The Tuareg: People of the Sahara and the Indigo Veil

At dawn on the edge of the Aïr Mountains in Niger, a line of camels moves slowly across the sand. The men leading them wear long robes and a wrapped cloth that covers the head and most of the face, leaving only the eyes uncovered. The cloth is dyed deep indigo, and some of the dye has rubbed off onto their skin, giving it a faint blue sheen.

For centuries, outsiders have called them "the blue men of the desert". They call themselves by other names: Kel Tamasheq, "the people who speak Tamasheq", or Imuhagh, which is often translated as "the free people". They are the Tuareg, one of the great peoples of the Sahara.

Who the Tuareg are

The Tuareg are a Berber (Amazigh) people, related to the Indigenous communities of North Africa whose story we told in Tamazight and Tifinagh. Their homeland stretches across the central Sahara and the Sahel, mainly in:

• Niger and Mali, where most Tuareg live
• southern Algeria and southwestern Libya
• northern Burkina Faso

Population estimates vary widely, from around one million to well over two million, because Tuareg communities cross national borders and many have moved to towns and cities.

Language and an ancient script

The Tuareg speak Tamasheq (also spelled Tamacheq or Tamajeq, with regional varieties such as Tamahaq and Tamajaq). It belongs to the Berber family of languages.

Remarkably, the Tuareg kept alive an ancient alphabet called Tifinagh, related to scripts carved on Saharan rocks for well over two thousand years. Tuareg women in particular have long used it to write short messages, love poems and riddles, and to decorate jewellery and leatherwork. Modern versions of Tifinagh are now used across North Africa.

The veil worn by men

One of the most striking Tuareg customs turns many outsiders' expectations upside down: it is the men, not the women, who cover their faces.

The veil, called a tagelmust or alasho, is a long cloth, sometimes several metres long, wound around the head and face. A young man traditionally receives his first veil around the time he becomes an adult, in a ceremony that marks his readiness for marriage and responsibility. Men often raise the veil higher in front of elders, chiefs and in-laws as a sign of respect and modesty.

Indigo-dyed veils are the most prized and are worn on special occasions. In everyday life, many men wear white, black or other colours.

The strong position of women

Tuareg women traditionally do not veil their faces, and they have long enjoyed a degree of independence that surprised early travellers:

• Women traditionally own the tent, which is part of what a bride brings to her marriage.
• Descent and some inheritance were historically traced through the mother's line, although Islamic law has added father-line inheritance.
• Women are often the keepers of poetry, music and the Tifinagh script, and they play the imzad, a one-stringed fiddle whose music is treasured across Tuareg society.
• In many communities, a divorced woman keeps the tent, and divorce carries little shame.

Masters of the caravan

For centuries, the Tuareg controlled important routes across the Sahara. Their caravans carried salt, dates, cloth, livestock and other goods between North Africa and the cities of the Sahel, such as Agadez and Timbuktu. They also took part in the trade in enslaved people, a painful part of the region's history.

One of the most famous journeys is the salt caravan from the Aïr region to the oasis of Bilma in eastern Niger, where blocks and cones of salt have been produced for centuries. Some of these caravans still run, though trucks have replaced many camels.

Silver, leather and music

Tuareg craftsmanship is admired worldwide. Smiths, known as inaden, make silver jewellery, weapons, saddles and decorated leather, including the famous Tuareg silver crosses, such as the cross of Agadez.

Tuareg music has also gone global. Electric guitar bands such as Tinariwen created a new style often called "desert blues", which we explored in Tinariwen and the Desert Blues.

Challenges today

Modern Tuareg life has faced serious difficulties. Colonial borders divided their lands between several countries. Severe droughts in the 1970s and 1980s destroyed herds and forced many families into towns or refugee camps. There have been several armed rebellions in Mali and Niger demanding more rights and autonomy, and conflict and insecurity across the Sahel have made life harder still.

Many Tuareg now live settled lives as farmers, traders, teachers and craftspeople, while working hard to keep their language, music and traditions alive for the next generation.

Why it matters

The Tuareg show how people can build a rich culture in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Their veiled men, independent women, ancient alphabet and caravan routes are a reminder that the Sahara was never empty. It was, and still is, a home, a crossroads and a source of extraordinary art and music.

Further reading

• Encyclopedia.com — Tuareg
• Yale University, eHRAF World Cultures — Tuareg summary
• Jeremy Keenan, The Lesser Gods of the Sahara: Social Change and Contested Terrain amongst the Tuareg of Algeria (Frank Cass, 2004)