Saharan explorers
Saharan explorers - a potted list.
- Al Idrisi (1100–1166) born in Cueta. Wrote a medieval geography The Book of Roger. Created a map of the world in 70 sections.
- Ibn Battuta (1304–1369) [1349-53]. Born at Tangier in 1304, Battuta was to travel the world including Jordan, Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Tanzania, Crimea, Balkans, Russia, Central Asia, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Assam, Bengal, Malaya, Indonesia, China, Spain and the West African states. Wrote The Travels of Ibn Battuta.
- Leo Africanus (1485–1554) born in Granada and died in Tunis. Educated in Fez, he travelled widely in Africa. Has a wonderful description of Timbuktu. Wrote A Geographical Historie of Africa containing much information on things like Timbuktu.
- Major Daniel Houghton (1740–1791) [1790-91]. He was commissioned by The African Association to find Timbuktu. He travelled up the Gambia across the Senegal and disappeared around Simbing.
- Mungo Park (1771–1806) [1795-96]. A Scot, commissioned by the African Association to explore the River Niger. Set out from the River Gambia and got to the River Niger. Imprisoned and escaped.
- Mungo Park (1771–1806) [1805-06]. Returned to the Niger. Attacked at Bussa and drowned whilst trying to escape.
- Joseph Ritchie (?-1818) & George Lyon (1795–1832) [1818]. Travelled from Tripoli to Murzuk.
- Major Alexander Gordon Laing (1793–1826) [1825-26]. Left Tripoli to explore the Niger. Crossed the Sahara and reached Timbuktu.
- René Caillié (1799–1838) [1827-28]. Left from Sierra Leone for Timbuktu. After a long illness he became the first Frenchman to reach Timbuktu. Returned north via Morocco to Tangier.
- Dixon Denham (1786–1828), Clapperton (1788–1827) & Walter Oudney (1786–1828) {+ Adolf Overweg (1813–1852)} [1822-25]. From Tripoli they became the first Europeans to see Lake Chad. Joined a caravan for Kano, but were prevented from reaching the Niger.
- Hugh Clapperton (1788–1827) & Richard Lander (1804–1834) [1825-27]. Crossed the Niger at Bussa where Clapperton died.
- Richard Lander (1804–1834) & John Lander (1807–1839) [1832-34]. Richard and his brother John sailed down the river to discover the position of the river's mouth.
- John Davidson (1797–1836) [1836]. Attempted to get to Timbuktu but was murdered six weeks out from Morocco.
- James Richardson (?-1851) (with Barth & Overweg) [1845-51]. Travelled from Tripoli to Ghadames then Ghat. In 1850 led an expedition with Barth and Overweg from Tripoli to Lake Chad.
- Heinrich Barth (1821–1865) [1850-55]. With the British expedition above travelled from Tripoli to Lake Chad. Became the leader on the death of Richardson. Continued to Timbuktu and returned via Lake Chad to Tripoli. Published Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa 3 Vols. 1857.
- Eduard Vogel (1829–1856) [1853-54]. Was sent to Lake Chad to find Barth and Overweg. Continued alone to Zinder and was murdered whilst travelling on the Niger.
- Paul-Xavier Flatters (1832–1881) [1880-81]. Explored the Sahara north east of the Hoggar mountains, as a colonel in the French army. Expedition wiped out by Tuareg attack. Flatters killed.
- Oskar Lenz (1848–1925) [1879-80, 1885-87]. Crossed from Morocco to Timbuktu then went west to the coast at the mouth of the Senegal. Then set out from the mouth of the Congo and arrived at Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa.
- Fernand Foureau (1850–1914) [1898-1900]. Led an expedition accompanied by a military escort led by Major Lamy (?-1900), through the Sahara to Sudan. Continued to Lake Chad.
- Georges Marie Haardt (1884–1932) and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil (1887–1960) [1921-1922; 1924-1925]. The first crossing of the Sahara by motor car (Citroën half-tracked vehicles) was followed by a crossing of the continent ending in Madagascar
- Michael Asher (1953-) and Mariantonietta Peru (1956-) The first crossing of the Sahara from west to east by camel and on foot, from Chinguetti, Mauretania to Abu Simbel, Egypt, a total distance of 4500 miles. (1986-87)
Further Reading
- Eamonn Gearon. The Sahara: A Cultural History. Signal Books, UK, 2011. Oxford University Press, USA, 2011.
- Michael Asher Impossible Journey - Two Against The Sahara Penguin Books, UK 1988
See also