Cheikh Tahar Djaafri

Cheikh Tahar Djaafri was the supreme spiritual and judicial authority of the red oases of Timimoun and the Gourara desert in southwestern Algeria. Residing in traditional mud-brick ksur, he established an academy that attracted students across the Sahara from Mali, Niger, and Mauritania.

Djaafri was a heroic conservator of written heritage, personally rescuing, restoring, and cataloging thousands of endangered ancient manuscripts in astronomy, medicine, desert hydraulic engineering (the Foggara system), and jurisprudence, ensuring the survival of the Sahara's extraordinary intellectual civilization.