Iklan

(singular Akli)

   This term refers to all former black slaves and domestic serfs of traditional Tuareg society. The term iklan means "to be black." Slaves belonged to their masters and constituted a valuable source of labor at the disposal of their masters. They herded Tuareg livestock and cultivated land but could never acquire rights of ownership over these assets either legally or economically, as these rights were vested within the corporate body of the descent group (tawsit). Traditional forms of slavery were substantially undermined by the intrusion of colonialism and postindependence legal systems that abolished slavery in its multifarious forms.

   They were also known as ismkhan (singular ismakh) in Morocco and thought to have originated from bilad al-sudan. Slaves worked as domestics and shepherds. The slaves were integrated into households and tents of the families they served and usually had personal ties with their masters. For this reason, a slave had a higher standing in the eyes of a Berber or an Arab than a Haratine.