Taghaza Arabic:تاغزة | |
|---|---|
  Taghaza Location withinMali | |
| Coordinates:23°36′N5°00′W / 23.600°N 5.000°W /23.600; -5.000 | |
| Country | Mali |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
Taghaza (Arabic:تاغزة) (alsoTeghaza) is an abandonedsalt-mining centre located in asalt pan in the desert region of northernMali. It was an important source ofrock salt for West Africa up to the end of the 16th century when it was abandoned and replaced by the salt-pan atTaoudenni which lies 150 km (93 mi) to the southeast. Salt from the Taghaza mines formed an important part of the long distancetrans-Saharan trade. The salt pan is located 857 km (533 mi) south ofSijilmasa (in Morocco), 787 km (489 mi) north-northwest ofTimbuktu (in Mali) and 731 km (454 mi) north-northeast ofOualata (in Mauritania).
The Taghaza mines are first mentioned by name (as Taghara) in around 1275 by the geographeral Qazwini who spent most of his life inIraq but obtained information from a traveller who had visited theSudan.[1] He wrote that the town was situated south of theMaghreb near the ocean and that the ramparts, walls and roofs of the buildings were made of salt which was mined by slaves of the Masufa, aBerber tribe, and exported to the Sudan by a caravan that came once a year.[2] A similar description had been given earlier byAl-Bakri in 1068 for the salt mines at a place that he called Tantatal, situated twenty days fromSijilmasa.[3] It is possible these were the same mines.[4]
In 1352 the Moroccan travellerIbn Battuta arrived in Taghaza after a 25-day journey from Sijilmasa on his way across theSahara toOualata to visit theMali Empire.[5][6] According to Ibn Battuta, there were no trees, only sand and the salt mines. Nobody lived in the village other than the Musafa slaves who dug for the salt and lived on dates imported from Sijilmasa and theDar'a valley, camel meat and millet imported from theSudan. The buildings were constructed from slabs of salt and roofed with camel skins. The salt was dug from the ground and cut into thick slabs, two of which were loaded onto each camel. The salt was taken south across the desert to Oualata and sold. The value of the salt was chiefly determined by the transport costs. Ibn Battuta mentions that the value increased fourfold when transported between Oualata and the Malian capital.[7] In spite of the meanness of the village, it was awash in Malian gold. Ibn Battuta did not enjoy his visit; he found the water brackish and the village full of flies.[5] He goes on to say, "For all its squalor,qintars of qintars of gold dust are traded in Taghaza."[8]
The salt mines became known in Europe not long after Ibn Battuta's visit as Taghaza was shown on theCatalan Atlas of 1375 on the trans-Saharan trade route linking Sijilmasa andTimbuktu.[6]
Alvise Cadamosto learned in 1455 that Taghaza salt was taken to Timbuktu and then on toMali. It was then carried "a great distance" to be bartered for gold.[9]
In around 1510Leo Africanus spent 3 days in Taghaza. In hisDescrittione dell’Africa he mentions that the location of the mines, 20 days journey from a source of food, meant that there was a risk of starvation. At the time of Leo's visit, Oualata was no longer an important terminus for thetrans-Saharan trade and salt was instead taken south to Timbuktu. Like Ibn Battuta before him, Leo complained about the brackish well water.[10]
At some point Taghaza came under the control of theSonghai Empire which had its capital at the city ofGao on theNiger River 970 km (600 mi) across the Sahara. Al-Sadi in hisTarikh al-Sudan chronicles the efforts of the Moroccan rulers of theSaadi dynasty to wrestle control of the mines from the Songhai during the 16th century. In around 1540 the Saadian SultanAhmad al-Araj asked the Songhai leaderAskia Ishaq I to cede the Taghaza mines. The Askia responded by sending men to raid a town in theDraa valley as a warning and demonstration of Songhai power.[11]
In 1556-7 SultanMuhammed al-Shaykh briefly occupied Taghaza and killed the Askia's representative.[12] However theTuareg shifted the production to another mine called Taghaza al-ghizlan (Taghaza of the gazelles). On his succession in 1578Ahmad al-Mansur asked for the tax revenues from Taghaza butAskiya Dawud responded instead with a generous gift of 47 kg of gold.[13] In 1586 a small Saadian force of 200 musketeers again occupied Taghaza[14] and the Tuareg moved to yet another site – probablyTaoudeni.[15] Finally, a new demand by Ahmad al-Mansur in 1589–90 was met with defiance byAskiya Ishak II. This provided the pretext for Ahmad al-Mansur to send an army of 4,000 mercenaries across the Sahara led by the SpaniardJudar Pasha.[16] The defeat of the Songhai in 1591 at theBattle of Tondibi led to the collapse of their empire. After the conquest Taghaza was abandoned andTaoudenni, situated 150 km (93 mi) to the southeast and thus nearer to Timbuktu, took its place as the region's key salt producer.
In 1828 the French explorerRené Caillié stopped at Taghaza on his journey across the Sahara from Timbuktu. He was travelling with a large caravan that included 1,400 camels transporting slaves, gold, ivory, gum and ostrich feathers.[17] At that date the ruins of houses constructed of salt bricks were still clearly visible.[18]
At Taghaza there are ruins of two different settlements, one on either side of the ancient salt lake (orsabkha). They are separated by a distance of 3 km.[19] The larger more westerly settlement extended over an area of approximately 400 m by 200 m.[20] All the houses, except the mosque, were aligned in a northwest to southeast direction, perpendicular to the prevailing wind. The houses in the more easterly settlement were aligned in the same manner and occupied an area of 200 m by 180 m. The reason for the dual settlements is not known but could be connected with Taghaza's service both as a salt mine and as a stopping point on an important trans-Saharan trade route.[21]
Taghaza has ahyper-aridhot desert climate (KöppenBWh). It is one of the driest places on earth and one of the hottest during summer, only being behindChenachène. The average high temperature in July is 48.2 °C (118.8 °F), which is 0.8°C higher thanFurnace Creek,Death Valley,California, 0.3°C higher thanTaoudenni and only 0.1°C cooler than Chenachène.
| Climate data for Teghaza | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.2 (77.4) | 29.0 (84.2) | 31.7 (89.1) | 38.3 (100.9) | 41.3 (106.3) | 45.7 (114.3) | 48.2 (118.8) | 46.8 (116.2) | 43.5 (110.3) | 37.4 (99.3) | 30.5 (86.9) | 25.1 (77.2) | 36.9 (98.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 17.0 (62.6) | 20.1 (68.2) | 23.5 (74.3) | 28.3 (82.9) | 31.7 (89.1) | 35.8 (96.4) | 38.7 (101.7) | 37.7 (99.9) | 35.1 (95.2) | 29.1 (84.4) | 22.8 (73.0) | 17.4 (63.3) | 28.1 (82.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.8 (47.8) | 11.2 (52.2) | 15.3 (59.5) | 18.4 (65.1) | 22.2 (72.0) | 26.0 (78.8) | 29.2 (84.6) | 28.6 (83.5) | 26.7 (80.1) | 20.8 (69.4) | 15.2 (59.4) | 9.7 (49.5) | 19.3 (66.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.0) | 3 (0.1) | 4 (0.2) | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0) | 11 (0.3) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[22] | |||||||||||||
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