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Updated: May 14, 2025
Here, then, is certain proof of the favourable influence mother-descent may exercise on the status of women. It is because of this I have brought forward this example of the Targui women. Enough has now been said.
She says, "He drew his sword on me, crying, 'Come with me or I will kill thee." "In that case do as you like." She dropped the grease upon his breast, face, and neck until his skin was burnt. While she was doing this, the Targui felt sleep coming upon him, and said to the woman, "Watch over him, lest he should slip out of our hands."
Duveyrier states that to them is due the preservation of the ancient Libyan and Berber writings. “Leaving domestic work to their slaves, the Targui ladies occupy themselves with reading, writing, music and embroidery; they live as intelligent aristocrats.” “The ladies of the tribe of Ifoghas, in particular, are renowned for their savoirvivre and their musical talent; they know how to ride mehari better than all their rivals.
Again the initiative in courtship is taken by the woman, who chooses from her suitors the one whom she herself prefers. Duveyrier, Toûareg du Nord, p. 337 et seq. Chavanne, Die Sahara, pp. 181, 209, 234. It is interesting to note that the Targui women know how to read and write in greater numbers than the men.
Such a case is exceptional, though it by no means stands alone, and the social position of Targui women is analogous to that of the women of ancient Egypt. It is important to note that their great independence arose through the persistence of maternal descent, and could not have been maintained apart from that system, which placed in their hands the strong power of wealth.
The Soufi comes up till his shoulders appear. They seize him, hoist and bind him, and tie his feet together. Then they seize and kill his camel. "Bring wood," says the Targui to the woman; "we'll roast some meat." She brings him some wood. He cooked the meat and ate it, while she roasted pieces of fat till they dripped upon her cousin. "Don't do that," says the Targui.
"A man sends me to you," he said, "a Targui, who wants to marry you. He is as handsome as you are, his eyes are fine, his nose is fine, his mouth is fine." "Well, I will marry him." She went to him and married him, and they set out on a camel together. When the first husband returned, he found that she had gone. He said to himself: "She is at my father's or perhaps my uncle's."
He finds his camel, unfastens him, dons his ordinary clothing, takes his wife upon the camel's back with him, and departs. The day dawns. She says: "O thou who art the son of my paternal uncle, I am thirsty." Now she planned a treachery. He said to her: "Is there any water here?" "The day the Targui took me off we found some in that pass." They arrived at the well.
The Targui rises, fires, and now the woman gives voice to a long "you you." It strikes the chechias that fly above his head. At his turn the Soufi prepares himself and says: "Stand up straight now, as I did for thee." He fires, and hits him on the forehead. His enemy dead, he flies at him and cuts his throat.
This is the real basis of the women’s power. “Absolute mistress of her fortune, her actions, and her children, who belong to her and bear her name, the Targui woman goes where she will and exercises a real authority.” The unusual position of the wife is significantly indicated by the fact that, although polygamy is permitted by the law, she practically enforces monogamy, for the conditions of divorce are so favourable for a woman that she can at once separate from a husband who attempts to give her a rival.
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