Songhay

The term “Moor”and its variants have long been used throughout Europe as synonyms for Nigri or Negro and to denote various black-skinned and nearly black peoples. In the last century or so, it has been presumed that ancient “Moorish” Muslims in the Iberian peninsula were erroneously thought of as black by medieval Europeans. It has also been presupposed that the term “Moro” in the Iberian peninsula originally denoted Saracens and Berber-speakers that were distinct from modern “blacks” of Africa in phenotype and biological origin. It has been concluded that early “Berber” populations in North Africa were descendants of ancient  “Caucasoids“ who have absorbed different black African populations in recent times. Similarly it is believed that the Arab populations of North Africa a thousand years ago were mainly “Caucasoid” groups affiliated with present populations of the Levant.

Historical documents, physical anthropology, linguistics, archeology and traditional record in Muslim Africa and Asia, however, support the view that early “Berber” clans entering Europe were not only “blacks” and “near blacks” in the literal sense, but affiliated with early and current black populations of the Fezzan, Mzab, Syrtica, the Moroccan Riff, Sudan, Sahara and Sahel designated Garawa, Masmuda, Jarawa or Wangara, and Zaghawa, Zaghai or Songhai.

The Tuwarek or Tuareg were also one of the originally "Ethiopic" peoples of coastal regions of North Africa once  designated Lewathes, Mauri, Austuriani,  Nasamones and Mazikes or "Mazazeces"  from which comes the nationalist term  "Amazigh" of modern Berber-speakers.  The Tuareg peoples in combination with the original Beriberi or "Berbers" were the populations first referred to as Mauri or Moors, a designation which was utilized for them as late as the early Medieval period.

Abstract: The abundance of manuscripts of Andalusi’s authors and works is a part of the great amount of Arab manuscripts that exist in Timbuktu and its region. The presence of all these manuscripts and their great amount are two questions that must be explained done that this is neither a non Arab region nor Arabic speaking. For that reason, in the present article the historical-cultural dimension of the question is approached (the legend of the city of Timbuktu, its historical evolution and intellectual and scientific development, the population and the languages, the Hispanic bond, the tradition booklover for science and education). After it, we show a general balance sheet and volume of Arab manuscripts collections in Timbuktu. The third part is dedicated to the type of collections and libraries.

Key words: Manuscripts; Timbuktu; libraries; Mali; Armas; Songhay; education; Subsaharan Africa; black Islam.

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Résumé: L'abondance de manuscrits des auteurs et des oeuvres d’al-Andalus est seulement une partie de la grande quantité de manuscrits arabes qui existent en Tombouctou et leur région. La présence de tous ces manuscrits et sa grande quantité sont deux questions qui doivent être expliquées puisqu’il s’agit d'une région non arabe ni arabophone. Pour cette raison, dans le présent article on aborde la dimension historique-culturelle de la question (la légende de la ville de Tombouctou, son évolution historique et développement intellectuel et scientifique, la population et les langues, le lien hispanique, la tradition bibliophile pour la science et l'enseignement). Après cela, on offre un bilan général et le volume de fonds de manuscrits arabes en Tombouctou. La troisième partie est dédiée à la typologie des collections et bibliothèques.

Mots clés : Manuscrits, Tombouctou, bibliothèques, Mali, Armas, songhay, enseignement, Afrique Sub-saharienne, islam noir

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Resumen: La abundancia de manuscritos de autores y obras andalusíes es solo una parte de la gran cantidad de manuscritos árabes que existen en Tombuctú y su región. La presencia de todos estos manuscritos y su gran cantidad son dos cuestiones que deben explicarse por tratarse de una región no árabe ni arabófona. Por ello, en el presente artículo se aborda la dimensión histórico-cultural de la cuestión (la leyenda de la ciudad de Tombuctú,  su evolución histórica y desarrollo intelectual y científico, la población y las lenguas, el  vínculo hispánico, la tradición bibliófila para la ciencia y la enseñanza). Tras ello, se presenta un balance general y volumen de fondos de manuscritos árabes en Tombuctú. La tercera parte se dedica a la tipología de colecciones y bibliotecas.

Palabras clave: Manuscritos, Tombuctú, bibliotecas, Malí, Armas, songhay, enseñanza, África Subsahariana, islam negro

Sources écrites (maghrébines, ouest-africaines, européennes) et orales révèlent un pan de la vie et l’œuvre d’une figure islamique du blad as-Soudan. Héritière de l’empire du Ghana, associée aux empires du Mali et du Songhay, la trajectoire d’El Hadj Salim Souaré offre un aperçu des relations intellectuelles entre Machrek, Maghreb et Sahel (XVI et XVIIe s.). Elle incarne la diffusion d’un « islam de paix » au moyen d’une ingénierie sociale combinant neutralité, autonomie et gestion d’un vaste réseau (religieux, commercial et culturel) couvrant l’Afrique de l’Ouest (du littoral jusqu’au Sahel en passant par la forêt et la savane).

This article analyses the unprecedented choreography that governs the exercise of monarchical power under the reign of Askia Muhammad Silla. This power is in fact staged in an ingenious scenographic facility that merges the ancient songhai royal tradition which he nevertheless criticized, and that of the Islamic royalty of which he claimed to be the ardent defender; this was done for his illegitimate crown to be recognized and admitted by all the subjects of the empire.

The ad-Durru an-Nadeer Fi Kayfiyat as-Salaat `Ala as-Shafi` al-Basheer (The Golden Pearls Regarding the Methodology of Sending Blessings Upon the Mediating Bringer of Good News) by the 10th century reformer of Islam, Shaykh Ahmad Baba ibn Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Muhammad Aqit at-Tinbukti as-Sanhaji al-Massini at-Takruri as-Sudani al-Maliki; is divided  into an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion demonstrates with succinct clarity that sending blessings upon the Best of Creation, may Allah bless him and grant him peace is the most revolutionary act spiritual aspirants can do in dispensing with ‘the cult of personality’ which has become the hallmark of the Path of Tasawwuf particularly in the western hemisphere.

This thesis examines the effects of contact on the grammars of the languages of two Saharan oases, Siwa and Tabelbala. These share similar linguistic ecologies in many respects, and can be regarded as among the most extreme representatives of a language contact situation ongoing for centuries across the oases of the northern Sahara. This work identifies and argues for contact effects across a wide range of core morphology and syntax, using these both to shed new light on regional history and to test claims about the limits on, and expected outcomes of, contact. While reaffirming the ubiquity of pattern copying, the results encourage an expanded understanding of the role of material borrowing in grammatical contact, showing that the borrowing of functional morphemes and of paradigmatic sets of words or phrases containing them can lead to grammatical change. More generally, it confirms the uniformitarian principle that diachronic change arises through the long-term application of processes observable in synchronic language contact situations. The similarity of the sociolinguistic situations provides a close approximation to a natural controlled experiment, allowing us to pinpoint cases where differences in the original structure of the recipient language appear to have influenced its receptivity to external influence in those aspects of structure.

Linguistique et Langues Africaines (LLA) [African Languages and Linguistics] is an international journal for African linguistics, whose main goal is to contribute to a better knowledge of languages spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa, be they vernacular, vehicular or creole, with the exception of local varieties of European languages. We are open to recent trends and all theoretical approaches. The selected articles may be chiefly concerned with linguistic domains (e.g. phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicography and semantics), or include an anthropological component. Contributions providing comparative or typological approaches are also welcome. Junior researchers (e.g. PhD students) are encouraged to submit their contributions to LLA.

Linguistique et Langues Africaines is particularly interested in publishing analyses based on fieldwork data as well as studies relating to little documented or endangered languages and cultures. The journal is also open to contributions that are less concerned with theory, such as working documents or firsthand data; such research will appear in a special “notes and documentation” section. Our journal also includes book reviews.

The languages of the journal are English and French, as well as other major European languages (please consult the editors). Submissions to “Linguistique et Langues Africaines” undergo a double-blind peer review by experts who are not members of the editorial board.

The second issue of our journal is scheduled for the end of 2016.

City of Eighty-four Languages, from Malacca to Mali: Economic Conditions of                                        Islamic Lands in 15th Century***Tallest Buildings of the World: Economies of Kilwa and the other Muslim Lands in 14th Century***Animal Husbandry for Development ***Savings and Consumption from the Islamic Perspectives***“Export” and “Broader Muslim World” for “End Poverty”***Patronization of Islamic Sciences by Muslim Rulers in the History of Islam***Interesting Notes from the History of Islamic Environmental Law***Duties of Accountant  According to Quran***“Economics of History” and Historical Scenes of Quran***Culture of Islamic Economics in Turkey***Some Notes from the History of Islamic Maritime Law***Never Buffet and Contentment Economic ***Can Government  Curb The Animal Spirits***What Were The Promises of Islam: Garaudy’s Notes on Economics After Thirty-Three Years***“These Are The Melons of Kharazm”: Economic Conditions of Islamic Lands in 13th Century***From End Of Economics to Normalization of Economics***Studies in canada on Islamic Economics History***Studies of Non-Muslims on Islamic Economics in Last 125 Years*** Singapore and Luxembourg: Development of Small States***                           
Salahuddin (Saladin) Ayyubi had signed bilateral agreements with Byzantium empire and Italian city-states in 12th century.  He improved the economic and business life of Egypt. The 15th century historian Maqrizi writes  free health services that provided by Ayyubids  in Syria and Egypt that  four hospitals in Musul, two hospitals each in Damasqus , Halab, Harran , one each in Cairo, Qudus and Alexandria. Ayyub Sabri Pasha (a high bureaucrat of late 19th century of Ottoman empire) had written Mir’at’ul-Haramayn (Mirror of Two Harams (Holy Cities of Mecca and Madina) that published in 1872  describing the economic and social conditions of Arabian peninsula.  Ghana, Low-lands of Senegal and Upper-Niger were the richest regions of the world a millennium ago under the administration of Muslim rulers. Andalusian scholar Ibn Liyun (1282-1349) wrote a book on technical agriculture that J. E. Ibanez published it (as Tratado de agricultura, Granada 1975, 1988)  Even Fazzan province in south Libya had got excellent irrigation system between 10th-12th centuries.  George F. Hourani had studied ‘Arab Seafaring in 9th and 10th Centuries’  in his doctoral dissertation in 1939 in Princeton.  Before presenting original thousands of notes from the history of Islamic economics in a detailed volume, the author wants to submit the earlier studies to the reader. Islamic economics realized  ‘a commercial revolution in a maximized work ethics’  and ‘marriage of economics and ethics’ in long centuries. Undoubtly a man/woman has not got a cultural/historical root, he/she is real orphan. Rootlessness is great orphanness.   

Malacca population was only 2,000 in the year of 1400 but with a rapidly growth it reached 50,000 in the 1450s and 100,000 (or 190,000) at the end of the 15th century. Eighty-four languages were being spoken in the Malacca city and there were 4,000 foreign businessmen. In another parts of the Islamic world: international businessman Mahmud Ghawan from Iran was named as 'King of the Businessmen'  by Indian Sultan Alauddin Khumayun Shah and then became the prime minister of Bahmanids. Ahmadabad city was established in this century by Ahmad Shah and Khalajids in Northern India (esp. Sultan Mahmud I) were protecting Muslim/non-Muslim foreign businessmen. But the economies of Egypt and Baghdad(Iraq) were not good; heavy taxes, and lack of security were repeller factors for businessmen from these countries. Jalaluddin al-Suyuti had written  Zamm al-Maks  in that years against heavy taxes of Mamluk administration in Egypt and Jeddah and Rasulid dynasty in Aden. Custom duties became very high in Aden and Indian ships began to come to Jeddah directly from Calcutta bypassing Aden. In Iran, Iraq and Azarbaijan, taxes also were very high under the Karakoyunluds dynasty. But Afhganistan especially in last thirty years of this century was in prosperity under the reign of Sultan Hussain Baykara. Three islands in Indian Ocean were today’s Singapore: Jarun Island in Khurmuz Strait, Diu (Island) in Ghujurat and Kilwa(Island) in East Africa were very active international (Islamic) free ports that businessmen of the world used to meet. Africa: from Atlantic to Indian ocean was a very rich continent in this century. In general, Islamic countries  -with their productive economies- were the champions of free-trade.

M.A. Thesis, May 2016: The sudden regime change that resulted in the collapse of the Songhay Sunni dynasty and the ascent of the Songhay Askia dynasty in 1492-93 is one of the most important events in West African history. This swift rebellion reversed decades of destructive economic and religious policies. As such, the memory of such dynamic and transformative times was captured by the griots, the oral historians of the Sudan. Nouhou Malio, a Songhay griot, recounted his version of the demise of Sunni Ali and the rise of Askia Mohammed to Penn State professor Thomas Hale in 1980-81. This tale is packed with symbolic meaning. When placed in historical and cultural context, one finds that Malio communicated complex social and political ideas in what Joseph Campbell termed "the picture language of mythology." Campbell's theory of the Hero's Journey is used as a standard against which to compare the themes of the epic. Indeed, The Epic of Askia Mohammed ranks among the classics of world mythology when viewed in this light. The epic is compared to the historical record in order to find the deeper meaning and kernels of truth buried in the allegories of the tale. Sunni Ali is remembered as a great warrior and a magician-king, while Askia Mohammed is viewed as an able administrator and devout Muslim. This is a false dichotomy. A nuanced understanding is achieved upon close investigation into the period of regime change. Ultimately, one finds that the epic is brimming with details concerning the Songhay past and present and that the players are much more complex than popularly perceived.

L’invocation des origines mythiques et légendaires fait partie des stratégies mises en œuvre par les entités (rois, dynasties, peuples etc.) pour légitimer leur pouvoir ou affirmer leur hégémonie. C’est ce qui ressort visiblement de l’analyse comparée des textes narrant les origines des peuples Francs et Songhaïs ; et des dynasties mérovingiennes, carolingiennes, celle des Dia et des Askia. Les premiers entre le VIe et le VIIIe siècle élaborent des récits qui situent leur origine à la glorieuse cité de Troie tandis que les seconds font venir leurs ancêtres du Yémen, connue, grâce aux hadiths du prophète comme étant une terre valeureuse de l’Islam. L’intérêt est visiblement de voir à quel point ces stratégies mises en place par des peuples aux cultures, mœurs, religions et situations spatio-temporelles différentes, se rapprochent. Ainsi, dans le cadre de cette étude, nous nous interrogeons principalement sur la manière dont ces mythes et légendes d’origine sont utilisés par ces peuples pour légitimer leur pouvoir ou imposer leur hégémonie

Abstract: The intense Berber-Songhay language contact that produced Northern Songhay cannot be understood adequately without taking into account the existence of a Northern Songhay language outside the Azawagh valley – Korandjé, in Algeria – showing no significant signs of Tuareg contact. This article proposes a new explanation based on linguistic, epigraphic, and historical data: Western Berber-speaking Masūfa, present throughout northern Mali around 1200, founded Tabelbala to facilitate a new trade route; they chose Northern Songhay speakers, already a distinct group, for their experience in oasis farming and possibly copper mining.  As Masūfa influence waned, the language was reoriented towards North Africa.

Updating the methodology of Hayward (1991), using the concept of colexification (François 2008), this paper, for the first time, provides quantitative evidence that the languages of the West African Sahel/Savanna form a lexical-typological language area characterised by shared colexifications absent further north.  It then uses the linguistic comparative method to determine how languages entering or leaving this area, or coming into increasing contact with it at its edges, have converged with their new neighbours within the past millennium.  The results indicate sharp differences in the respective roles and rates of borrowing and calquing, with the latter acting almost exclusively to increase shared colexifications.

(Erratum: Denis Creissels assures me that Bambara jíri can mean “tree” and “wood”, but never “firewood”; please correct accordingly.)

This article shows, based on shared arbitrary innovations, that the Northern Songhay (NS) languages of the Sahara form a valid subfamily, and that Northern Songhay and Western Songhay (WS) together form a valid subfamily, Northwestern Songhay (NWS). The speakers of PNS practised cultivation and permanent architecture, but were unfamiliar with date palms; those of PNWS were already in contact with Berber and Arabic, and lived along the Niger river. This is compatible with two scenarios for the northerly spread of Songhay: A. NS spread out from an oasis north-east of Gao, and PNWS had been spoken in areas west of Gao which now speak Eastern Songhay; or B. NS spread from the Timbuktu region, and WS derives from heavy “de-creolising” influence by Eastern Songhay on an originally Northern Songhay language.

Cet article analyse les prétentions saadiennes dans le Bilad al-Sudan. Son objectif est de montrer comment la recherche d'une légitimité politique au sein de la Oumma et les prétentions califales des princes saadiens fondent la politique d'expansion des Saadiens dans le Bilad al-Sudan. En effet, contesté par les Ulema sur le chérifisme de leur dynastie, les Saadiens tentent tout au long de leur règne de consolider leur hégémonie par des instruments politiques et religieux. D'une part, ils consolident et légitiment leur dynastie par de vastes conquêtes dont la plus significative est celle du Songhay à la fin du XVI ème. D'autre part, cette volonté d'hégémonie par la reconstitution du califat d'Occident. Considérant leur dynastie d'origine chérifienne, donc seuls détenteurs d'un califat de droit, les Saadiens cherchent à reconstruire le califat dans l'Islam occidental. Se considérant les héritiers des califes almohades, les princes Saadiens tentent d'établir un califat allant du Maghreb Occidental au Bilad al-Sudan.

This article defines and analyzes one of the serious forms of power misappropriation and
inversion of hierarchies that have marked the history of the Songhai Empire and weakened
its politico-administrative structure in the sixteenth century. He studied especially function’s
usurpations and power’s appropriation that was guilty the renowned qadi Mahmud bin Umar
bin Muhammad Aqīt at the time of its judicature, in the first half of the sixteenth century in Timbuktu.
He recalls in particular the empire reformed institutional context which promoted it, the
usurped powers and actions that muslim judge applied to legitimize these different monopolies.

The Tārīkh al-fattāsh is one of the most important and celebrated sources for the history of pre-colonial West Africa, yet it has confounded scholars for decades with its inconsistences and questions surrounding its authorship. In this study, Mauro Nobili examines and challenges existing theories on the chronicle, arguing that much of what we have presumed about the work is deeply flawed. Making extensive use of previously unpublished Arabic sources, Nobili demonstrates that the Tārīkh al-fattāsh was in fact written in the nineteenth century by a Fulani scholar, Nūḥ b. al-Ṭāhir, who modified pre-existing historiographical material as a political project in legitimation of the West African Islamic state known as the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi and its founding leader Aḥmad Lobbo. Contextualizing its production within the broader development of the religious and political landscape of West Africa, this study represents a significant moment in the study of West African history and of the evolution of Arabic historical literature in Timbuktu and its surrounding regions.

Korandje, a Songhay language spoken in Tabelbala (Algeria), has been extensively influenced by Berber, borrowing more than 50 verbs. In the process, Korandje (predominantly agglutinative) is forced to select a single invariant stem from the many forms of the Berber verb, whose several principal parts are often interrelated by stem-internal changes as well as affixation. It turns out that the form chosen is almost always the perfective, with or without a 3MSG prefix depending on the conjugation.  This matches well with the structure of Korandje, where the absence of an overt mood/aspect marker marks the perfective, and with results observed in related languages. As such, it suggests that recipient language structure helps determine the outcome of language contact.

El Imperio Sonray es uno de los grandes imperios de la historia africana y su hundimiento en 1591 encierra aún hoy en día diversos misterios. Sonray se forjó en las orillas del Níger como el último imperio del África Occidental y su papel en las relaciones económicas y políticas es clave para entender el desarrollo de los acontecimientos no sólo en África sino en Europa y en especial en Portugal.En este estudio tratamos de esclarecer cómo se produjo el fin del Imperio más grande de su tiempo en el contexto africano y qué consecuencias tuvieron las relaciones internacionales que se desarrollaron entre Portugal, Marruecos y Sonray.

Así, frente a la visión tradicional que trata la expansión política y militar de Marruecos que desembocó en la batalla de Tondibi de 1591 y en la posterior victoria del Sultanato como única causa (o al menos la hegemónica) estudiaremos una segunda causa indirecta que afectó al Imperio. Esta causa está relacionada indirectamente con
Portugal quien desde el S. XV va a tratar de expandirse por las costas africanas en busca de un paso hacia la India y para ello crea una red comercial por el Atlántico.Esta nueva red comercial creó un cambio en el flujo comercial del continente africano, afectando a las rutas transaharianas que habían estado en funcionamiento desde la Edad Media y que habían dirigido las mercancías africanas hacia el Mediterráneo primero y a Europa después. Parece posible que este desequilibrio provocará diversas catástrofes en el interior del continente que debilitaran al Imperio. Esta sería la segunda explicación que será tratada a lo largo de este trabajo.

La ville soudanaise durant les XVe et XVIe siècles, à l’instar des villes de l’Occident chrétien et celles du monde musulman, a abrité en son sein une société composite. Le monde des villes est hétérogène avec des catégories sociales diversifiées. Le brassage des populations a eu des répercussions certes politiques et économiques mais également sociales. Les espaces publics ont affermi les liens sociaux et consolidé les rapports interpersonnels. La ville est devenue un creuset d’intégration et un espace de promotion sociale. Le développement des activités économiques, des lettres et surtout de l’Islam a favorisé intégration et promotion sociales. Malgré tout, on observe des tensions et faits qui ont mis souvent à mal la bonne entente, la cohésion : chocs entre les cultures arabo-berbère et soudanaise et des problèmes d’insécurité.

Empreint de la pensé surréaliste, Jean Rouch avait pour désir de « mettre en circulation des objets inquiétants », il y est parfaitement parvenu avec la ciné-transe, néologisme qu’il qualifiera lui-même de « mystérieux ». La ciné-transe est aujourd’hui convoquée dans une multitude de textes académiques, dont aucun ne propose une même acception. Il faut dire que son « découvreur », Jean Rouch, ne l’évoque que très rarement et en donne des définitions qui se modifient à chaque nouvelle mention. Admettant qu’aucune exégèse de la ciné-transe ne la rendra totalement intelligible, la présente contribution n’espère donc pas dévoiler ses hypothétiques ressorts cachés, mais invite à une déambulation au fil des propos tenus par Jean Rouch, afin de retracer quelques-uns des délinéaments de son histoire intellectuelle et d’y débusquer certaines vertus passées pour partie inaperçues. Il s’agira d’abord de montrer que la ciné-transe peut être lue comme un palimpseste donnant accès à l’ensemble des préoccupations et des aspirations de Jean Rouch, et témoignant de l’abandon progressif d’une conception positiviste du film qu’il a pourtant longuement défendue. Il s’agira ensuite de souligner que cette notion porte en elle un ensemble de pistes de recherches quelque peu délaissées : la ciné-transe, loin d’être réductible à la seule anthropologie partagée – domaine où l’on cantonne habituellement les apports de Jean Rouch –, se révèle être un puissant embrayeur théorique invitant à considérer que l’expérience cinématographique peut conduire à une singulière rencontre avec soi-même, de part et d’autre d’une caméra.

Splendor and Misery of “ciné-transe”: Jean Rouch’s Successive Adaptations of a “Mysterious” Notion

Greatly influenced by the surrealist movement, Jean Rouch was keen on « putting challenging objects into circulation ». He clearly succeeded in doing so by coining « ciné-transe », a striking neologism he willingly acknowledged to be somewhat « mysterious ». Ever since, numerous academic publications allude to « ciné-transe », but no two with the same background meaning. Indeed, its discoverer, Jean Rouch, only very seldom mentions it, and even when he does, his definition varies from one occurrence to the next. Taking for granted that no new exegesis of « ciné-transe » will ever make it fully intelligible, the present contribution will make no attempt at revealing its hidden motivations. It rather intends to pave the reader’s way on a stroll along Jean Rouch’s successive statements, in the hope to reconstruct the lineaments of his intellectual trajectory and perhaps bring to light some of its unnoticed virtues. We will start by showing that « ciné-transe » can be seen as a sort of palimpsest giving access to most if not all of Jean Rouch’s concerns and aspirations, witness to his gradual discarding of the very positivist conception of filming he had long stood by. We will then emphasize that this notion contains several avenues for future research on previously neglected topics. « Ciné-transe », far from being restricted to what Jean Rouch’s contribution to anthropology is generally reduced to – the invention of shared anthropology – is also a powerful theoretical shifter inviting us to consider that the cinematographic experience can lead to unique encounters with oneself, on either side of the camera.

Este artigo dialoga com o de Christiane Seydou, por confrontar as interpretações do mesmo personagem histórico-lendário: Boubou Ardo Galo, por griots de diferentes culturas e idiomas – Fulas  do Mali e Zarma do Níger.  Na área fula, o épico de Boubou Ardo Galo está na encruzilhada entre o período pré-islâmico e a era da diina (Estado Islâmico). O personagem condensa toda a ambiguidade dessa situação e seu imenso sucesso é completamente paradoxal. Boubou de fato incorpora resistência ao Islã e lealdade ao Pulaaku (ideologia “identitária” fula), e ainda assim seu sucesso não enfraqueceu entre os Fulas, notórios propagadores do Islã no Sahel. Na área zarma, essa epopeia faz parte das chamadas histórias de “distração”, distintas daquelas relativas aos verdadeiros heróis zarma, cuja função é exaltar seus descendentes. Na história de Boubou Ardo Galo, contada pelos griots zarma, a oposição do personagem ao Islã se confunde com sua luta contra os Fulas, representados aqui pelos principais responsáveis pela implantação do Islã nessa região.

During the biennium 1908-9, the French agronomist George de Gironcourt (1878-1960) conducted an exploration of the Niger Bend in the French Sudan – modern Republic of Mali. In the course of this mission, de Gironcourt ‘discovered’ a large burial site in Bentia, the ancient sit of the Songhay ‘Medieval’ State, comprising several inscriptions in Arabic. With the support of the Ministère des Colonies, the Ministère de l’Instruction Publique and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, he went back to West Africa in November 1911 for a new mission which eventually kept him in the region for more than one year, exploring the territories of the modern states of Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. His aim was to collect a corpus of Arabic inscriptions from the area, a task that he achieved by producing 812 estampages of inscriptions in both Arabic and Tifinagh alphabet. In addition to this, de Gironcourt sent back to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 142 Arabic manuscripts (and a few in French) eventually bound together in Paris to form 12 codices.

The catalogue comprises a long introductory essay devoted to the written culture of the Niger Bend, to the formation of the de Gironcourt collection, to the main topics covered by the texts, to some codicological features of West African manuscripts, and to the mission that de Gironcourt conducted in West Africa. The catalogue properly speaking describes in detail the 142 Arabic manuscripts of the collection, analysed in their physical dimension, i.e. the object manuscript, and their intellectual contents, i.e. the text that they preserve. The description notes are arranged in a thematic order (History, Religious Renewal, Eschatology, Mysticism, Law, Geography, Sermon, Esoteric Sciences, Belles-lettres, Correspondence, and Multi-thematic manuscripts). Among these manuscripts are several relevant works of West African scholars, among which is an old copy of the Timbuktu chronicle the Tarikh al-Sudan by the 17th century scholar ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa‘di dated 1769 – the oldest known copy of this work. The collection also includes a number of notes written down under de Gironcourt’s request by local scholars and chiefs, manuscripts extant only in the de Gironcourt collection whose study will bring to light important aspects of the history of different populations encountered by French explorer during his West African journey, from Peul to Songhay, from Tuareg to Berbers, from Saharan Arabs to Hausa, whose history is still poorly documented.

The catalogue can be purchased at:
http://www.arborsapientiae.com/libro/17108/catalogue-des-manuscrits-arabes-du-fonds-de-gironcourt-afrique-de-l-ouest-de-l-institut-de-france-series-catalogorum-vi-a-cura-di-mauro-nobili.html

Justice, prospérité et autorité/s au Sahel
Perspectives historiques (XIV-XXe s)

Citations notées au fil d’ouvrages, éléments d’histoire(s) sur sciences politiques, éthique et culture d’un espace intégrant Maghreb, Machrek et blad as-Sudan. Placé au centre, le Sahel se donne à voir - en toute simplicité et humilité.

Le pouvoir monarchique est toujours associé à des instruments symboliques qui varient d’une aire géographique et culturelle à une autre. Ces instruments du pouvoir servent à affirmer solennellement l'autorité du prince et à conforter sa légitimité. Notre étude, dans une démarche comparative entre le royaume de France et l’empire Songhay, a pour objectif d’analyser les ressemblances et les dissemblances des insignes de pouvoir ; sans oublier de faire ressortir leur portée idéologique. Considérant les missions de l’État monarchique, il est possible d’établir des rapprochements des symboles du pouvoir entre l’Occident et le Bilad al-Sudan. L’étude s’appuie sur des sources littéraires soudanaises et françaises. En scrutant les cérémonies d’investiture ou de couronnement dans les différentes cours, on note des différences entre les emblèmes monarchiques. Cependant, il existe aussi des points de convergence politique, judiciaire et militaire entre les insignes dans la construction du pouvoir royal ou impérial.

The development of double negation in Arabic has attracted increasing attention in recent years (Lucas & Lash 2010; Wilmsen 2014; Diem 2014). The striking parallels between negation in Berber and North African Arabic invite an explanation in contact terms, and such explanations have indeed been proposed (Lucas 2010; Lucas 2013) and disputed (Brugnatelli 2014). However, in addition to serving as a postverbal negative, reflexes of šayʔ have a number of other functions across North African dialects not directly related to negation, notably indefinite quantification and polar question marking. The marking of these functions, too, shows striking Arabic-Berber parallels generally neglected in discussions of the phenomenon, and absent even from Kossmann’s (2013) comprehensive overview of contact effects on Berber. Taking these into account produces a more complete picture of Arabic influence on Berber, and provides clues to the relative chronology of the developments in question in both. As in other cases, it appears that Arabic influence on non-Arabic varieties sometimes preserves usages obsolete in present-day regional Arabic dialects.

As might be expected from the difficulty of traversing it, the Sahara Desert has been a fairly effective barrier to direct contact between its two edges; trans-Saharan language contact is limited to the borrowing of non-core vocabulary, minimal from south to north and mostly mediated by education from north to south. Its own inhabitants, however, are necessarily accustomed to travelling desert spaces, and contact between languages within the Sahara has often accordingly had a much greater impact. Several peripheral Arabic varieties of the Sahara retain morphology as well as vocabulary from the languages spoken by their speakers’ ancestors, in particular Berber in the southwest and Beja in the southeast; the same is true of at least one Saharan Hausa variety. The Berber languages of the northern Sahara have in turn been deeply affected by centuries of bilingualism in Arabic, borrowing core vocabulary and some aspects of morphology and syntax. The Northern Songhay languages of the central Sahara have been even more profoundly affected by a history of multilingualism and language shift involving Tuareg, Songhay, Arabic, and other Berber languages, much of which remains to be unraveled. These languages have borrowed so extensively that they retain barely a few hundred core words of Songhay vocabulary; those loans have not only introduced new morphology but in some cases replaced old morphology entirely. In the southeast, the spread of Arabic westward from the Nile Valley has created a spectrum of varieties with varying degrees of local influence; the Saharan ones remain almost entirely undescribed. Much work remains to be done throughout the region, not only on identifying and analysing contact effects but even simply on describing the languages its inhabitants speak.

In June 2019, Paul Stoller taught a four-day workshop entitled "Weaving the World: Writing Evocative Ethnographies" at the University of Bern. The technique of “weaving the world”, according to Stoller, denotes the seamless linkage of ethnographic description to social analysis. The evocation of space/place, character, and dialogue are strategies that ethnographic writers can use to ensure that readers come to know a place or the people who live in a particular place. During the course of the workshop, Paul Stoller outlined ethnographic writing (and blogging) practices and revealed some of the “tricks of the trade”. He encouraged the participants to begin to “weave the world” by writing descriptions of places as well as dialogues and character portraits, and to then combine them into a short ethnographic essay that captured in prose the texture of those elements as they are expressed during an event.

This article examines the rise of an organization of Northern Malians living in bamako during the crisis in 2012–2013, the Collectif des Ressortissants du Nord (COREN), run by Northern executive civil servants and political leaders. It presents a little-known aspect of the Malian crisis: the strong anti-rebellion and anti-jihadist views widely shared among Northerners - mostly Songhay and Fulani - living in bamako at the time. the article suggests that COREN’s nationalism differed from Southern nationalism, as it was informed by the complex relationship between Northern Mali and the State, and that it was rooted in a specific history of integration of Northern people - mostly Songhay - in the State apparatus since the colonial period. It discusses the ethnic and territorial identification of COREN in order to draw a complex picture of the anti-rebellion stance in Bamako during the crisis.

L'auteur, après une longue expérience de terrain et des séances d'apprentissage auprès d'un grand griot, propose un voyage au coeur de la société zarma et de ses pratiques discursives. Un voyage initiatique qui comprend plusieurs étapes, correspondant à des niveaux de connaissance différents : la parole, la mémoire, la tradition orale et les griots généalogistes.

Songhay is a language family of the Sahel with more than four million speakers, mainly in western Niger and northeastern Mali. In spite of its small population, its role in regional history has been substantial. Strong contact effects along the periphery have resulted in a remarkable situation where different varieties may have nearly identical basic vocabularies but conspicuously different typologies. Cladistic and lexical evidence shows that much of the observed variation reflects contact influences quite different from those obtaining today. After briefly detailing the distribution, history, and phonology of Songhay and the principal sources for its grammar and lexicon, this chapter examines morphology and syntax across the family. Particular attention is given to innovations distinguishing the three principal subgroups. Finally, the structure and history of the lexicon is briefly discussed, with an emphasis on borrowing as means of expansion.

This article discusses sub-Saharan loans in North Africa, many of them previously unidentified. While Hausa influence is most widespread, Songhay is a close second, and Manding and Kanuri have also played a role. Most loans are limited either geographically to the Saharan region or socially to the context of ex-slaves' music and organisations; however, four plant names have passed into general usage even in some coastal areas. Sub-Saharan influence on Ghadames Berber is particularly profound, including the borrowing of a new word class of ideophones.

Les sultanats du Songhay et du Borno sont les grandes formations politiques du Sahel aux XVie
et XViie siècles. Tombouctou, ville-entrepôt convoitée par tous les pouvoirs successifs de la région,
atteint alors son apogée commercial. En 1591, la conquête marocaine du Songhay et l’établissement
du pachalik des Arma marquent la fi n des grandes formations politiques dans la boucle du Niger.
A l'est, le Borno s’impose comme un acteur diplomatique remarqué dans les cours méditerranéennes.

Jean Rouch a découvert les rituels de possession des populations songhay du Niger quand il était ingénieur des Travaux publics des colonies avant de renoncer à ce métier pour se consacrer à la recherche. Il commence à filmer pour documenter les cérémonies où les choses sont des « activateurs d’affects » à but curatif. Clara Pacquet relève des correspondances entre son cinéma, où les humains deviennent choses et les choses créatures, et la littérature en Europe (Perec, Robbe-Grillet, Foucault, Barthes ou Baudrillard) confrontée au déferlement des objets produits en série par les machines. Laurence Bertrand Dorléac
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