Kaocen Revolt
Encyclopedia
The Kaocen Revolt was a Tuareg rebellion against French colonial rule
of the area around the Aïr Mountains
of northern Niger
during 1916-17.
(1880-1919) was the Tuareg leader of the rising against the French. An adherent to the militantly anti-French Sanusiya Sufi religious order, Kaocen was the Amenokal
(chief) of the Ikazkazan Tuareg confederation. Kaocen had engaged in numerous, mostly indecisive, attack on French colonial forces from at least 1909. When the Sanusiya leadership in the Fezzan
oasis town of Kufra
(in modern Libya
) declared a Jihad
against the French colonialists in October 1914, Kaocen rallied his forces. Tagama, the Sultan of Agadez had convinced the French military that the Tuareg confederations remained loyal, and with his help, Kaocen's forces placed the garrison under siege on 17 December 1916. Tuareg raiders, numbering over 1000, led by Kaocen and his brother Mokhtar Kodogo, and armed with repeating rifles and one cannon seized from the Italians in Libya, defeated several French relief columns. They seized all the major towns of the Aïr, including Ingall, Assodé
, and Aouderas
, placing what is today northern Niger under rebel control for over three months.
relieved the Agadez garrison, and began to seize the rebel towns. Large scale French reprisals were taken against these towns, especially against local marabout
s, even though many were neither Tuareg or supported the rebellion. Summary public executions by the French in Agadez and Ingal alone totaled 130. While Kaocen fled north, he was hanged in 1919 by local forces in Mourzouk
in 1919, while Kodogo was not killed by the French until 1920, when a revolt he led amongst the Toubou
and Fula
in the Sultanate of Damagaram
was defeated.
, only to reappear in northeast Mali after his escape from French custody in 1916.
Many Tuareg groups had continually fought the French (and the Italians after their 1906 invasion of Libya) since their arrival in the last decade of the 19th century. Others were driven to revolt by the severe drought of the years 1911-14, by French taxation and seizure of camels to aid other conquests, and by French abolition of the slave trade, leading many previously subservient settled communities of the area to themselves revolt against traditional rule and taxation by the nomadic Tuareg.
Memory of the revolt and the killings in its wake remain fresh in the minds of modern Tuareg, to whom it is seen as both part of a large anti-colonial struggle, and amongst some as part of the post independence struggle for autonomy from the existing governments of Niger and its neighbors.
The Kaocen revolt can also be placed in a longer history of Tuareg conflict with ethnic Songhay and Hausa
in the south central Sahara
which goes back to at least the seizure of Agadez by the Songhay Empire in 1500 CE, or even the first migrations of Berber
Tuaregs south into the Aïr in the 11th to 13th centuries CE. Conflicts have persisted since independence, with major Tuareg risings in Mali's Adrar des Ifoghas
during 1963-64, the 1990s insurgencies in both Mali and Niger, and a renewed series of insurgencies beginning in the mid 2000s (see Second Tuareg Rebellion).
French colonial empires
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
of the area around the Aïr Mountains
Aïr Mountains
The Aïr Mountains is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara desert...
of northern Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
during 1916-17.
1916 rising
Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda KaocenAg Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen
Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen was a Tuareg noble and clan leader. Born in 1880 near Zinder , Kaocen became the Amenokal of the southern Ikazkazan Tuareg, a subset of the Kel Owey confederation...
(1880-1919) was the Tuareg leader of the rising against the French. An adherent to the militantly anti-French Sanusiya Sufi religious order, Kaocen was the Amenokal
Amenokal
Amenokal is an autochthonous title for the highest Tuareg traditional chiefs.-History:Before the colonization by the French of the North African and Sahel countries they dwell in, the nomadic Tuareg federations elected a chief among the wise men of the tribes to rule the loose union of closely...
(chief) of the Ikazkazan Tuareg confederation. Kaocen had engaged in numerous, mostly indecisive, attack on French colonial forces from at least 1909. When the Sanusiya leadership in the Fezzan
Fezzan
Fezzan is a south western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara.-Name:...
oasis town of Kufra
Kufra
Kufra is a basin and oasis group in Al Kufrah District, southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. Kufra is historically important above all because at the end of nineteenth century it became the center and holy place of the Senussi order...
(in modern Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
) declared a Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
against the French colonialists in October 1914, Kaocen rallied his forces. Tagama, the Sultan of Agadez had convinced the French military that the Tuareg confederations remained loyal, and with his help, Kaocen's forces placed the garrison under siege on 17 December 1916. Tuareg raiders, numbering over 1000, led by Kaocen and his brother Mokhtar Kodogo, and armed with repeating rifles and one cannon seized from the Italians in Libya, defeated several French relief columns. They seized all the major towns of the Aïr, including Ingall, Assodé
Assodé
Assodé was a town in the Aïr Mountains in what is now northern Niger. Founded around the eleventh century, it was long the most important Tuareg town, benefiting from trans-Saharan trade, and declining with it from the eighteenth century...
, and Aouderas
Aouderas
Aouderas is an oasis village in the Aïr Mountains of northeastern Niger, about 90km North-Northeast of the Regional capital of Agadez...
, placing what is today northern Niger under rebel control for over three months.
Supression
Finally on 3 March 1917, a large French force dispatched from ZinderZinder
Zinder is the second largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 by 2005 was estimated to be over 200,000...
relieved the Agadez garrison, and began to seize the rebel towns. Large scale French reprisals were taken against these towns, especially against local marabout
Marabout
A marabout is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and in the Maghreb. The marabout is often a scholar of the Qur'an, or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms, Sufi Murshids , or leaders of religious communities...
s, even though many were neither Tuareg or supported the rebellion. Summary public executions by the French in Agadez and Ingal alone totaled 130. While Kaocen fled north, he was hanged in 1919 by local forces in Mourzouk
Murzuk
Murzuk is an oasis town and the capital of the Murzuq District in the Fezzan region of southwest Libya. Murzuk lies on the northern edge of the Murzuq Desert, a desert of ergs or great sand dunes, and section of the Sahara Desert.-History:...
in 1919, while Kodogo was not killed by the French until 1920, when a revolt he led amongst the Toubou
Toubou
The Tubu are an ethnic group that live mainly in northern Chad, but also in Libya, Niger and Sudan....
and Fula
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
in the Sultanate of Damagaram
Sultanate of Damagaram
The Sultanate of Damagaram was a powerful pre-colonial state in what is now southeastern Niger, centered on the city of Zinder.- Rise :The Sultanate of Damagaram was founded in 1731 by Muslim Kanouri aristocrats, led by Mallam...
was defeated.
Context
The revolt led by Kaocen was just one episode in a history of recurring conflict between some Tuareg confederations and the French. In 1911 a rising of Firhoun, Amenokal of Ikazkazan was crushed in MénakaMénaka
Ménaka is a rural commune and town in Menaka Cercle, Gao Region, in the far east of Mali. It is the local government seat and largest town in the Cercle, and one of four rural communes...
, only to reappear in northeast Mali after his escape from French custody in 1916.
Many Tuareg groups had continually fought the French (and the Italians after their 1906 invasion of Libya) since their arrival in the last decade of the 19th century. Others were driven to revolt by the severe drought of the years 1911-14, by French taxation and seizure of camels to aid other conquests, and by French abolition of the slave trade, leading many previously subservient settled communities of the area to themselves revolt against traditional rule and taxation by the nomadic Tuareg.
Memory of the revolt and the killings in its wake remain fresh in the minds of modern Tuareg, to whom it is seen as both part of a large anti-colonial struggle, and amongst some as part of the post independence struggle for autonomy from the existing governments of Niger and its neighbors.
The Kaocen revolt can also be placed in a longer history of Tuareg conflict with ethnic Songhay and Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
in the south central Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
which goes back to at least the seizure of Agadez by the Songhay Empire in 1500 CE, or even the first migrations of Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
Tuaregs south into the Aïr in the 11th to 13th centuries CE. Conflicts have persisted since independence, with major Tuareg risings in Mali's Adrar des Ifoghas
Adrar des Ifoghas
The Adrar des Ifoghas is a sandstone massif in Mali's Kidal Region, having an area of about 250,000 km².The area is characterized by wide, shallow valleys, and is strewn with piles of eroded granite blocks...
during 1963-64, the 1990s insurgencies in both Mali and Niger, and a renewed series of insurgencies beginning in the mid 2000s (see Second Tuareg Rebellion).
See also
- Finn Fuglestad. Les révoltes des Touaregs du Niger (1916-1917). In Cahiers d'études africainesCahiers d'Études africainesThe Cahiers d'Études africaines is an international and interdisciplinary academic journal covering topics in the social sciences as relating to Africa, the West Indies, and Black Africa. The journal publishes miscellaneous issues and essays covering recent trends in research and field theory and...
- 049, pp. 82-121, Paris, Mouton - Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (1973). - Ali Salifou, 'Kawousan ou la révolte sénoussiste', Études nigériennes n° 33 (Niamey, 1973)