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Traghan
Traghan or Traghen[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] HistoryTraghan was founded by the Saifawa dynasty around the 13th century, a remarkable feat as Traghan lies 1,380 kilometres from Njimi, the Saifawa capital.[2] 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."[3] Traghan was approached by western explorers on 29 November 1822.[4] 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.[5] It contained four mosques with small mud minarets and houses that were mostly large but in ruin.[5] The population in the late 1820s was estimated to be 500-600 but it had previously been far more populous.[5] Major Denham noted that the people of Traghan were exceptionally skilled in carpet making and their carpets rivaled those of Constantinople.[5] Hugh Murray later noted its fine carpets in the early 1850s.[6] The town was the site of a battle between the Libyan National Army and Chadian militants in 2018 during the Second Libyan Civil War.[7] References
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