The Tuareg Queen, who has become a symbol of women's freedom: Who is Tin Hinan?

The position of women in Tuareg society continues to attract attention and attention, especially in the West, which advocates for women's freedom and rights.

Queen Tin Hinan, who reigned in the 4th century AD, is considered one of the most important figures in the history of Tuareg society after laying its important social foundations.

Tamenocalt, which means Tin Hinan or Queen of the Ahaggars or Mother of the Tuaregs or tenter in the Tuareg dialect, is also called "runaway princess" in desert society.

Tin Hinan was a 4th-century Tuareg queen. What may be her monumental tomb is located in the Sahara, at Abalessa in the Hoggar region of Algeria.

The Tuareg draw their strength from the wisdom of women. Their social order also depends on it.

According to the history books, Tin Hinan is the spiritual mother who contributed to the development of women's skills to interfere in the general affairs of Tuareg society and even to control the tribe after debating and managing the helm of war and peace.

Even when a man was brought to power in this society, he was only seen as the representative of Queen Tin Hinan.

Throughout history, historians did not specify the year of his birth. Historical records agree that Tin Hinan was harassed by her ruling family in Tafilalt, in far southeast Morocco, after her father decided to forcibly marry her to an African prince.

After rejecting such a marriage and declaring her revolution, she fled her home with a group of soldiers, along with her maid Takamat, some rumors say her sister.

Escape for freedom

Tin Hinan fled towards the desert with his entourage. Here she continued her journey into the unknown for several days on a white camel. That's why she was called "the woman with the white camel," according to legends.

If Takamat had not noticed the caravan of ants carrying barley grains, symbolizing the presence of water in the region, under his feet, the caravan would have almost disappeared when they ran out of food and water.

This prompted the fugitives to follow the path of the ants until they reached the al-Ahgar region in what is now southern Algeria, where they found springs of water flowing into large pools called "tuka", from which the Tuareg name originates.

However, there are rumors that Tin Hinan ordered his caravan to walk in the opposite direction of the ants until they reached the Ahaggar Mountains in the far south of Algeria.

They found water and food, so Tin Hinan settled there and managed to gain the population.

She then set out to build the core of her new kingdom, which was equal to one-third of the African continent, stretching from the Libyan desert to Chad, from Algeria to Mali, and from Niger to Mauritania.

Legends show that she was a unique queen known for her wisdom and cunning, defending her lands and people against invaders from Niger, modern-day Mauritania, and Chad tribes.

Why does the Tuareg male cover his face?

Tin Hinan got married and had sons and daughters. The most famous of these is Ahgar, which rumors attribute the origin of the Tuareg society to the wearing of the veil. This is due to Ahgar fleeing from one of the battles.

Returning to his tribe, he had no choice but to cover his head and face to hide his embarrassment. Ahgar, the commander of the army and the son of the Tuareg queen. This is how the soldiers did, and according to the history books, they remained in the outskirts of their tribe for a full month, fearing the condemnation of the women, and when their condition dragged on and supplies ran out, they found themselves forced to enter their city.

They remained in this state throughout their lives, and those who came after them have remained this way until today, forming a tradition.

The historian Ibn Khaldun spoke of the Tuaregs and described them as "sons of Tiski", meaning the sons of a lame woman. This is in line with the findings of paleontological research, which states that Tin Hinan was lame after being wounded in the leg in a battle.

Religious difference

While many accounts state that Tin Hinan was a Muslim, the discovery of his body's remains indicated a method of burial that conflicted with Islam. Because his body was found on his back, on a board facing east.

This research was conducted in 1925 by a joint Franco-American mission at Ablessa in Ahaggar, in southern Algeria. According to the reports of the delegation, it was clear from her build that she was a tall and elegant woman with broad shoulders and skinny legs. Many valuable antiques and rare jewels were also found with it.

Queen Tin Hinan's skeleton has been encased in a glass box for more than half a century and is on display at the Bardo Museum in Algeria's capital, surrounded by gold and silver decorations and a leather dress.

Women's place

Tin Hinan has left a society that still inspires, for example, a child inherits his mother's lineage regardless of his father's origin. For example, if the mother is noble and the father is a slave, the child becomes a noble and if the mother is a slave and the father is noble, the son becomes a slave. In addition, the Tuareg woman has a maid who helps her clean the tent, milk the sheep and camels, bring water from the wells and take care of the children as she walks.

At a time when some Arab societies blamed divorced women, divorce was something women in the Tuareg community were proud of. A divorced woman is called a "free woman" and has the right to request a divorce at will and leave the house without guardianship, and when she does, the man can only take what the woman gives him.

Likewise, he could not be with his wife unless the husband handed over the entire dowry to his family and gave the bride's mother a special gift called Taghast, usually an ox or a camel.

According to tradition, a girl who married for the first time had to spend a year under her mother's supervision in order to pass on the foundations of customary values to her. In terms of the establishment of the family and the treatment of the husband, the husband remained with his mother-in-law until the first child was born, and the wife remained with the family, during which the husband had the choice of staying in the family or leaving the family.

Spanish novelist Alberto Viqueroa expressed this freedom in his novel Tuareg and said, "The Tuareg are the only community among all Islamic peoples that still faithfully follow the instructions of the Prophet Muhammad proclaiming equality between the sexes. Their women do not cover their faces like men, and they are absolute until the moment they get married. They have freedom,” he said.

Image: An oil painting entitled, The Queen Tin Hinan, by Hocine Ziani.