We didn’t keep records,” said Kiari Kelaoui Abari Chegou, a Kanuri leader. They act as authorities of tradition, as well as being custodians of oral history. But even for these custodians, much remains a mystery. Today, the Kanuri and Toubou have widely intermingled, but the region’s traditional leaders, called the Mai, descend from the Kanuri lineage. Lost Cities is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic written by Cold in Gardez.Its most notable feature is its narrative style, which features no dialogue, action or characters. The French military took the area in 1923. The arrival of the first Europeans in the early 20th century spelled the beginning of the end of the ksars as a defence against invaders. Some of the ksars still standing have palm roofs, suggesting they were built later.īetween the 13th and the 15th centuries, the Kanuri people established themselves in the area. Their oasis civilisation was almost destroyed in the 18th and 19th centuries by successive waves of nomadic raiders – the Tuaregs, Arabs and finally the Toubou. The Sao, present in the region since antiquity, were the first known inhabitants in Kawar, and perhaps established the first fortifications.īut the timeline of their settlement is hazy. He refers to old photocopies in his cupboard of a work by Albert le Rouvreur, a colonial-era French military officer stationed in Chirfa, who tried without success to shed light on the origins of the site. The mayor is careful when speaking about local history, acknowledging the many gaps in knowledge. It saw an influx of miners from across West Africa bringing life and some economic respite – but also bandits who hole up in the mountains.įew of the newcomers seem interested in visiting the ksars. “There have been no foreign tourists since 2002,” said Sidi Aba Laouel, mayor of Chirfa, the commune where the Djado sites are located. “When tourism was good, there was economic potential for the community.”Ī blessing of sorts occurred in 2014 when gold was discovered. Once a crossroads for caravans trading across the Sahara, Kawar today is a nexus for drug and arms trafficking. Its grim reputation deters all but the most determined traveller. No archaeological dig or scientific dating has ever been undertaken to explain the mysteries. Djado lies in the Kawar oasis region, 1,300km (800 miles) from the capital Niamey, near Niger’s deeply troubled border with Libya. And just as beguiling is why it was abandoned. Who chose to build this outpost in a scorched and desolate region – and why they built it – are questions that have never been fully answered. Generations of travellers have stood before the “ksars” of Djado, wondering at their crenelated walls, watchtowers, secretive passages and wells, all testifying to a skilled but unknown hand. With over 800 million mods downloaded every month and over 11 million active monthly users, we are a growing community of avid gamers, always on the hunt for the next thing in user-generated content. A long trek across the desert of northeastern Niger brings the visitor to fortified villages of salt and clay perched on rocks with the Saharan sands laying siege below, one of the most astonishing and rewarding sights in the Sahel. CurseForge is one of the biggest mod repositories in the world, serving communities like Minecraft, WoW, The Sims 4, and more.
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