com/0707/0707_feature.html|access-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927165010/http://nhmag.com/0707/0707_feature.html|archive-date=27 September 2007|date=July–August 2007|volume=116|issue=6}}</ref> Until the 1940s, the Taoudenni caravans were made up of thousands of camels, departing Timbuktu at the beginning of the cool season in November, with a smaller caravan departing Timbuktu at the beginning of the hot season in March.
After the Azalai reaches Timbuktu, the rock salt it is taken by boat to [[Mopti]] and further on to other [[Sahel]] and [[Sudanian Savanna|Sudanian]] markets.
== Agadez–Bilma ==
[[File:Salz aus Fachi.JPG|thumb|right|''beza'' (front) and ''kantu'' salt in Fachi]]
The Agadez–Bilma route, passing through the [[Ténéré]] desert and the oasis town of [[Fachi]] in eastern Niger, takes around three weeks to complete (both ways). It is traditionally a twice yearly caravan from the capital of the [[Aïr]] region to the [[natron]] [[Salt evaporation pond|salt pans]] along the string of oases formed by the [[Kaouar]] cliffs in north east Niger. Food and supplies were carried from Agadez each November and March and traded for bricks of salt, condensed in the natron pits of oasis towns, and to a lesser extent, dates and vegetables. The salt was then generally traded for animal use in the [[Hausaland]] regions to the south.{{Sfn|Decalo|1979|p=41, 133, 134}}
The Agadez–Bilma Taghlamt was historically a monopoly of the Tuareg, and successively the [[Kel Gres]], [[Kel Owey]] and [[Kel Ayr]] confederations in particular. Many Tuareg traders owned the salt pits and date plantations in Kaouar, as well as holding bonded laborers there, and traveled the caravan to administer their property. The Tuareg Taghlamt, numbering 10,000 camels and stretching 25&nbsp;km at the beginning of the colonial period, is led by the representative of the [[Amenukal]] (confederation leader), followed by each sub group.{{Sfn|Decalo|1979|p=41}}
=== Pre-colonial history ===
The [[camel]] was introduced into the Sahara in the late first millennium, and Tuareg tribes moved south into the region in the 13th century. In the 18th century, Tuareg confederations captured the Kaouar oases from the [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]] and began transporting goods from Agadez.{{Sfn|Decalo|1979|p=133}}
=== Colonial and post-colonial history ===
The disruptions of the [[French colonial empire|French colonial expansion]] in the first years of the 20th century led to inter clan rivalries, and later, the rise of mechanised traffic. In 1904, Ouled Sliman raiders from what is now [[Chad]] destroyed the caravan at Bilma, and again in 1906 at Fachi. The French reported that the 1906 caravan numbered 20,000 camels. Following the [[Kaocen revolt]], no Taghlamt traveled the route until 1925, and then it was accompanied by French colonial forces. By 1948, the caravans had shrunk to 8000 camels, and continued to shrink thereafter. The northern road route, marked by the [[Tree of Ténéré]], has supplanted most camel trains, but small Taghlamt trains continue to head out each November.
== See also ==
* [[Trans-Saharan trade]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
== References ==
*{{cite book |first=Pascal James |last=Imperato |title=Historical Dictionary of Mali |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Metuchen, NJ |year=1986 |page=91 |isbn=0-8108-1369-6 }}
*{{cite book |first=James |last=Decalo |title=Historical Dictionary of Niger |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000deca_w7m6 |url-access=registration |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Metuchen, NJ |year=1979 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000deca_w7m6/page/40 40–41] |isbn=0-8108-1229-0 }}
*{{cite book |first=Finn |last=Fuglestad |title=A History of Niger: 1850–1960 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1983 |isbn=0-521-25268-7 }}
== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |last=Benanav |first=Michael |year=2006 |title=Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold |publisher=The Lyons Press |isbn=1-59228-772-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/menofsaltcrossin00bena }}
[[Category:Berber words and phrases]]
[[Category:Economy of Mali]]
[[Category:Economy of Niger]]
[[Category:Trade routes]]
[[Category:Transport in Mali]]
[[Category:Transport in Niger]]
[[Category:Sahara]]
[[Category:Tuareg]]