Tuareg Woman's
Counterweight
"assrou n´swoul"
This elaborate key like pendant was worn by wealthier
Tuareg women to keep their headscarves or robes from being blown away by the Sahara's
winds. The assrou n´swoul is handmade using
brass, copper, iron, silver (or silver and nickel alloy) and sometimes wood. The
method of laminating used is known as the sandwich technique.
Tuareg - 1907 Postcard
Tuareg women dress in black or indigo robes and go
about their business unveiled, unlike their husbands who must keep their faces
covered at all times, even while eating.
Tuareg woman wore the elaborate
counterweights on their robes and veils as pendants to hold them in place.
The young woman on the left has one under her right arm, as do the two
women
walking away to the right.
Tuareg Counterweights
These counterweights or
assrou n´swoul, generally translates as; the key which
is thrown over the shoulder. It is a highly prized and valued article of
adornment amongst the Tuareg and collectors alike. Tuareg blacksmiths known as inadan in Tamazight, are well known for their fine metalwork in the Sahara.
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Compared with similar pieces, this assrou
n´swoul is of the highest quality, well balanced, neatly
executed and masterly engraved with fine Tuareg designs. The patina
indicates that the object was well used for a long time.
Assrou n´swoul
of this standard are extremely rare.
Tuareg History
Descended from
Berbers in the region that is now Libya, the Tuareg are descendants of ancient
Saharan peoples described by Herodotus, who mentions the ancient Libyan people,
the Garamantes. Archaeological testimony is the ruins of Germa. Later, they
expanded southward, into the Sahel.
The Tuareg (also known as Twareg, Touareg, Amazigh, Imuhagh
and Itargiyen, are a nomadic pastoralist people and the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa.
Today the Tuareg inhabit parts of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso.
For over two millennia, the Tuareg operated the trans Saharan caravan trade
connecting the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara via five desert
trade routes to the northern (Mediterranean) coast of Africa.The Tuareg
adopted camel nomadism along with its distinctive form of social organization
from camel herding Arabs about two thousand years ago, when the camel was
introduced to the Sahara from Saudi Arabia. Like numerous African and other
groups in pre-modern times, the Tuareg once took captives, either for trade or
for domestic purposes; those who were not sold became assimilated into the
Tuareg community. Captive servants and herdsmen formed a component of the
division of labor of these nomads.
In the late nineteenth century, the Tuareg resisted the French invasion of their
Central Saharan homelands for the purpose of colonization. Tuareg broadswords
were no match for the more advanced weapons of French squadrons, and after
numerous massacres on both sides, the Tuareg were subdued and required to
sign treaties in Mali 1905 and Niger 1917. In southern Algeria, the French met
some of the strongest resistance from the Ahaggar Tuareg. Their Amenokal,
traditional chief Moussa ag Amastan, fought numerous battles in defense of the
region. Finally, Tuareg territories were taken under French governance and their
confederations were largely dismantled and reorganized.
Niger - Tuareg
Before French colonization, the Tuareg were organized into loose confederations,
each consisting of a dozen or so tribes. Each of the main groups had a
traditional leader called Amenokal along with an assembly of tribal chiefs. The groups were the Kel Ahaggar, Kel Ajjer, Kel Ayr, Adrar n
Fughas, Iwəlləmədan, and Kel Gres.
Following the independence of African countries in 1960s, Tuareg territory was
artificially divided into the modern nations of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and
Burkina Faso.
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