The Sultanate of Agadez (also known as Tenere Sultanate of Aïr,[1]Sultanate of Aïr, or Asben[2]) was a Berber kingdom centered first in the city of Agadez (initially, in the village of Tadaliza) in the Aïr Mountains, located at the southern edge of the Sahara desert in north-central Niger. It was founded in 1405 by the Tuareg.[3] The Agadez Sultanate was later conquered by the Songhai Empire in 1500.[1] After the defeat of the Songhai kingdom in 1591, the Agadez Sultanate regained its independence. It experienced a steep decline in population and economic activity during the 17th century. The sultanate came under French suzerainty in 1906.
History
Oral history of the Aïr describes the foundation of the sultanate around 1405 by local Tuareg tribes that seek an inter-tribal organisation for mediation between different clans and to settle disputes. For this, the first Sultan, Yunǝs, is chosen for being the son of a distant Tuareg from Targa (Libya) and a local taklit or female slave, which made him politically neutral between the factions (Iṣandalăn, Itesăn, Ilisăwăn and Ibǝrkorăyăn) involved in the founding. From then on, every Sultan had to be married to a taklit, as to prevent tribal rivalries.[3]
Yunǝs' successor and tegăze (nephew by his sister) Ălxăsăn transferred the seat of the Sultanate to the then recently (1413) founded Agadez, inhabited by Kel Gubǝr, Ibǝrkorăyăn and Igdalăn Tuareg, as well as KatsināwaHausa merchants, who established the first indigo dyeing facilities. Every tribe had a district or quarter in the city where idǝrfan (freedmen) resided, although the tribes only visited occasionally since they retained their nomadic lifestyle.[3]
Originally, the seat of the Sultanate was Tadaliza, and then Tin Chaman, which are now archaeological sites in the Air Mountains. Sultan Ilisawan (1430-1449) settled in Agadez and built a palace there, proclaiming it as the capital of the Sultanate in 1430.
In the 18th century, Tuareg confederacies from the north migrated south into the Air region, which led to unrest between the existing Tuareg confederacies in the Air region. By the end of the century, the Kel Geres were pushed south after being outnumbered by the Kel Owey.
German explorer Heinrich Barth visited Agadez in 1850 and described it as a ghost town, which was confirmed by French explorer Amédée-François Lamy at the time of his expedition.
The Sultanate fell under French administration in 1906.
At the time of the Kaocen Revolt, Sultan Tegama awaited the arrival of Kaocen, and after he was defeated by the French, the Sultan and many other conspirators fled the region. In 1917, the Sultan who had preceded Sultan Tegama was recalled by the French to Agadez to act as a mediator between the French administration and the people. [4]
List of Sultans
Tenure
Incumbent
Notes
1687–1721
Muhammad Agg-Abba ibn Muhammad al-Mubarak
1721
Muhammad al-Amin ibn Muhammad al-Mubarak (1st time)
1721
al-Wali ibn Muhammad al-Mubarak
1721
Muhammad al-Amin ibn Muhammad al-Mubarak (2nd time)
1721
Muhammad al-Mu´min
1721–1722
`Uthman ibn Muhammad al-Mu´min
1722–1735
Muhammad Agg-`A´isha ibn Muhammad Agg-Abba
1735–1739
Muhammad Humad ibn Muhammad al-Mubarak (1st time)
1739–1744
Muhammad Guma ibn al-`Adil
1744–1759
Muhammad Humad ibn Muhammad al-Mubarak (2nd time)
1759–1763
Muhammad Guma ibn `Uthman
1763–1768
Muhammad Humad ibn Muhammad al-Mubarak (3rd time)
1768–1810
Muhammad al-`Adil ibn Muhammad Humad
1810–1815
Muhammad ad-Dani
1815–1816
Muhammad al-Baqiri
1816–1821
Muhammad Guma "Tabdali" (1st time)
1821–1828
Ibrahim Waffa
1828–1835
Muhammad Guma "Tabdali" (2nd time)
1835–1853
`Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Baqiri
1853 – ....
Ahmad ar-Raffa` ibn Muhammad Guma (1st time)
.... – ....
Muhammad al-Baqiri "Sufu" (1st time)
.... – ....
Ahmad ar-Raffa` ibn Muhammad Guma (2nd time)
.... – ....
Muhammad al-Baqiri "Sufu" (2nd time)
.... – ....
Ibrahim ad-Dusuqi ibn Ahmad ar-Raffa` (1st time)
.... – 1903
Muhammad al-Baqiri "Sufu" (3rd time)
1903 – 1 Aug 1907
`Uthman Mikitan ibn Abd al-Qadir
1 Aug 1907 – 1908
Ibrahim ad-Dusuqi ibn Ahmad ar-Raffa` (2nd time)
1908 – 1917
`Abd ar-Rahman Taghama ibn Muhammad al-Baqiri
c. Mar 1917 – Apr 1917
Jatawa
6 May 1917 – Nov 1919
Ibrahim ad-Dusuqi ibn Ahmad ar-Raffa` (3rd time) (dismissed by the French)
