La problématique de la présence juive au Sahara et au Soudan d\'après Jean Léon l\'Africain

Abstract

John Leo Africanus\' description of Africa offers a set of rich and diverse references which lead one to re-consider some of the arguments and clues which imply and implicate Jewish participation in the trans-Saharan trade and their settlement in the Western Sudan during the late Middle Ages. An analysis of the document reveals the commercial orientation of North African and Saharan mellahs, their role in the implantation of points along the primary and secondary trans-Saharan routes and their termini, and the professional specialization of Jewish artisans. The major axis which linked Morocco to the Upper Niger Delta consisted of two major routes: Fes - Timbuktu and Tafilalet/Dar\'a – Walata/Timbuctu. Indeed, Jewish occupations are intimately linked to the transformation of gold, to metalworking and to the import of other primary products from the Western Sudan. In Leo\'s description, there are references to Jewish tradesmen involved in the trans-Saharan trade. Moreover this activity appears as the principal source of personal enrichment in the Jewish communities. To quench their covetousness and to ensure the security of their properties and persons, Jewish communities and tradesmen were forced to pay local and specific taxes above and beyond the legal and traditional djizya. Sometimes, despite these added taxes, particularly during periods of crisis, politico-religious figures instigated popular persecution against them. Leo cites a sadly but widely known example: the persecution of the Jewish community of the Touat in 1492 instigated by al-Maghîlî. When considered in tandem, in principle two of the references analyzed in Leo are sufficient to verify the existence of a Sudanese Jewish community: on the one hand the involvement of the Jews in the trans-Saharan trade and on the other the regular persecution of Jews living in the North African and Saharan Mellahs. We can add to these two references a solid argument. According to Leo, \'the king of Timbuktu\' (who at the time of Leo\'s visit was the Songhay ruler Askya Muhammad) declared a policy of exclusion towards the Jewish traders. As a consequence, they were declared persona non grata in Timbuktu, and by extension, throughout the region of his rule. This reference, which implies that Jewish traders attracted by the wealth of the country lived there at the end of the fifteen century and perhaps during the early sixteen century, is validated by comparison with early documents and sources from the same period (e.g. Valentim Fernandes, Ahmed Bâba, the Tarîkh al-Fattâsh), and with local traditions collected in the Kurmina region at Tendirma, Morikoyra, Arham, among others.

Lagos Historical Review, vol. 5 (2005), 146-176