Kaoucen, Ag Mohamed Wau Teguida

(1882-1919)

   Land chief, or amenukal, of the Ikzkazan clan who led a historic Tuareg revolt against the French in 1916, also called the Kaoucen revolt. It refers to the rebellion of the Tuareg in northern Niger, a rebellion sparked by the call to jihad declared by the Grand Sanusi of Kufra oasis (Fezzan) in 1914. Born to the Ghat clan of the Oraghen of Damergou in 1882, Kaoucen witnessed many defeats of his people at the hands of the French armed forces, and he was a follower of the Sanusiyya order, which called for a jihad against infidel occupation of Muslim lands. He was an ardent follower and preacher of the order and took part in many anti-French jihads in Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti in Chad in 1909 and Ain Gallaka.

   In 1910, Kaoucen was given command of the defense of Ennedi by the Grand Sanusi. He was defeated in Ennedi and was forced by the French to Darfur (Sudan), only to return in 1913 to Ouninaga Kabir (Chad) and Fezzan to continue his assaults on the French. In 1916, he led an attack and siege of Agadez. Accompanied by a thousand holy warriors using guns and a cannon stripped from the Italians in Libya, Kaoucen maintained the siege of the French garrison until reinforcements from Zinder finally lifted it. Forced by the French into Tibesti and Fezzan, he was captured by the Alifa of Zeila and hanged in Marzouk on 5 January 1919.