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The basin and the Mauritanian coast

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Near the wells of Fessala, south of Baskou, they encountered two sections of Oulad Zaid and attacked them, resulting in a number of dead and wounded on both sides. After this battle, the Oulad Allouch decided to gather their tribes around Baskou to defend it if necessary. However, the attack did not occur. After a while, Mustapha looted a herd of livestock from the village of Ingoukou. This event had an impact on the stability of the eastern coast for several years. In July of the same year, 1905, the Oulad Allouch and the people of Sidi entered into a dispute, and people expected a full-scale battle. Two men from the Oulad Allouch caravans were assassinated by the people of Sidi, and the Oulad Allouch executed one of the dignitaries of the people of Sidi who had visited them to reclaim a debt, in revenge for their two slain men. The French authorities were able to restore peace. When the traveler Lenz passed through these areas, he almost fell victim to them. He wrote, "The third of August 1880 has always remained in my memory. It was simply when he met me, where he was forced to defend himself with a weapon in his hand, but he did not have to use it. He gained nothing from his claim to be a Turkish doctor, nor from the status of his guides as sayyids, in the face of these warriors who were primarily intent on harming the men of the Borbouchian and Touroumian caravan accompanying him. In reality, they appeared less ferocious than he had feared them to be, because their leader, Abu Bakr, was content to take some items that suited him from Lenz's luggage and later accompanied him to Baskou, thus protecting him from being looted by the men of Oulad Allouch. The period of Sheikh Ben Sidi's leadership was full of many assassinations, as was the custom in the Beydani region. His eldest son, Muhammad, after enlisting the help of one of his cousins, Muhammad bin Hanoun, surprised Sidi Al-Mukhtar bin Hanoun and killed him treacherously in 1893, in revenge for the killing of their common grandfather, Sidi bin Hanoun. This distant murder did not trouble these two young men, but duty imposed solidarity and adherence to inherited traditions. Sidi Muhammad, nicknamed "Aghla Nasi," the son of the murdered leader and candidate for tribal leadership upon his father's death in 1313, took charge and thus prevailed over his cousins. Upon our arrival in this country, Sheikh Ben Sidi sent his son to contact the authorities in Socollo, and a vague "document of submission" was signed in May 1894 with Governor Grodet, represented by Captain Rostaing. Its content is as follows: Article 1: From this day, May 8, 1894, the various groups working for the French government are recognized; and the document of complete submission signed by Sheikh Ben Sidi shall apply to the tribes named below: Oulad Allouch, and they guarantee the two converging branches of Oulad Allouch camels.

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