Araouane
Encyclopedia
Araouane or Arawan is a small village in the Mali
an Sahara
, lying 243 km (151 mi) north of Timbuktu
on the caravan route to Taoudenni
. The village once served as an entrepôt
in the trans-Saharan trade
.
Araouane has just over 300 inhabitants divided into 45 families. Only around 40 men are permanently resident, the others are migrant workers, mostly employed in the salt mines of Taoudenni
. The small village contains three mosques: the Kunta mosque, the Friday mosque and the Sidi Ahmed Ag Ada mosque. Araouane once had a significantly larger population. At the time of a visit by a unit of the French camel corps (méhariste
s) in 1906, the village had between 900 and 1000 inhabitants.
The surrounding desert is completely barren and the harmattan
wind blows sand that accumulates against the walls of the buildings. The rainfall is too little to permit any agriculture and the village is dependent on the caravan
trade which nowadays is restricted to the transport of salt blocks from the mines at Taoudenni, 420 km to the north. Between the 16th and 19th centuries Araouane acted as an entrepôt
in the important trans-Sahara trade.
The French explorer, René Caillié passed through Araouane in 1828 on his journey from Timbuktu across the Sahara to Morocco
. He travelled in May, the hottest month of the year when the average maximum temperature in Timbuktu is over 42°C. He left Timbuktu with a caravan of 600 camels transporting gold, slaves, ivory, gum arabic
, ostrich-feathers and cloth. The caravan mostly travelled at night and took six days to reach Araouane where it stopped for nine days before setting out again towards Taoudenni with an additional 800 camels. Caillié gives this description of Araouane:
Some of the goods passing through Araouane bypassed Timbuktu. Caillié mentions salt being taken to the town of Sansanding
and Heinrich Barth
, during his visit to Timbuktu in 1853, learnt that some of the gold trade also passed directly from Sansanding to Araouane. Sansandig is a town on the northern (left) bank of the River Niger, upstream of the Inner Niger Delta and 634 km south west of Araouane. Caillié was told that caravans took 25 days for the journey between Araouane and Sansanding.
The Timbuktu scholar, Ahmad Baba al Massufi
, was born in Araouane in 1556 but brought up in Timbuktu.
Author and adventurer Ernst Aebi invested a significant amount of money and time into the project of regenerating this village. An account of his time there is recorded in his book Seasons of Sand.
Local NGO "Araouane Action" and the Italian multicultural association "Les Cultures" are active in the village and in 2005 constructed a school block containing two classrooms. The International Committee of the Red Cross
have financed the construction of a health center.
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
an Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
, lying 243 km (151 mi) north of Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
on the caravan route to Taoudenni
Taoudenni
Taoudenni is a remote salt mining center in the desert region of northern Mali, north of Timbuktu. The salt is dug by hand from the bed of an ancient salt lake, cut into slabs and transported either by truck or by camel to Timbuktu. The camel caravans from Taoudenni are some of the last that...
. The village once served as an entrepôt
Entrepôt
An entrepôt is a trading post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit. This profit is possible because of trade conditions, for example, the reluctance of ships to travel the entire length of a long trading route, and selling to the entrepôt...
in the trans-Saharan trade
Trans-Saharan trade
Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara to reach sub-Saharan Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the late 16th century.- Increasing desertification and economic incentive :...
.
Araouane has just over 300 inhabitants divided into 45 families. Only around 40 men are permanently resident, the others are migrant workers, mostly employed in the salt mines of Taoudenni
Taoudenni
Taoudenni is a remote salt mining center in the desert region of northern Mali, north of Timbuktu. The salt is dug by hand from the bed of an ancient salt lake, cut into slabs and transported either by truck or by camel to Timbuktu. The camel caravans from Taoudenni are some of the last that...
. The small village contains three mosques: the Kunta mosque, the Friday mosque and the Sidi Ahmed Ag Ada mosque. Araouane once had a significantly larger population. At the time of a visit by a unit of the French camel corps (méhariste
Mehariste
Méhariste is a French word that roughly translates to camel cavalry. The word is most commonly used as a designation of military units.-Origins of French Camel Corps:...
s) in 1906, the village had between 900 and 1000 inhabitants.
The surrounding desert is completely barren and the harmattan
Harmattan
The Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from the Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March...
wind blows sand that accumulates against the walls of the buildings. The rainfall is too little to permit any agriculture and the village is dependent on the caravan
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
trade which nowadays is restricted to the transport of salt blocks from the mines at Taoudenni, 420 km to the north. Between the 16th and 19th centuries Araouane acted as an entrepôt
Entrepôt
An entrepôt is a trading post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit. This profit is possible because of trade conditions, for example, the reluctance of ships to travel the entire length of a long trading route, and selling to the entrepôt...
in the important trans-Sahara trade.
The French explorer, René Caillié passed through Araouane in 1828 on his journey from Timbuktu across the Sahara to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. He travelled in May, the hottest month of the year when the average maximum temperature in Timbuktu is over 42°C. He left Timbuktu with a caravan of 600 camels transporting gold, slaves, ivory, gum arabic
Gum arabic
220px|thumb|right|Acacia gumGum arabic, also known as acacia gum, chaar gund, char goond, or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal...
, ostrich-feathers and cloth. The caravan mostly travelled at night and took six days to reach Araouane where it stopped for nine days before setting out again towards Taoudenni with an additional 800 camels. Caillié gives this description of Araouane:
I inspected the town of El-Arawan. It is situated in a hollow, and surrounded by sandy hills, which extend to the west. The streets are wider than those of Timbuctoo, and equally clean. The houses, built in the same manner as at Timbuctoo, are much lower and less solid; for the sand here is not of so clayey a nature. The roofs are flat; instead of the small pieces of wood, which are used in the buildings at Timbuctoo, they here substitute the stalks of a bullrush which grows in the neighbourhood of the town. Thin rafters of ronnier wood support these reeds, which are slightly covered with sand. The magazines are very small. The houses are all of very frail construction, and their number may be five hundred, each containing about six inhabitants, including slaves.
El-Arawan like Timbuctoo possesses no resources of its own. It is the entrepot of the salt of Toudeyni [Taoudenni], which is exported to Sansanding on the banks of the Dhioliba [River Niger]. Its soil is even more barren than that of Timbuctoo. As far as the eye can reach no trace of vegetation is to be perceived. The camels of the numerous caravans have to go a great distance for forage. Wood is so scarce that nothing is burned but camel dung, which is carefully collected by the slaves. This is the only fuel used even for cooking. The Moors collect their camels every six days, in order to take them to drink at the wells, which are in the environs of the town. These wells are about sixty paces deep. They employ a camel to draw up the bucket, which is made of hide. A pulley is also used. The water of these wells is brackish, warm, and very unwholesome.
Some of the goods passing through Araouane bypassed Timbuktu. Caillié mentions salt being taken to the town of Sansanding
Sansanding
Sansanding is a small town and commune in the Cercle of Ségou in the Ségou Region of southern-central Mali. The town is on the left bank of the River Niger about 50 km downstream of Ségou.-References:...
and Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.-Biography:Barth...
, during his visit to Timbuktu in 1853, learnt that some of the gold trade also passed directly from Sansanding to Araouane. Sansandig is a town on the northern (left) bank of the River Niger, upstream of the Inner Niger Delta and 634 km south west of Araouane. Caillié was told that caravans took 25 days for the journey between Araouane and Sansanding.
The Timbuktu scholar, Ahmad Baba al Massufi
Ahmad Baba al Massufi
Ahmad Baba al-Massufi al-Tinbukti, full name Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Takruri Al-Massufi al-Timbukti , was a medieval West African writer, scholar, and political provocateur in the area then known as the Western Sudan...
, was born in Araouane in 1556 but brought up in Timbuktu.
Author and adventurer Ernst Aebi invested a significant amount of money and time into the project of regenerating this village. An account of his time there is recorded in his book Seasons of Sand.
Local NGO "Araouane Action" and the Italian multicultural association "Les Cultures" are active in the village and in 2005 constructed a school block containing two classrooms. The International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
have financed the construction of a health center.