Who are the hawwāra? A philological approach to the ethnogenesis of the tuareg people

(prof. Carles Murcia - Universitat de Barcelona 21 aprile 2023) It is well known that the 𝗛𝗮𝘄𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗮 were one of the most ubiquitous Amazigh groups of the early Middle ages thanks to the introduction of the 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 and the use of 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗮𝗴𝘀 for the carriage of water and grain, which allowed them not only to practice far-reaching 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 routes through steppe and predesert areas but also to exercise the hegemony of 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀-𝗦𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 for a long time. Only recently has it been made clear that the 𝗛𝗮𝘄𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗮 were skilled experts in 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 and in 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, which they exported to other areas of North Africa, to Sicily and Šarq Al-Andalus, where, along with other groups from the eastern Tamazgha, they left an indelible mark not only on the large Valencian vegetable gardens but also on the transhumance routes that followed the Xúquer and the Túria river courses. What was not known until now was 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟯𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗗 segments of this great Amazigh confederation infiltrated the borders of 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 until the collapse of imperial rule in the 5th century. In this presentation we will discuss the 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻 (epigraphic, philological, ostraca) 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 that refer to them and we will show what role they played in the 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 of the main group of the Central Sahara since the early Middle Ages, the 𝗧𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.