FYI
----------
>
> Ämne: AFRICAN-ARAB-BERBER RELATIONS
> Datum: den 18 januari 2000 23:47
>
> THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE-MAURITANIAN
>
>
> <Bild: Fatima>The geographical position of Mauritania makes the country a
> meeting point between the Arab and African cultures. The interaction
> between these two cultures has not given Mauritania its enriching
> multicultural character, but also the ethnic tensions that threaten the
> very survival of the country as a nation. It is this problem which does
> generate the political tradition of intolerance and repression in the
> country. Such a constant crisis situation undermines all development
> efforts as most human and natural resources are geared to serve
destructive
> war policies.
>
> Historically, Mauritania was inhabited by black Africans (Diallo, 1989).
> Here was the setting for one of the most advanced West African
> civilizations: Ghana and Tekrur (Fulani) from around the 5th to 12th
> century AD. Whereas the former evolved into the great empires of Mali and
> Songhay which survived up to the 17th century the latter developed into
the
> theocratic Kingdom of Fouta Toro under the leadership of Oumar Tall who
led
> Funlani struggle against French colonial encroachment during the last
> decade of the 19th century. While the massive influx of Arabs from the
> north in the 13-15 century drove settled black communities south toward
the
> Senegal River, the 19th century's French colonial encroachment from the
> south had the opposite effect (Gerteiny, 1981). In his struggle against
> France occupation, Oumar Tall led at least 25% of the Valley population
in
> his east bound emigration (Park, Baro, Ngaido, 1991).
>
> Top
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> ARAB ARRIVAL
>
>
> Though Arab influx into north Africa has almost exclusively been
attributed
> to Islamic conquest drive, the ecological degradation in Arabia has
played
> a decisive role in the timing and number of people who abandoned Arabia
to
> seek greener areas else where. The climatic similarity, albeit more
> inhabitable, between Arabia and north Africa has made the latter a prime
> target of settlement for the migrating populations of the former. Thus,
> following the tragic collapse of the Marib Dam, near San'a in Yemen in
570
> AD, several hundreds Arab tribes were forced to abandon their home
country
> and head toward north and east Africa.
>
> This emigration took place 40 years before Islam was revealed to Prophet
> Muhammad in 610. The importance of the ecological implications of the
> emigration process were highlighted by the massive displacement of Arabs
> from their original homeland around the 11th century after another severe
> drought which hit the area. Prominent among the immigrating were the Beni
> Hilal tribes from Yemen, who had invaded North Africa three centuries
> before. From there, they reached northern Mauritania in the 14 century
> (Gerteiny, 1981). For more than 200 years, they plundered the region and
> warred with the Berbers who were roaming throughout the norther fringes
of
> the Mali and Tekrur Empires.
>
> Following the defeat of the Berbers in the hands of the Arabs in 1644,
four
> Emirates were establish in north western Mauritania (Diallo, 1991). The
> process of Arab- Berber integration was set in motion with the latter
being
> rapidly Islamized and Arabised (Gerteiny, 1981). Ibn Khaldun reported
that
> in the course of their incursion into North Africa, "the Bani Hilal went
> westward, allegedly destroying, slaying and raping. Like locusts, the
> Hilalians and their herds (camels) devoured and devastated all forms of
> vegetal life, reducing the whole area to desert land and creating the
sever
> shortage of timber that later plagued their seafaring descendants"
> (Gerteiny, 1981:6).
>
>
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