The Touat at the crossroads of the Sahara (thirteenth to eighteenth centuries) : sources, spaces and circulations – Touat

The Touat is an area situated in the southwestern Algerian Sahara. It is at first sight little suited to human settlement, underground water tables have made possible the development of often fortified towns called ksour. From XIIIth c. onward, trans-Saharan routes from North Africa to first the Mali and then the Songhaï Empire necessarily went through these ksour. The Touat was thus shaped by migratory flows and the mix of Berber, African and Arab elements that met there; and writing its history helps understand the connection between the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa beyond the common stereotype of a uniquely one-way exploitation of the south by the north. The French colonial conquest of the Sahara was difficult, and marked by an ongoing conflict with the Moroccan sultan who claimed much of it as under his sovereignty. Colonial scholarship on the Touat is thus extremely limited. This historiographical gap is reflected in the relative lack of interest shown for the region today. Yet there is a wealth of primary sources locally, as the Touat contains a large number of private libraries (khizânât) holding unexplored treasures of manuscripts. Estimates put the number of manuscripts in the area at 12,000, many of which were produced locally (legal compilations, chronicles, travel accounts, hagiography and biographical collections). These exist alongside material remains: several historic ksour potentially provide information about the social organisation of this rural society evolving within the vast trading and scholarly networks that included the Touat. Lastly, the oral tradition, still very rich, records genealogies and historical or legendary accounts about the attachment of local tribes to Middle Eastern North African and African history.
The few individual research projects that have so far been carried out in the Touat point to the necessity of identifying and comparing these different source materials. This is what this project proposes to do, dealing with the local history of settled oasis communities as well as with the general history of the medieval and modern Maghrib, understood here as a link between the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa. This is only possible if we cross conventional boundaries between disciplines (by drawing on history, geography, archaeology and anthropology) and between ‘culture areas’, with the help both of ‘Orientalists’ and ‘Africanists’. Research questions have to be kept relatively open, as the very sparse existing historiography makes it necessary to cover as much ground as possible, in order to establish a first historical overview, develop research methods and identify the most effective avenues of enquiry.
The project is divided into four larger themes, all with their own methodological approach. The first concentrates on the socio-economic organisation of different rural communities. It will be based on a study of unpublished manuscripts, in particular local legal texts, and on an archaeological study of villages and irrigation infrastructure that made agriculture possible. The second focuses on tribal identities and power relations that have marked the history of this much sought-after area. This will be achieved through the comparison of textual evidence with oral traditions regarding lineages and the formation of tribes. The third concerns migration and trade, that is to say movements that lead to the encounter of numerous actors and goods. This will be based on the study of external sources (letters written by traders, rabbinical responsa, West African chronicles) and on archaeological findings on places specifically dedicated to exchange and storage. The forth and last theme investigates Islam and its local forms: in this respect, the Touat needs to be understood both as a relay for the Islamicisation of West Africa and as a centre of regional scholarship in its own right, organised largely around regional saintly tombs and families.