Traghan

Traghan or Traghen and Turaghan^[1] (Arabic: تراغن) is a small town in the Murzuk Desert in Murzuq District in southwest Libya. It is located east of Murzuk and Zizau. A good high road is said to link Traghan to Zizau in the west, with frequent incrustations of salt.^[1]

Traghan تراغن Taraghen
Town
Traghan Location in libya
Coordinates: 25°55′24″N 14°25′14″E
Country	Libya
Region	Fezzan
District	Murzuq
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)

The word is of Toubou origin and is correctly pronounced Turaghan, with three syllables: Tu means "land," ra refers to "inhabitants," and ghan means "small." Altogether, Turaghan translates to “inhabitants of the small land or homeland.”^[2]

History

Traghan was founded by the Saifawa dynasty around the 13th century, a remarkable feat as Traghan lies 1,380 kilometres from Njimi, the Saifawa capital.^[3] The Saifawa were said to have "gained control of the Fezzan by establishing a post in the oasis of Traghan about twenty miles east of modern Murzuk and some seventy miles west-south-west of ancient Zawila."^[4]

Traghan was approached by western explorers on 29 November 1822.^[5] In the late 1820s, Traghan was described as was formerly as considerable a place as Murzuk; and was, about sixty years ago, the residence of a sultan, who governed eastern Fezzan. It was described as being in a flat, desert plain, with gardens and date groves.^[6] It contained four mosques with small mud minarets and houses that were mostly large but in ruin.^[6] The population in the late 1820s was estimated to be 500-600 but it had previously been far more populous.^[6] Major Denham noted that the people of Traghan were exceptionally skilled in carpet making and their carpets rivaled those of Constantinople.^[6] Hugh Murray later noted its fine carpets in the early 1850s.^[7]

The town was the site of a battle between the Libyan National Army and Chadian militants in 2018 during the Second Libyan Civil War.^[8]