Influences of Trans-Saharan Trade's Cultural Exchanges
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京都精華大学紀要 第三十九号 −167− Influences of Trans-Saharan Trade’s Cultural Exchanges on Architecture : Learning from Historical Cities and Cultural Heritages in Mali and Mauritania Oussouby SACKO 1. Purpose and Research Method The aim of this paper is mainly to research what kind of cultural exchange has been done during the Trans-Saharan Trade from the architectural and cultural perspective. In Mali, the research was conducted in Djenné and Timbuctu, two historical cities, which have been in the center of the Trans-Saharan Trade. In those cities, the field survey was focused on spatial organization and their social meaning, specifically the courtyard and the vestibuleNote1. For understanding the role and the spatial organization of the vestibule in the courtyard houses, few pre-surveys and pre-analyses based on my previous researches and field works were conducted. The pre-surveys were conducted in August and December 2007, by measurement of plans, interview of households and household behaviors’ observation. Different ethnic groups were chosen as subjects in the meaning of understanding the social role of the vestibule in their social interaction. In Mauritania, the surveys were conducted mainly in the Adrar RegionNote2, specifically in the historical cities of Chingetti and Ouadane. In both cities, interview surveys were conducted regarding their role and implication within the trans-Saharan trade. Focusing on houses, I made measurements and observations of houses details. In those areas, particular interest was put on the manuscripts, their role in cultural exchange, and conservation condition. 2. Introduction of Mali and Mauritania 2.1 About Mali (1) History and Geography Mali is a landlocked country situated in the heart of West Africa. Mali was a French −168− Influences of Trans-Saharan Trade’s Cultural Exchanges on Architecture：Learning from Historical Cities and Cultural Heritages in Mali and Mauritania colony for about hundred years and use to be called the French Sudan. It became independent in September 22nd, 1960. Mali is bordered on the north by Algeria, on the east by Niger, and Burkina Faso, on the south by Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, and on the west by Senegal, and Mauritania. It is a relatively large country with a surface area of 1,240,192 km², and the Sahara Ref. 1 Fig. 1 The Republic of Mali desert covers 65% of its territory . Source: http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/mali.pdf Fig. 2 Tomb of Askia Fig. 3 Cliffs of Bandiagara (Sangha) Source: Oussouby SACKO (2009. 09) Source: Oussouby SACKO (2009.08) The Niger River and the Senegal River run respectively for 1700 km and 800 km through the south and east of the country, while the northern region forms part of the Sahara Desert. The seasons are divided broadly into dry and wet or rainy. The dry season starts from around November to May, and the rainy season starts from around June to October. Rainfall, extremely low in the desert areas to the north, exceeds 700 mm annually in the south due to the tropical climate. The population is concentrated in central and southern areas, where the climate is relatively mildRef. 2. Mali has 4 World Cultural Heritages sites, three (Djenne (since 1988), Timbuktu(since 1988) and Tomb of Askia (since 2004)) as cultural heritages and one (Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)(since 1989)) as mixed cultural heritageRef. 3. (2) Population and Ethnical Structure In 2008 the actual population was about 12.7 million (2008), mainly (90%) concentrated in the southern parts, giving an average population density of about 10 people per km². Mali’s 京都精華大学紀要 第三十九号 −169− population consists of diverse Sub-Saharan ethnic groups (Bambara, Fulani, Soninké, Sénouf, Songhai, Malinké, and Dogon), sharing similar historic, cultural, and religious traditions. Exceptions are the TuaregsNote 3 and Moors, desert nomads, related to the North African Berbers. Historically, good inter-ethnic relations throughout the rest of the country were facilitated by easy mobility on the Niger River and across the country’s vast savannahs. Each ethnic group was traditionally tied to a specific occupation, all working within close proximity. The Bambara, Malinke, and Dogon are farmers; the Fulani, Moor, and Tuareg are herders; the Soninkés or Saracolés are traders; while the Bozos are fishermen. In recent years, this linkage has shifted as ethnic groups seek diverse, nontraditional sources of incomeRef. 4. Although each ethnic group speaks a separate language, nearly 80% of Malians communicate in Bambara, the common language of the marketplace. 2.2 About Mauritania (1) History and Geography Most of Mauritania is made up of low-lying desert, which comprises part of the Sahara. Along the Senegal River, the southwest is a semiarid Sahel with some fertile alluvial soil. A wide sandstone plateau (rising to c. 460 m) runs through the center of the country from north to south. The country is divided into 12 administrative regions. The Hodh region (in the southern part of th Mauritania), which became desert only in the 11 Fig. 4 Islamic Republic of Mauritania Source: http://mappery.com/maps/ century, was the center of the ancient empire of Mauritania-Map.gif Ghana (700- 1200), whose capital, Kumbi-Saleh, located near the present-day border with Mali, has been unearthed by archaeologists. Until the 13th century, Oualata, Awdaghost, and Kumbi-Saleh, all in Mauritania, were major centers along the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Until 1920, when it became a separate colony in French West Africa, Mauritania was administrated as part of Senegal. Saint Louis, in Senegal, continued to be Mauritania’s administrative center until 1957, when it was replaced by Nouakchott. In 1958, Mauritania became an autonomous republic within the French Community and on November 28, 1960 Mauritania became fully independentRef. 5. −170− Influences of Trans-Saharan Trade’s Cultural Exchanges on Architecture：Learning from Historical Cities and Cultural Heritages in Mali and Mauritania Mauritania’s four ancient cities known as the ksar (plural ksour) Note 4 (World Heritage sites since 1996) constitute exceptional examples of settlements built originally to serve the important trade routes of the Sahara, which were witness to cultural, social and economic contacts for many centuries. They are the only surviving places in Mauritania to have been inhabited since the Middle Ages. Sited on the outskirts of a fertile valley or oasis, their original function was to provide religious instruction, and so they developed around mosques, accompanied by houses for teachers and students. Typically, houses with patios crowd along narrow streets around a mosque with a square minaret. They illustrate a traditional way of life centered on the nomadic culture of the people in the Western SaharaRef. 6. (2) Population and Ethnical Structure The majority of the population is made up of nomadic and semi nomadic people of Berber, Arab, Tuareg, and Fulani descent. Those of Berber, Arab and mixed Berber-Arab background are sometimes called Moors, Maurs, or Maures. The remainder of the population mostly belongs to the Tukolor, Soninke, Bambara and Wolof ethnic and live as sedentary agriculturalists near the Senegal River. The great majority of Mauritanians use Hassaniya ArabicNote 5, which along with Wolof are the official language. Other erhnic languages such as Pular and Soninke are also widely spoken. The country has a complex social caste system from the light-skinned Moors to the black Africans as a social ladderRef. 7. Fig. 5 World Heritages Sites in Mauritania Source: Okumura Satoshi (For the Maritania Embassy) 3. The Trans-Saharan Trade and its impact on West African Culture 3.1 About the Trans-Saharan Trade The Trans-Saharan tradeRef. 8 is the trade across the Sahara desert between 京都精華大学紀要 第三十九号 −171− Mediterranean countries and sub- Saharan Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of such trade extended from the eighth century until the late sixteenth century. No one knows exactly when the trans- Saharan trade first began. It may well have begun 2000 years ago. The trans- Fig. 6 Historic Trans-Saharan Trade Routes, 8th to 19th centuries Source: http://ericrossacademic.files.wordpress. Saharan trade involved two regions, com/2011/01/historic-routes.jpg North Africa and Western Sudan. Western Sudan is at present part of West Africa. The northern traders were the Berbers of North Africa. In the 7th century AD the Muslim Arabs conquered North AfricaRef. 9. The Arabs were great traders who were quick to see the potential of the trans-Saharan trade. 3.2 West African History and the Impact of Trans-Saharan trade on its Culture Small trade routes around the Nile Valley have been used for millennia, but travel across the Sahara prior to the domestication of the camel was difficult. The earliest evidence for domesticated camels in the region dates from the third century. Used by the Berber people, they enabled more regular contact across the entire width of the Sahara, but regular trade routes did not develop until the beginnings of the Islamic conversion of Fig. 7 Main Manuscript Repositories in Northern and Western Africa Source: http://ericrossacademic.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/current- West Africa in the seventh and eighth manuscripts.jpg centuries. Two main trade routes developed. The first ran through the western desert from modern Morocco to the Niger Bend, the second from modern Tunisia to the Lake Chad area. These stretches were relatively short and had the essential network of occasional oases that established the routing as inexorably as pins in a map. Further east, the area south of Libya was impassable due to its lack of oases and fierce sandstorms. A route from the Niger Bend −172− Influences of Trans-Saharan Trade’s Cultural Exchanges on Architecture：Learning from Historical Cities and Cultural Heritages in Mali and Mauritania to Egypt was abandoned in the tenth century due to its dangersRef.