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For the article about music, refer to Gnawa music
Gnawas circa 1920s
Gnawas circa 1920s

Gnawa or Gnaoua (Arabic alphabet: غناوة) refers to an ethnic group and a religious order, in part descended from former slaves from Sub-Saharan Africa or black Africans who migrated in caravans with the trans-Saharan trade, or a combination of both. Gnawa music is a mixture of African Berber, and Arabic religious songs and rhythms The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries A camel train is a series of Camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points Trans-Saharan trade is trade across the Sahara between Mediterranean countries and West Africa.

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Etymology

The name appears to originate from the Saharan Berber dialect word aguinaw (or agenaou) (Arabic: أݣناو), meaning "black (men)". The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest Nomenclature The term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century and is still used today This word in turn is possibly derived from the name of a city significant in the 11th century, in what is now western Mali, called Gana, in Arabic Ghana or Jenna and in Portuguese and later French Guinea or Jenné.

History

The Gnawa population is generally believed to originate from the Sahelian region of West and Central Africa, which had long and extensive trading and political ties with the Maghreb and Algeria specifically, including gold and slave trades. See also Sahel Tunisia, a region of eastern Tunisia. The Sahel or Sahel Belt (from Arabic ساحل sāḥil West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. Central Africa is a core Region of the African Continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad The Maghreb (المغرب العربي al-Maġrib al-ʿArabī) also rendered Maghrib (or rarely Moghreb) meaning "place of Sunset

Popular history particularly credits the Moroccan Sultan Ahmed Al Mansour Ad-Dahbi's conquest in 1591 of part of the Songhai Empire, in particular Timbuktu, with bringing large numbers of captives and slaves back across the Sahara to form the Gnawa. Ahmad I al-Mansur (أحمد المنصور السعدي (also Ahmed el-Mansour and El-Mansour Eddahbi (the Golden (أحمد المنصور الذهبي was Sultan The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire was a pre-colonial African state of west Africa. Timbuktu ( Timbuctoo; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; French: Tombouctou) is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African However, the slave and gold trade with sub-Saharan African states had existed for centuries prior to al-Mansur's conquest, and it is unlikely the Gnawa community was in fact formed from one invasion but rather over centuries.

While adopting Islam, Gnawa continued to celebrate ritual possession during rituals where they are devoted to the practice of the dances of possession and fright. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Spirit possession is a concept of Paranormal, Supernatural and/or Superstitious belief in which spirits, gods, daemons This rite of possession is called Derdba (Arabic: دردبة), and proceeds the night (lila, Arabic: ليلة) that is animated jointly by a master musician (maâlem, Arabic: معلم) accompanied by his troupe. Gnawa music mixes classical Islamic Sufism with pre-Islamic African traditions, whether local or sub-Saharan. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف

Many modern Western scholars see parallels between African American music such as the blues, that is rooted in Black American slave songs, and Gnawa music as well as Sufi tariqa. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression The United States of America —commonly referred to as the As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف Tariqah ( ar طريقه; pl طرق; Ṭuruq or Persian: Tarighat, Turkish: Tarikat) means "way" This influence also resonates from other spiritual sub-Saharan black groups such as the Bori in Nigeria, the Stambouli in Tunisia, the Sambani in Libya, the Bilali in Algeria and those outside Africa such as the Voodoo religion or the Candomble in Brazil. Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Tunisia (تونس Tūnis officially the Tunisian Republic ( is a country located in North Africa. Libya ( ليبيا ar-Latn Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh:) officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Algeria ( ar [[Arabic]] الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir ælʤæˈzæːʔir Amazigh: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer) officially the People's Candomblé (pronounced /kɐ̃dõˈblɛ/is an African-originated or Afro-Brazilian religion practiced chiefly in Brazil. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld These similarities in the artistic and scriptural representations are seen by such scholars as reflecting a shared experience of many African diasporic groups.

Gnawa and music

Main article: Gnawa music

The term Gnawa musicians generally refers to people who also practice healing rituals, with apparent ties to pre-Islamic African animism rites. Gnawa music is a mixture of African Berber, and Arabic religious songs and rhythms Gnawa music is a mixture of African Berber, and Arabic religious songs and rhythms A healer is someone who intends to aid recovery from ill health including alleged Faith healers Some practitioners of alternative health practices seek to restrict A ritual is a set of actions often thought to have Symbolic value the performance of which is usually prescribed by a Religion or by the Traditions Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals A rite is an established ceremonious usually Religious act or Process art. In Moroccan popular culture, Gnawas, through their ceremonies, are considered to be experts in the magical treatment of scorpion stings and psychic disorders. A ceremony is an activity infused with Ritual significance performed on a special occasion Scorpions are eight-legged Carnivorous Arthropods They are members of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. The word psychic (ˈsaɪkɨk from the Greek psychikos—"of the soul mental" refers to the claimed ability to perceive things hidden from the normal senses They heal diseases by the use of colors, condensed cultural imagery, perfumes and fright. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic

Gnawas play deeply hypnotic trance music, marked by low-toned, rhythmic sintir melodies, call-and-response singing, hand clapping and cymbals called krakeb (plural of karkaba). Hypnosis is often thought to be a wakeful state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility with diminished peripheral awareness Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. The sintir ( سنتير) also known as the Guembri or Hejhouj is a three stringed skin-covered bass plucked Lute used by the Gnawa Call and response is a form of "spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements ('calls' are punctuated by expressions ('responses' Cymbals are a modern percussion instrument Cymbals consist of thin normally round plates of various Cymbal alloys; see Cymbal making for a discussion of their Gnawa ceremonies use music and dance to evoke ancestral saints who can drive out evil, cure psychological ills, or remedy scorpion stings.

Gnawa music has won an international profile and appeal. Many Western musicians including Bill Laswell, Randy Weston, Adam Rudolph, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, have drawn on and collaborated with Gnawa musicians. Bill Laswell (born February 12, 1955 in Salem Randy Weston (born April 6, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American Jazz Pianist and Composer Adam Rudolph (b September 12 1955) is a Jazz Composer and Percussionist performing in the Post bop and World fusion Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948 West Bromwich, England) is an English rock singer and songwriter famous for his membership in the James Patrick Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944 is an English Guitarist, Composer and record producer Some traditionalists regard modern collaborations as a mixed blessing, leaving or modifying sacred traditions for more explicitly commercial goals. International recording artists such as Hassan Hakmoun have introduced Gnawa music and dance to Western audiences through their recordings and concert performances. Hassan Hakmoun ( حسن حكمون) (b 1963 in Marrakech) is a Los Angeles -based Moroccan Gnawa musician Early life

The centre for Gnawa music is Essaouria in the South of Morocco where festivals of Gnawa music are held periodically. The Gnawa of Marrakesh hold their annual festival at the sanctuary of Moulay Brahim in the Atlas Mountains. Marrakesh or Marrakech ( Amazigh: Murakush, Arabic مراكش Murrakush) known as the "Red City" Moulay Brahim or Moulay Brahim ben Ahmed Mghari (died in 1661 also called Tayr Lejbel ( Berber for 'bird of the mountain' was a well-known Moroccan The Atlas Mountains ( Kabyle: Idurar n leṭles جبال الأطلس) is a Mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about 2400

See also

References

External links

Haratin (also transliterated Haratins, Harratins or Haratine, etc singular Hartani) is a name for black oasis-dwellers in north western Africa The Hhaha (or Haha) (Arabic حاحا) are an ethnic group in Algeria and Morocco. Essaouira (الصويرة eṣ-ṣauīrah formerly known as Mogador, its older name is a City / Wilaya and tourist resort in the western Moroccan
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