The Imghad of Air may be divided into three categories whose history is so intimately bound up with the noble tribes that it cannot be considered separately. There are the Imghad whose association with their respective Imajeghan dates from before their advent to Air; their origin must be looked for in the Fezzan or elsewhere at some very early date. Secondly, there are the Imghad who were the original inhabitants of Air before the Tuareg came, and who by some agreement at the time, like the traditional one of Maket n’Ikelan,[127] were not enslaved but allowed to continue living in the country side by side with the new arrivals in a state of vassalage or semi-servitude. Lastly, there are the Imghad who are either Arabs, Tuareg of other divisions, or negroids from the south captured in the course of raids from Air, in some cases as recently as a generation ago. With these different origins it is not surprising to find among the Air Imghad both a strongly negroid type, a non-negroid and non-Tuareg type, and a type showing the fine features and complexion characteristic of the Imajeghan themselves. The first type is the pre-Tuareg population of Air. It is the most common, if only for the reason that negroid characteristics always appear to be dominant in the cross-breeding which ensued. The second type represents the Arab or Berber element acquired by conquest. The third type represents the subjugated groups of Imajeghan of other divisions.[128] Of the latter category are, for instance, the Kel Ahaggar, Imghad of the Kel Gharus, who were originally nobles from the great northern division of the Tuareg. Many of the Kel Ferwan Imghad are believed to be Arabs or Tuareg of the west, captured comparatively recently on raids into the Aulimmiden territory. The Kel Nugguru are the freed slaves of the Añastafidet, the administrative head of the Kel Owi confederation: they have become so prosperous that they are now laying claim to be of noble origin, a pretension which no right-minded Imajegh in Air will admit for a moment. But it is almost impossible nowadays to trace the history of each Imghad tribe in detail. Generally, in the absence of more precise data, it may be assumed that those Imghad tribes which have “I names” are the oldest; for here the process of assimilation to the mass of the Tuareg race is most complete, either on account of the length of their mutual association or owing to the fact that they were originally themselves of the same race; the “Kel name” Imghad, on the other hand, are probably more recent additions.[129]
The confusion reigning on the subject of the “Black” and “White” Tuareg in the minds of the few people in Europe who have ever heard of the race is due to the practice in the north of the servile wearing a white, and the nobles a black, veil. But a “Black” Tuareg, being a noble, will, in the vast majority of cases, have a much fairer complexion and more European features than a “White,” or servile Tuareg. In Air the colour of the veil affords no means of distinguishing the caste of the wearer. The best veils, being made in the south, are consequently cheaper in Air than in the north, and this is probably the reason why Imajeghan and Imghad alike in Air wear the indigo-black Tagilmus. When a white veil is seen, it usually means that the wearer is too poor to buy a proper black one and has had to resort to some makeshift torn from the bottom of his robe.
Slaves, domestic or pastoral, do not wear the face veil at all. This is the essential outward difference between them and the Imghad. The latter, whatever their origin, are considered to be a part of the Tuareg people; the former cannot be so, for they are simply accounted to belong, as camels do, to the People of the Veil.
The exact status of the Imghad, or “meratha” (merathra) as they are called by the Arabs in Fezzan, is somewhat difficult to define. There is no adequate translation in any European language of the word “amghid.”[130] The process of their original enslavement and subsequent release to form a category of people who have achieved partial but not complete freedom has, I think, no parallel in Europe except in a modified form in the state of vassalage. Yet, as “servile” conveys too narrow and definite a relationship, so “vassal” is certainly too broad a term. In the state of servility or, to coin a word, “imghadage” to which the pre-Tuareg inhabitants of Air appear to have been reduced, the process of enslavement and release may be said to have taken place only as a legal fiction, and not, if the tradition is to be accepted as accurate, in real fact. The general practice seems to have been that when large groups of people were subjugated or captured in war they were simultaneously released into the state of imghadage, but when individuals or a few persons were acquired by force or by purchase, they were only manumitted in the course of time, if at all, and incorporated at some later date into an Imghad tribe or village already in existence.
In contradistinction to slaves, the Imghad are not bound individually, but collectively, and not to individuals, but to a noble tribe or group of tribes. They are in no sense considered to be the property of the latter; but the relationship is closer than that of suzerain and vassal. It is not within the power of an Imghad tribe to change its allegiance, since in the first instance its members were theoretically at least the property of its overlord tribe; they owe their separate existence to an act of manumission freely and voluntarily accomplished. A change of allegiance could occur only if a servile tribe were captured in whole or in part; it follows that when this has occurred one servile tribe might owe allegiance in several parts to different noble groups.[131] The bond between them consists of the right of the responsible noble tribe alone, and therefore of its chief, to administer justice among the dependent Imghad, either in small cases by tacitly confirming the verdict of their own headman, or in more weighty matters by express reference. The Imghad tribe may be fined or punished collectively by their lords, and would have no right to appeal to the Amenokal without permission. For the Amenokal to interfere on behalf of an Imghad tribe would constitute a breach of tribal custom and ensure a rebuff, if not worse. A certain proportion of the marriage portions payable in the Imghad tribes goes to their Imajeghan, who have the right to give or withhold consent to these contracts. One of the functions of the Imghad is to take complete charge of and use the camels of their lords for long periods or to trade with them on their behalf. In such cases the Imghad act as the agents of the nobles, each one of whom has a right to ask the servile tribe as a whole to undertake these duties. But such obligations are imposed collectively on the tribe and not on any one Imghad. It is the custom to share the offspring of the camels thus herded in equal shares, though in the event of any of the animals dying whilst under the charge of the Imghad, the latter are collectively responsible for making good the loss, save in extenuating circumstances. Conversely, the nobles are, in every case,[132] the protectors of their dependents. The relations between Imghad and Imajeghan are a mixture of those obtaining under the feudalism of Europe and the “client” system of Rome.
A consequence of the interruption of caravan traffic and the disappearance of one of the principal sources of revenue of the noble Tuareg is that the Imghad as camel herders, and generally speaking as the more laborious members of the community, have gained where the nobles have lost.
Prosperity is emancipating the Imghad, and is materially assisting the breakdown of social distinctions which in time will survive only in the philosophic contemplation of the Imajeghan dreaming idly of the return of better days. The Imghad tribes used to be the unquestioning allies of their overlords in war; their numbers contributed greatly to the strength of any Imajegh tribe. Though they might not make war on their own initiative, the Imghad carried and still carry weapons.[133] They used to go on raids with their masters, or, if the Imajeghan were busy elsewhere, represent them with their masters’ camels and the weight of their own right arms. But the chiefs of the Imghad were never more than subordinates, or at the most advisers to the nobles.
To-day this unquestioning subservience has almost disappeared and we even find Khodi, chief of the Kel Nugguru, disputing with the noble Ahodu the leadership of the village of Auderas. This issue was one of great importance in local politics and originally arose out of the disputed ownership of certain palms which had been given to Ahodu when he was installed as head of the village as a reward for service rendered by him to the Foureau-Lamy expedition. The village is on the edge of the Kel Nugguru country, while Ahodu in fact comes from a northern tribe, the Kel Tadek, who have no real concern with this district. The impossibility of reconciling the tribal and settled organisations was clearly demonstrated in every aspect of this controversy. Khodi, living as a nomad with his people and camels at some distance from the village, sought, without success, to govern the community through various representatives, while Ahodu, who had given up wandering, was suspended by the French during the settlement of the legal case, and sat in the village watching mistake after mistake being made. Under the old system Khodi could never have pretended to dispute with a noble the position of chief of a large village: in fact an Imghad tribe without a protecting noble overlord would have been unlikely to administer a village at all. Similarly among the Ahaggaren Imghad of the Kel Gharus, a man of servile origin, Bilalen by name, has come to share with T’iaman the lordship of a once noble people of the north, a position of such importance that he is regarded as one of the most influential chiefs in Air. Bilalen has only become associated with the Ahaggaren by marriage; he could never have achieved even this, much less could he have attained so powerful a following in the country, under the old régime.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE AIR TUAREG
