Reversing the Narrative How the Tuareg Saving Heinrich Barth’s Expedition (1849-1856) Upends Prevailing Perceptions

Abstract

In September 1850, an exploratory expedition funded by the British government involving the prominent German explorer Heinrich Barth (d.1865) found itself in Tintellus, a small town in contemporary central Niger, around 200 kilometers northeast of Agadez.176 It aimed to reach Bornu in Central Africa, evaluating the lands it traversed for their value to avaricious European powers looking to expand trading influence into Africa. However, in such sparsely populated Saharan desert regions, organized political authority was difficult to establish, and thus, indigenous groups were typically nomadic in nature. These wandering tribes freely exercised power, often in the form of attack and theft, posing a threat to the safety of those using desert networks, like the expedition. As such, Barth laments the presence of some of these wandering tribes, like the Tuareg, who repeatedly harassed their caravans and whom he viewed as barbaric.177 He produces this admonishment despite that the main mechanism that enabled the safe travel of the expedition was the hired Tuareg guides offering protection and intimate knowledge about the lands they traversed. Employing Tuareg guides as important networks of assistance was paramount to making Barth’s expedition, which lasted from 1850 to 1858, possible.