The introduction

Al-Naser and the people of Talab Mukhtar were called upon for many calls to declare jihad, and the necessity of coming to Adrar [al-Tamr] or attacking the French on the coast. Before that, between 1897-1898, the Kenta Azawad tribes made some early calls for jihad, but the envoys of [Sheikh] Abidine (15) did not achieve their goal. However, the powerful advance of General Gourraud in Mauritania, the purchase of camels on the coast, which led people to believe there was an intention to form successive columns of troops, and finally the arrival of a detachment of Laverdure from Timbuktu in April 1908 via Bassano to Neama, all these factors thwarted any desire for resistance, if such a desire had ever existed; here too, [Sharif] Moulay Idriss (16) [and Sheikh] Ma al-Aynayn gained nothing. The abolition of slavery in 1908-1909 led to laxity in inflicting great harm on us, but the Iflan, Monik, and Benbere tribes were harmed by it; as for the Bidhan, these measures fortunately were not applied and were impossible to implement. Then the date of the occupation of the province approached, which would lead to our effective control over all these Bidhan tribes, and the governor Clozel paved the way for this since 1909 through a conditional negotiation, and on November 14 of the same year, Mahmoud came, preceded by Sheikh Al-Turad with some men of the people of Talab Mukhtar, to Konaha at the head of a procession of one hundred men; and in March 1911, he went further, visiting Governor Clozel in Koloba (the governor's headquarters in Bassako); and a few months later, his brother Lebat participated in a police patrol that scoured the coastal region with the commander of Timbuktu. Since then, the fruit has ripened, and it has become possible to occupy Oualata without a shot being fired. ____ (15) - He is Sheikh Zein al-Abidine bin Sheikh Sidi Muhammad al-Kutni bin Sheikh Sidi Muhammad bin Sheikh Sidi al-Mukhtar al-Kabir, born around 1848. A great mujahid, he formed with his sons and supporters centers for fighting against the French, in northern Sudan (Mali) and then in southern Morocco. Many resistance fighters joined him. He died in the forties of this century in southern Morocco. See the book "Kenta al-Sharqayn" by Paul Marty, translated by Muhammad Mahmoud Waddi, Zaid bin Thabit Press, Damascus, 1985. (16) - Moulay Idriss, from the family of the Sharifs of the Ahl Moulay Ismail, Sultans of Morocco. His nephew, Sultan Moulay Hafiz, sent him, along with Sheikh Hassana bin Sheikh Ma al-Aynayn, to organize resistance against the occupation. He attended the Battle of Nimla and the siege of Tichitt. After the failure in the latter, he returned with Sheikh Hassana to the north, along with many emigrants to Morocco.