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( El Fasher ), the capital of Dār Fūr [ q.v.], formerly a sultanate, now a province of the Republic of the Sudan. The term fās̲h̲ir , meaning a royal residence, more precisely signified an open space, serving for public audience by a sultan, or as a market-place, and was also used in Sinnār under the Fund̲j̲ [ q.v.], and in Waddāī, where war a appears as a synonym (see J. L. Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia , London 1819, 486). The fās̲h̲ir of the Fūrāwī sultan was established in 1206/1791-2 at Wādī Tandaltī, on a sandy ridge, overlooking a seasonal lake. Around this royal resid…

, Berber geographical term meaning “mountains” and applied to a number of mountainous regions of the Sahara. 1. adrar, 650 km. to the south-east of Colomb-Béchar, capital of the Tawāt (Touat) and main ḳsar ( ḳaṣr ) of the tribe of Timmi. The centre of Adrar, on its present site, dates from the French conquest (30 July 1900). Since that time, the town developped as an administrative and commercial centre. In 1951, Adrar had 1,795 inhabitants. Agriculture plays but a small part in the life of the ḳsar. Craftsmanship (fabrication of woollen and cotton wall covers called dokkali …

( ayr ), also called asben , mountainous district of the Sahara, falling between lat. 17°-21° N., and long. 7°-9° E. It comprises three distinct regions: 1) the northern Aïr, consisting wholly of plateau and plain; 2) the central Aïr, which is a homogeneous unit, has a rugged landscape, with peaks rising to 5,000 ft.; 3) the southern Aïr, consisting of rocky plateaus sloping towards the Sudan. The rainfall, more abundant in the Aïr than in the rest of the Sahara (rainy season fro…

, (Ar.) (in Tedaga: Togei or Tzigei), chief centre of the Kawar, a group of oases situated mid-way between Fezzan and Chad, on the main route from the Mediterranean to the Sudan. The palm groves extend for 90 kilometres from north to south, from Anay to Bilma. At no point are they more than 2 kilometres wide. Bilma is situated at the foot of a cliff which faces west; its base is formed by the marine layers of Upper Cretaceous, and its summit by the sandstone of the Continental terminal. Although conquered by the Arabs in the 1st/1th century (expedition of ʿUḳba b. Nāfiʿ reported by I…

, name in the 19th century of a negro Muslim State, situated on the right bank of the Shari, S.E. of lake Chad. In Barth’s time (1852) the capital was Massenya. There were a certain number of tributary regions within its orbit, lying between 10° and 12° N. and 15° and 18° E. This historical name is no longer in official use to-day; only a district of Massenya exists, the other tributary regions having been either attached to the district of Bousso or to that of Melfi. The regions which once bore the name Bagirmi form a vast plain at an elevation of 1000 ft., sloping gently away to…