Tadjoura
Encyclopedia
Tadjoura is the oldest town in Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...

 and the capital of the Tadjourah
Tadjourah Region
The Tadjourah Region is one of the six Regions of Djibouti. The Region borders the Obock Region and Eritrea to the north-east, Ethiopia to the north-west, the Dikhil Region to the south-west, and the Gulf of Tadjourah to the south-east....

 region
Regions of Djibouti
-See also:*ISO 3166-2:DJ*...

. Lying on the Gulf of Tadjoura
Gulf of Tadjoura
The Gulf of Tadjoura is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean in the Horn of Africa. It lies south of the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, or the entrance to the Red Sea, at . Most of its coastline is the territory of Djibouti, except for a short stretch on the southern shore, which is part of the...

, it is home to a population of around 25,000 inhabitants.

Tadjoura has an airstrip and is linked by ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 with Djibouti City. It is also known for its whitewash
Whitewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a very low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime and chalk . Various other additives are also used...

ed buildings and nearby beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

es.

Etymology

The Afar
Afar language
Afar is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. It is believed to have 1.5 million speakers, the Afar. The basic word order in Afar, like in other East Cushitic languages, is subject–object–verb. Its speakers have a literacy rate of between one and three per cent...

 name Tagórri derives from the noun tágor or tógor, (pl. tágar meaning "outre à puiser" ("goatskin flask for drawing water"). The name Tagórri is specifically derived from *tagór-li, which means "qui a des outre à puiser" ("that which has goatskin flasks to draw water"), in effect meaning "abondante en eau" ("abundant with water").

History

While visiting Tadjoura in 1842, Charles Johnston was told that there could be found "stone walls of some extent, but completely in ruins," which "could be seen on the road to the well" between the town and a local well. Upon inspecting the site, Johnston "by raking over the spot with the butt end of a spear very evident marks of the foundations of some extensive buildings were to be seen, but were still too indistinct to enable us to form any idea as to their character." Questions about these ruins only informed Johnston that they were the work of "Turks", or "sometimes, as if correcting themselves, explaining that they meant the Feringees, for that the old possessors had not been Mahomedans but Christians."

According to Mordechai Abir, Tadjoura originally was the seat of the Afar
Afar
Afar may refer to:*Afar people, ethnic group principally residing in Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia*Afar Insurgency, alternative name for the Djiboutian Civil War of November 1991-December 1994*Afar Triangle, a geological depression near the Horn of Africa...

 Ad-Ali Abli Sultanate as well as a port. This ruler, known as the Dardar, "claimed authority over all of the northern Adoimara Afar to the borders of Showa
Shewa
Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...

. However, although it was true that some sub-clans of the Ad-Ali and Abli Adoimara roamed as far as the borders of Yifat
Yifat
Yifat is a kibbutz in Galilee, northern Israel. Located adjacent to the town Migdal HaEmek and short distances from the cities of Afula and Nazareth. It falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council...

, even the staunchest supporters of the Sultan agreed that his actual authority did not stretch beyond Lake Assal
Lake Assal
Lake Assal can refer to:* Lake Assal , a crater lake in central Djibouti* Lake Karum, a lake in the Afar Region of Ethiopia also known as Lake Assal...

, a short distance from Tadjoura."

Richard Pankhurst
Richard Pankhurst (academic)
Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE is a British academic with expertise in the study of Ethiopia.-Early life and education:...

 notes that it differed from neighboring ports by handling almost entirely the trade of Shewa
Shewa
Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...

 and Aussa, "rather than that of Harar
Harar
Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...

 or the Ogaden
Ogaden
Ogaden is the name of a territory comprising the southeastern portion of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim. The title "Somali Galbeed", which means "Western Somalia," is often preferred by Somali irredentists.The region, which is...

." He quotes William Cornwallis Harris
William Cornwallis Harris
Major Sir William Cornwallis Harris was an English military engineer, artist and hunter.-Life and career:...

' description of an annual bazaar that started each September, when "for two months the beach is piled with merchandise, and the suburbs are crowded with camels, mules and donkeys." Pankhurst also cites C.T. Beke
Charles Tilstone Beke
Charles Tilstone Beke was an English traveller, geographer and Biblical critic. Born in Stepney, London, the son of a merchant in the City of London, for a few years Beke engaged in mercantile pursuits...

 that the trade with the inhabitants of the Afar Depression
Afar Depression
The Afar Triangle is a geological depression that is caused by the Afar Triple Junction which is part of the Great Rift Valley. It overlaps Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia. The Afar Triangle includes the Danakil Depression and the lowest point in Africa, Lake Asal...

 was handled entirely by women, "who loaded the camels, bought and sold while the men kept away altogether 'to avoid bloodshed, this country being the scene of constant feuds among the different tribes.'"

While Abir observes that the port is not mentioned in all of the material about the Red Sea in the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries, by the mid-19th century Tadjoura was thriving, "while all the other so-called Afar sultanates along the coast were described ... as small decaying villages of no political or commercial importance." Tadjoura owed this success to possessing a major slave market; Pankhurst suggests that a rough estimate of 6,000 people a year left Ethiopia through Tadjoura and Zeila
Zeila
Zeila, also known as Zaila , is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast, situated in the northwestern Awdal region of Somalia.Located near the Djibouti border, the town sits on a sandy spit surrounded by the sea. It is known for its offshore islands, coral reef and mangroves. Landward, the terrain is...

. The other important commodity sold in Tadjoura in the 19th century was ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...

, brought by caravan from Aliyu Amba
Aliyu Amba
Aliyu Amba is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1805 meters above sea level....

. Other goods exported included wheat, durra, honey, gold, ostrich feathers, senna, madder, and civetone
Civetone
Civetone is a cyclic ketone and one of the oldest perfume ingredients known. It is a pheromone sourced from the African Civet. It has a strong musky odor that becomes pleasant at extreme dilutions. Civetone is closely related to muscone, the principal odiferous compound found in musk, because both...

. The value of trade in 1880-1 was estimated at the time as 29,656 rupee
Rupee
The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...

s in exports and 18,513 rupees in imports.

Once Tadjoura came under French control
History of Djibouti
The Republic of Djibouti gained its independence on June 27, 1977. It is the successor to French Somaliland , which was created in the first half of the 19th century as a result of French interest in the Horn of Africa.-Early years:The history of Djibouti, recorded in poetry and songs of its...

, the slave trade was abolished by decree on 26 October 1889; however, Noel-Buxton reported that Tajoura still remained a center of the slave trade, but "limited to small though frequent shipments." While during the 1880s the port served as a distribution point for rifles and ammunition to Shewa and Ethiopia (during this period, Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...

 lived in the city), Tajoura's importance inevitably declined with the construction of the Franco-Ethiopian railway, which began service on 22 July 1901, extended to Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa
Dire Dawa is one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia . This chartered city is divided administratively into two woredas, the city proper and the non-urban woreda of Gurgura....

 17 months later, and finally to Addis Ababa on 3 December 1929.

The port of Tadjoura was modernized in 2000, at a cost of US$1.64 million, allowing it to handle cargo vessels and their contents. The work was described as part of the government’s effort to help the economic development of the districts of Tadjourah, Obock, Ali-Sabieh and Dikhil. The new port was formally opened by Djibouti president Ismail Omar Guelleh
Ismail Omar Guelleh
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the President of Djibouti. He succeeded his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999. He is often referred to in the region by his initials 'IOG'....

on 10 October.

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