Who are the Tuareg?

By A.V.

THIS month the government of Mali is due to implement key parts of a peace treaty with Tuareg rebels in the north of the country. The deal has been a long time coming. It was signed more than a year ago, and stems from fighting that began in 2012. The rebels had hoped to form “Azawad”, an independent Tuareg nation. Even now, they hold the strategic town of Kidal. But who are the Tuareg—and what does their future hold?

The Tuareg are a group of Berber clans of obscure origin. Legend states that under their first queen, Tin Hinan, they moved into the Sahara around 400AD. During medieval times, the Tuareg dominated lucrative trade routes across the desert. Timbuktu, renowned throughout the Muslim world as an intellectual centre, was founded by a Tuareg family in the 12th century. Tuareg fortunes declined after the French arrived, in the 19th century. Their leaders were slaughtered and their traditional confederations dissolved. Following the independence of north-west Africa, in the 1960s the Tuareg were separated by the borders of several post-colonial states.