The Igdalen (var.: Igdalan, Agdal) are a Berber people inhabiting northwestern

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesMali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

.Tagdal A language of Niger
in Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'', Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/. They speak

Tagdal Tagdal (Tuareg name: ''Tagdalt'') is a mixed Northern Songhay language of central Niger. Ethnologue considers it a "mixed Berber–Songhay language", while other researchers consider it Northern Songhay. There are two dialects: Tagdal proper ...

, a mixed

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...

– Songhay language. The Igdalen are closely related to

Idaksahak people The Dawsahak people, ''Idaksahak'' (var.: ''Daoussahak'',Edmond Bernus (ed.). Art of being Tuareg: Sahara nomads in a modern world. Indiana University Press (2006) p.291Jeffrey Heath. A grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali), Volume 35 of Mouton gra ...

of eastern

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and the Sawaq of

Ingal In-Gall (var. In Gall, I-n-Gall, In-Gal, Ingal, Ingall) is a town in the Agadez Region, Tchirozerine Department of northeast Niger, with a year-round population of less than 500. Known for its oasis and salt flats, In-Gall is the gathering po ...

in Niger, with whom they share a very similar language. Culturally, the Igdalen are often considered a

faction. In the past they have formed a sub-confederation with the

Kel Fadey Kel or KEL may refer to: * Raquel Calderón (born 1991), Chilean singer and actress * Kei Lun stop, Hong Kong, MTR station code KEL * Kel, Azad Kashmir, village in Neelam Valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan * Kel Mitchell (born 1978), American actor an ...

Kel Ferwan The Kel Ferwan are a Tuareg nomadic clan, who have historically been a subgroup of the Kel Ayr confederation. In the 20th century, they have mostly been based in the Aïr Mountains of north central Niger ) , official_languages = , l ...

and others in the Kel Ayr Tuareg confederation or ''Drum Group''.Edmond Bernus, Suzanne Bernus
Du sel et des dattes: introduction à l'étude de la communauté d'In Gall et de Tegidda-n-tesemt
''Etudes Nigeriennes'', 31. Centre nigérien de recherches en sciences humaines, 1972. OCLC 248836480 There are an estimated 27,000 Igdalen, and are centered on

Tanout Tanout is a town in southern Niger. It is in Zinder Region, Tanout Department, north of the city of Zinder. It is the administrative capital of Tanout Department. History Since 1987, the Eden Foundation, an NGO aiming at providing trees for "d ...

and Tchin Tabaraden in northern Niger, although seasonal transhumance with livestock take them well north and south. Igdalen are Muslim, and have previously been a

Marabout A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Saha ...

(religious) and herding caste within Tuareg society. The Igdalen do not form a single political or tribal group, but factions are through recent history attached to at least two aristocratic Tuareg tribes. These include the

''Immuzurag'' and ''Ikherkheren''. In the Ingal area, the Igdalen are divided into two additional tribes, the ''Kel Tofey'' and the ''Kel Amdit''. The Igdalen are believed to have been among the first Berber people to move into the area, before large Tuareg groups migrated from the 11th to the 16th centuries CE. It is believed that Igdalen came to the Niger river valley from Morocco by the 11th century, moving up towards the

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, they r ...

.James Stuart Olson. 'Igdalen' in ''The peoples of Africa: an ethnohistorical dictionary''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996 p. 238

References

*Regula Christiansen-Boll
''A Grammar of Tadaksahak, a Northern Songhay Language of Mali''
Leiden University Centre for Linguistics. (31 March 2010). *Cyffer, Norbert (Ed) (2000). Michael J Rueck; Niels Christiansen. "Northern Songhay languages in Mali and Niger, a sociolinguistic survey". in ''Trends in Nilo-Saharan linguistics: proceedings of the 7th Nilo-Saharan linguistics conference'', Vienna, Austria, 2–6 September 1998. Cologne : Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. {{authority control Berbers in Algeria Berbers in Mali Berbers in Niger Ethnic groups in Mali Ethnic groups in Niger Tuareg

See also

References