Ahaggar (Hoggar)

Ahaggar, or Hoggar, is a mountain massif in the central Sahara of Algeria. It takes its name from the Kel Ahaggar, a noble Tuareg confederacy that ruled the region, and it came under French control in the early twentieth century.

The name Ahaggar is used both for a noble Tuareg tribe, the Kel Ahaggar, and for the territory they ruled. That territory covers about 200,000 square miles between latitudes 21° and 25° N and longitudes 3° and 6° E. Mountain massifs bound it: the Ahanaf to the east, the Tassili of the Ajjer to the north-east, the Immidir to the north and the Adrar of the Ifoghas and the Ayr to the south. Its core is the Atakor n-Ahaggar, with a mean altitude of about 7,200 ft and peaks above 9,800 ft. The climate is desert, with poor thorny vegetation, and the people grow dates and some cereals and keep camels, goats and donkeys. ¹

The name is related to that of the Huwwara tribe, and the Kel Ahaggar probably came from Fazzan during the historical era and reduced the older inhabitants to vassal status. Rock engravings show that the country has been inhabited since remote antiquity. The Flatters mission (1880) and the Foureau-Lamy expedition (1898) passed through; after dealings with the amenokal and with Laperrine in 1904, Ahaggar was placed under French control. It is part of the Oasis Territory, and its chief centre, Tamanrasset, had fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. ¹

Society was divided into three classes: the noble suzerain tribes (Ihaggaran or Imuhagh), the subject tribes (Imghad) and the slaves (iklan). The Ihaggaran lived by warfare and took tribute from the Imghad in return for protection, leaving manual labour to them and to the slaves. French occupation ended much of their raiding, though they kept their prestige and continued to be supported by the Imghad. ¹