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Concept
Toubou people
Summary
The Toubou or Tubu (from Old Tebu, meaning "rock people") are an ethnic group native to the Tibesti Mountains that inhabit the central Sahara in northern Chad, southern Libya and northeastern Niger. They live either as herders and nomads or as farmers near oases. Their society is clan-based, with each clan having certain oases, pastures and wells.
The Toubou are generally divided into two closely related groups: the Teda (or Téda, Toda, Tireh) and the Dazagara (or Dazzaga, Dazagada, Daza). They are believed to share a common origin and speak the Tebu languages, which are from the Saharan branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Tebu is divided further into two closely related languages, called Tedaga (Téda Toubou) and Dazaga (Dazaga Gouran). Of the two groups, the Daza, found to the south of the Teda, are more numerous.
The Toubou people are also referred to as the Tabu, Tebu, Tebou, Tibu, Tibbu, Toda, Todga, Todaga, Tubu, Tuda, Tudaga, or Gorane people. The Dazaga are sometimes referred to as Gouran (or Gorane, Goran, Gourane), an Arabian exonym. Many of Chad's leaders have been Toubou (Gouran), including presidents Goukouni Oueddei and Hissène Habré.
The Toubou people have historically lived in northern Chad, northeastern Niger, and southern Libya. They have sometimes been called the "black nomads of the Sahara". They are distributed across a large area in the central Sahara, as well as the north-central Sahel. They are particularly found north of the Tibesti mountains, which in Old Tebu means "Rocky Mountains". The first syllable "Tu" refers to the Tibesti mountains, as known by the natives (Teda), and the second syllable "bo" refers to blood in the Kanembou language; thus, people from the Tibesti mountains are referred to as Tubou." Their name is derived from this.
The Teda are found primarily in the Sahara regions around the borders of southeast Libya, northeast Niger and northern Chad. They consider themselves a warrior people. The Dazagra live towards the Sahel region and are spread over much of north-central Chad.
Official source
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