Tuaregs: Sahara’s blue men

“The style and shape of our daraa not only allows good air circulation in these harsh environments, but also helps men from the Sahara save body water in the middle of the desert,” says local Mauritanian guide Dahid Jdeidou (photo).

Today, as more and more people move to big cities and fashion moves towards the West, the clothes that men from the Sahara once wore to cross the hot desert have become a relic of the past. But in Mauritania, where most men wear daraa and takelmusts in captivating shades of blue, this outfit is still alive – and it seems to have been around for a while.

In the era of trans-Saharan trade, new trading centers emerged on the edge of the desert, and various ethnic groups traded in high-demand goods in North Africa, such as spices, minerals, animals, and textiles. Over the centuries, trade attracted many different groups to Mauritania, including nomadic Tuaregs from the northeast, Haratines from the southeast, and Haalpulaars from the south. When these different groups settled with the Berbers (locally known as the Amazighs), who had lived in Mauritania since the 3rd century, the Muslim faith and the Arabic language prevailed, but new cultural traditions emerged.

Architectural designs are changing, books from the Sahara are entering local libraries, and fashion trends from across North Africa are merging to create a new style in the form of a long, flowing, wide-sleeved tunic.

Like other tunic-style garments, such as Japan’s kimono or the caftan of ancient Mesopotamia, the daraa finds its place in fashion history. The first versions of this garment would come from the Haalpulaar, who lived along the Senegal River, between present-day Senegal and Mauritania.

Then people of all social status wore daraas, but the colors depended on one’s social position. Wealthy merchants wore chalk-white daraas and tagelmusts because they could afford to clean their clothes every day, while slaves usually wore black because they often worked in dirty environments and had to wear the same clothes.Many times.

Due to the lack of natural colored dyes in the Sahara, colored daraas only appeared after Haalpulaar started trading in natural indigo dye and indigo dyeing techniques became popular. These dark blue colored daras were perfect for people who could not afford white daras but also did not want to wear black daras.

If Haalpulaar is the origin of indigo daraas, it is the Tuaregs who adopted and popularized this way. They are considered the “blue men of the Sahara”, a name given to them because the color of their clothes contaminated their skin when they stood in the hot sun.

According to Dr. Anja Fischer, a researcher in Sahara studies at the University of Vienna, says the influence of Haalpulaar may have led to major changes in Tuareg fashion. “The Tuaregs once wore leather clothes, and at one point they switched to the blue fabrics for which they are best known today.”

The Tuaregs, who today live in a large region stretching from Libya to Algeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, were traditionally one of the largest nomadic populations in the Sahara and played an important role in the spread of Islam in Africa. They were known throughout the Sahara, and the fashion style they adopted in Mauritania was recognized throughout North Africa and then throughout the world. Even today, their fashion styles express their nomadic culture and traditions.

In recent decades, the advent of chemical dyes from Asia and Europe and inexpensive dyeing techniques such as bale dyeing (an easy process involving passing substances through a bath of cold water) have created a wide range of blue hues. And with the advent of the middle class in Mauritanian cities, people have increasingly chosen light blue daras for their resemblance to traditional white daras and the social status they symbolize.

“A light blue daraa is similar to the white daraa, but it only needs to be cleaned every three or four days,” says Jdeidou.

The central market in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, is a real blue world. Many vendors offer only blue clothing, and at least one in four men wears a blue daraa. In Mauritania, the blue color extends beyond clothing and is found in stall covers and umbrellas, but also in architectural elements such as doors, ceilings and fences.

Although the color blue represents the sky and the divinity of the Qur’an, local Mauritanians have a more practical reason to use it: it is the perfect color for protection from the sun.

The very first daras were made of silk, but were later considered haram, an Arabic term meaning “forbidden” in Muslim law. Today, in stores in Nouakchott, it is common to see daraas in polyester, chiffon and camel and goat wool, in addition to silk versions for non-Muslims. Many daras in Mauritania are also adorned with gold and white embroidery, and some even have more interior and exterior pockets – details that would have been rare centuries ago, but which are useful in today’s modern, urban world. .

There have been attempts to introduce more Western clothing to Mauritania, but most have failed. According to Hademine Ahmedou, a local guide in the city of Zouerat, teachers in the country were told to avoid wearing a daraa while working and start adopting the smart dress culture in Europe or America. Nevertheless, many Mauritanians could not bear to leave behind their traditional daraa and its cultural significance.

While elements of traditional attire have been lost in most cities in the Sahara, men proudly wear their blue daraas in Nouakchott. They have become such an integral part of Mauritanian culture that even businessmen dressed in fancy suits wear a personalized daraa instead of a blazer.

“It’s comfortable, easy to clean and it’s beautiful,” says Jdeidou (pictured), smiling.

While most countries in the Sahara now look to the West for fashion trends, change in Mauritania seems far away. The younger generations are also proud of their traditions and regularly wear daraas.

There are also hints of the look of this clothing in the modern fashion world. Recently, versions of the Sahara roofing patterns have inspired fashionable scarves in Europe. And this year, the luxurious Italian fashion house Valentino drew inspiration from the traditional Sahara daraa to design its collection for spring / summer 2021.

As more and more cultural traditions are moving into the ever-changing world of today, the blue daraa and the tackle patterns – and the perennial traditions they represent – continue to radiate from the Sahara to the rest of the world.

BBC Travel’s In Pictures is a series featuring stunning images from around the world.

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