Qui était mieux pendant la colonie, les Touaregs ou les autres gens ?
Colonial (1900–1958)

In the 19th century, some European explorers travelled in the area that would become known as Niger, such as Mungo Park (in 1805–1806), the Oudney - Denham - Clapperton expedition (1822–25), Heinrich Barth (1850–55 with James Richardson and Adolf Overweg), Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (1865–1867), Gustav Nachtigal (1869–1874) and Parfait-Louis Monteil (1890–1892).

Some European countries already possessed coastal colonies in Africa, and in the latter half of the century they began to turn their eyes towards the interior of the continent. This process, known as the ' Scramble for Africa ', culminated in the 1885 Berlin conference in which the colonial powers outlined the division of Africa into spheres of influence. As a result of this, France gained control of the upper valley of the Niger River (roughly equivalent to the present territory of Mali and Niger). France then set about making a reality of their rule on the ground. In 1897, the French officer Marius Gabriel Cazemajou was sent to Niger. He reached the Sultanate of Damagaram in 1898, and stayed in Zinder at the court of Sultan Amadou Kouran Daga. He was later killed, as Daga feared he would ally with the Chad-based warlord Rabih az-Zubayr. In 1899–1900, France coordinated three expeditions—the Gentil Mission from French Congo, the Foureau-Lamy Mission from Algeria and the Voulet–Chanoine Mission from Timbuktu —with the aim of linking France's African possessions. The three eventually met at Kousséri (in the far north of Cameroon) and defeated Rabih az-Zubayr's forces at the Battle of Kousséri. The Voulet-Chanoine Mission was "marred by atrocities", and "became notorious" for pillaging, looting, raping and killing local civilians on its passage throughout southern Niger. On 8 May 1899, in retaliation for the resistance of queen Sarraounia, captain Voulet and his men murdered all the inhabitants of the village of Birni-N'Konni in what is regarded as "one of the worst massacres in French colonial history". The "brutal" methods of Voulet and Chanoine caused a "scandal" and Paris was forced to intervene; when Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-François Klobb caught up with the mission near Tessaoua to relieve them of command he was killed. Lt. Paul Joalland, Klobb's former officer, and Lt. Octave Meynier eventually took over the mission following a mutiny in which Voulet and Chanoine were killed. The Military Territory of Niger was subsequently created within the Upper Senegal and Niger colony (later Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) in December 1904 with its capital at Niamey. The border with Britain's colony of Nigeria to the south was finalised in 1910, a rough delimitation having already been agreed by the two powers via treaties during the period 1898–1906. The capital of the territory was moved to Zinder in 1912 when the Niger Military Territory was split off from Upper Senegal and Niger, before being moved back to Niamey in 1922 when Niger became a fully fledged colony within French West Africa. The borders of Niger were drawn up in stages and had been fixed at their later position by the 1930s. Territorial adjustments took place in this period: the areas west of the Niger river were attached to Niger in 1926–1927, and during the dissolution of Upper Volta (modern Burkina Faso) in 1932–1947 most of the east of that territory was added to Niger; and in the east the Tibesti Mountains were transferred to Chad in 1931.

The French generally adopted a form of indirect rule, allowing existing native structures to continue to exist within the colonial framework of governance providing that they acknowledged French supremacy. The Zarma of the Dosso Kingdom in particular proved amenable to French rule, using them as allies against the encroachments of Hausa and other nearby states; over time the Zarma thus became one of the "more educated and westernised" groups in Niger. Perceived threats to French rule, such as the Kobkitanda rebellion in Dosso Region (1905–1906), led by the blind cleric Alfa Saibou, and the Karma revolt in the Niger valley (December 1905 – March 1906) led by Oumarou Karma were suppressed with force, as were the latter Hamallayya and Hauka religious movements. While "largely successful" in subduing the "sedentary" populations of the south, the French faced "considerably more difficulty" with the Tuareg in the north (centered on the Sultanate of Aïr in Agadez), and France was unable to occupy Agadez until 1906. Tuareg resistance continued, culminating in the Kaocen revolt of 1916–1917, led by Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen, with backing from the Senussi in Fezzan; the revolt was violently suppressed and Kaocen fled to Fezzan where he was later killed. A puppet sultan was set up by the French and the "decline and marginalisation" of the north of the colony continued, exacerbated by a series of droughts. While it remained "something of a backwater", some limited economic development took place in Niger during the colonial years, such as the introduction of groundnut cultivation. Measures to improve food security following a series of devastating famines in 1913, 1920, and 1931 were introduced.

During the Second World War, during which time mainland France was occupied by Nazi Germany, Charles de Gaulle issued the Brazzaville Declaration, declaring that the French colonial empire would be replaced post-war with a less centralised French Union. The French Union, which lasted from 1946 to 1958, conferred a limited form of French citizenship on the inhabitants of the colonies, with some decentralisation of power and limited participation in political life for local advisory assemblies. It was during this period that the Nigerien Progressive Party (Parti Progressiste Nigérien, or PPN, originally a branch of the African Democratic Rally, or Rassemblement Démocratique Africain – RDA) was formed under the leadership of former teacher Hamani Diori, as was the left-wing Mouvement Socialiste Africain-Sawaba (MSA), led by Djibo Bakary. Following the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of 23 July 1956 and the establishment of the Fifth French Republic on 4 December 1958, Niger became an autonomous state within the French Community. On 18 December 1958, an autonomous Republic of Niger was officially created under the leadership of Hamani Diori. MSA was banned in 1959 for its perceived excessive anti-French stance. On 11 July 1960, Niger decided to leave the French Community and acquired full independence at midnight, local time, on 3 August 1960; Diori thus became the first president of the country.
Période coloniale

À partir du XVIe siècle, des explorateurs français, espagnols et anglais visitèrent la région. Un siècle plus tard, des colons néerlandais et anglais établirent des colonies de plantations le long des nombreux fleuves des plaines fertiles du Guyana. La première colonie documentée au Guyana était un établissement anglais nommé Marshall's Creek, situé sur la rivière Suriname. Par la suite, il y eut une autre colonie anglaise de courte durée, appelée Surinam, qui dura de 1650 à 1667.

Des différends surgirent entre les Néerlandais et les Anglais pour le contrôle de ce territoire. En 1667, lors de négociations menant au Traité de Breda après la Seconde guerre anglo-néerlandaise, les Néerlandais décidèrent de conserver la jeune colonie de plantations de Surinam qu'ils avaient obtenue des Anglais. En contrepartie, les Anglais conservèrent New Amsterdam, la principale ville de l'ancienne colonie de Nouvelle-Néerlande en Amérique du Nord, sur la côte de l'Atlantique central. Ils la rebaptisèrent New York, en l'honneur du duc d'York qui deviendrait plus tard le roi Jacques II d'Angleterre.

En 1683, la Société du Suriname fut fondée par la ville d'Amsterdam, la famille Van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck et la Compagnie néerlandaise des Indes occidentales. La société fut constituée pour gérer et défendre la colonie. Les planteurs de la colonie dépendaient fortement des esclaves africains pour cultiver, récolter et transformer les cultures commerciales des plantations de café, de cacao, de canne à sucre et de coton le long des fleuves. Le traitement des esclaves par les planteurs était notoirement brutal, même selon les normes de l'époque — l'historien C. R. Boxer a écrit que « l'inhumanité de l'homme envers l'homme atteignait à peu près ses limites au Surinam » — et de nombreux esclaves s'échappèrent des plantations. En novembre 1795, la Société fut nationalisée par la République batave et, à partir de ce moment-là, la République batave et ses successeurs légaux (le Royaume des Pays-Bas et le Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas) gouvernèrent le territoire en tant que colonie nationale, à l'exception de deux périodes d'occupation britannique, entre 1799 et 1802, et entre 1804 et 1816.

Avec l'aide des Amérindiens vivant dans les forêts tropicales adjacentes, les esclaves en fuite établirent une nouvelle culture unique dans l'arrière-pays, qui connut un grand succès de ses propres forces. Ils étaient collectivement connus en anglais sous le nom de Maroons, en français sous le nom de Nèg'Marrons (signifiant littéralement « nègres bruns », c'est-à-dire « nègres à la peau claire »), et en néerlandais sous le nom de Marrons. Les Maroons développèrent progressivement plusieurs tribus indépendantes par un processus de génèse ethnique, car ils étaient composés d'esclaves de différentes ethnies africaines. Ces tribus comprennent les Saramaka, Paramaka, Ndyuka ou Aukan, Kwinti, Aluku ou Boni, et Matawai.

Les Maroons pillaient souvent les plantations pour recruter de nouveaux membres parmi les esclaves et capturer des femmes, ainsi que pour acquérir des armes, de la nourriture et des provisions. Ils tuaient parfois les planteurs et leurs familles lors de ces raids. Les colons construisirent des défenses, qui étaient suffisamment importantes pour être représentées sur les cartes du XVIIIe siècle.

Les colons menèrent également des campagnes armées contre les Maroons, qui s'échappaient généralement à travers la forêt tropicale, qu'ils connaissaient bien mieux que les colons. Pour mettre fin aux hostilités, au XVIIIe siècle, les autorités coloniales européennes signèrent plusieurs traités de paix avec différentes tribus. Ils accordèrent aux Maroons le statut de souveraineté et des droits commerciaux dans leurs territoires de l'arrière-pays, leur accordant ainsi une autonomie.
### Query ###
Qui était mieux pendant la colonie, les Touaregs ou les autres gens ?

### Main Text ###
Colonial (1900–1958)

In the 19th century, some European explorers travelled in the area that would become known as Niger, such as Mungo Park (in 1805–1806), the Oudney - Denham - Clapperton expedition (1822–25), Heinrich Barth (1850–55 with James Richardson and Adolf Overweg), Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (1865–1867), Gustav Nachtigal (1869–1874) and Parfait-Louis Monteil (1890–1892).

Some European countries already possessed coastal colonies in Africa, and in the latter half of the century they began to turn their eyes towards the interior of the continent. This process, known as the ' Scramble for Africa ', culminated in the 1885 Berlin conference in which the colonial powers outlined the division of Africa into spheres of influence. As a result of this, France gained control of the upper valley of the Niger River (roughly equivalent to the present territory of Mali and Niger). France then set about making a reality of their rule on the ground. In 1897, the French officer Marius Gabriel Cazemajou was sent to Niger. He reached the Sultanate of Damagaram in 1898, and stayed in Zinder at the court of Sultan Amadou Kouran Daga. He was later killed, as Daga feared he would ally with the Chad-based warlord Rabih az-Zubayr. In 1899–1900, France coordinated three expeditions—the Gentil Mission from French Congo, the Foureau-Lamy Mission from Algeria and the Voulet–Chanoine Mission from Timbuktu —with the aim of linking France's African possessions. The three eventually met at Kousséri (in the far north of Cameroon) and defeated Rabih az-Zubayr's forces at the Battle of Kousséri. The Voulet-Chanoine Mission was "marred by atrocities", and "became notorious" for pillaging, looting, raping and killing local civilians on its passage throughout southern Niger. On 8 May 1899, in retaliation for the resistance of queen Sarraounia, captain Voulet and his men murdered all the inhabitants of the village of Birni-N'Konni in what is regarded as "one of the worst massacres in French colonial history". The "brutal" methods of Voulet and Chanoine caused a "scandal" and Paris was forced to intervene; when Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-François Klobb caught up with the mission near Tessaoua to relieve them of command he was killed. Lt. Paul Joalland, Klobb's former officer, and Lt. Octave Meynier eventually took over the mission following a mutiny in which Voulet and Chanoine were killed. The Military Territory of Niger was subsequently created within the Upper Senegal and Niger colony (later Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) in December 1904 with its capital at Niamey. The border with Britain's colony of Nigeria to the south was finalised in 1910, a rough delimitation having already been agreed by the two powers via treaties during the period 1898–1906. The capital of the territory was moved to Zinder in 1912 when the Niger Military Territory was split off from Upper Senegal and Niger, before being moved back to Niamey in 1922 when Niger became a fully fledged colony within French West Africa. The borders of Niger were drawn up in stages and had been fixed at their later position by the 1930s. Territorial adjustments took place in this period: the areas west of the Niger river were attached to Niger in 1926–1927, and during the dissolution of Upper Volta (modern Burkina Faso) in 1932–1947 most of the east of that territory was added to Niger; and in the east the Tibesti Mountains were transferred to Chad in 1931.

The French generally adopted a form of indirect rule, allowing existing native structures to continue to exist within the colonial framework of governance providing that they acknowledged French supremacy. The Zarma of the Dosso Kingdom in particular proved amenable to French rule, using them as allies against the encroachments of Hausa and other nearby states; over time the Zarma thus became one of the "more educated and westernised" groups in Niger. Perceived threats to French rule, such as the Kobkitanda rebellion in Dosso Region (1905–1906), led by the blind cleric Alfa Saibou, and the Karma revolt in the Niger valley (December 1905 – March 1906) led by Oumarou Karma were suppressed with force, as were the latter Hamallayya and Hauka religious movements. While "largely successful" in subduing the "sedentary" populations of the south, the French faced "considerably more difficulty" with the Tuareg in the north (centered on the Sultanate of Aïr in Agadez), and France was unable to occupy Agadez until 1906. Tuareg resistance continued, culminating in the Kaocen revolt of 1916–1917, led by Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen, with backing from the Senussi in Fezzan; the revolt was violently suppressed and Kaocen fled to Fezzan where he was later killed. A puppet sultan was set up by the French and the "decline and marginalisation" of the north of the colony continued, exacerbated by a series of droughts. While it remained "something of a backwater", some limited economic development took place in Niger during the colonial years, such as the introduction of groundnut cultivation. Measures to improve food security following a series of devastating famines in 1913, 1920, and 1931 were introduced.

During the Second World War, during which time mainland France was occupied by Nazi Germany, Charles de Gaulle issued the Brazzaville Declaration, declaring that the French colonial empire would be replaced post-war with a less centralised French Union. The French Union, which lasted from 1946 to 1958, conferred a limited form of French citizenship on the inhabitants of the colonies, with some decentralisation of power and limited participation in political life for local advisory assemblies. It was during this period that the Nigerien Progressive Party (Parti Progressiste Nigérien, or PPN, originally a branch of the African Democratic Rally, or Rassemblement Démocratique Africain – RDA) was formed under the leadership of former teacher Hamani Diori, as was the left-wing Mouvement Socialiste Africain-Sawaba (MSA), led by Djibo Bakary. Following the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of 23 July 1956 and the establishment of the Fifth French Republic on 4 December 1958, Niger became an autonomous state within the French Community. On 18 December 1958, an autonomous Republic of Niger was officially created under the leadership of Hamani Diori. MSA was banned in 1959 for its perceived excessive anti-French stance. On 11 July 1960, Niger decided to leave the French Community and acquired full independence at midnight, local time, on 3 August 1960; Diori thus became the first president of the country.

### Supplementary Text ###
Période coloniale

À partir du XVIe siècle, des explorateurs français, espagnols et anglais visitèrent la région. Un siècle plus tard, des colons néerlandais et anglais établirent des colonies de plantations le long des nombreux fleuves des plaines fertiles du Guyana. La première colonie documentée au Guyana était un établissement anglais nommé Marshall's Creek, situé sur la rivière Suriname. Par la suite, il y eut une autre colonie anglaise de courte durée, appelée Surinam, qui dura de 1650 à 1667.

Des différends surgirent entre les Néerlandais et les Anglais pour le contrôle de ce territoire. En 1667, lors de négociations menant au Traité de Breda après la Seconde guerre anglo-néerlandaise, les Néerlandais décidèrent de conserver la jeune colonie de plantations de Surinam qu'ils avaient obtenue des Anglais. En contrepartie, les Anglais conservèrent New Amsterdam, la principale ville de l'ancienne colonie de Nouvelle-Néerlande en Amérique du Nord, sur la côte de l'Atlantique central. Ils la rebaptisèrent New York, en l'honneur du duc d'York qui deviendrait plus tard le roi Jacques II d'Angleterre.

En 1683, la Société du Suriname fut fondée par la ville d'Amsterdam, la famille Van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck et la Compagnie néerlandaise des Indes occidentales. La société fut constituée pour gérer et défendre la colonie. Les planteurs de la colonie dépendaient fortement des esclaves africains pour cultiver, récolter et transformer les cultures commerciales des plantations de café, de cacao, de canne à sucre et de coton le long des fleuves. Le traitement des esclaves par les planteurs était notoirement brutal, même selon les normes de l'époque — l'historien C. R. Boxer a écrit que « l'inhumanité de l'homme envers l'homme atteignait à peu près ses limites au Surinam » — et de nombreux esclaves s'échappèrent des plantations. En novembre 1795, la Société fut nationalisée par la République batave et, à partir de ce moment-là, la République batave et ses successeurs légaux (le Royaume des Pays-Bas et le Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas) gouvernèrent le territoire en tant que colonie nationale, à l'exception de deux périodes d'occupation britannique, entre 1799 et 1802, et entre 1804 et 1816.

Avec l'aide des Amérindiens vivant dans les forêts tropicales adjacentes, les esclaves en fuite établirent une nouvelle culture unique dans l'arrière-pays, qui connut un grand succès de ses propres forces. Ils étaient collectivement connus en anglais sous le nom de Maroons, en français sous le nom de Nèg'Marrons (signifiant littéralement « nègres bruns », c'est-à-dire « nègres à la peau claire »), et en néerlandais sous le nom de Marrons. Les Maroons développèrent progressivement plusieurs tribus indépendantes par un processus de génèse ethnique, car ils étaient composés d'esclaves de différentes ethnies africaines. Ces tribus comprennent les Saramaka, Paramaka, Ndyuka ou Aukan, Kwinti, Aluku ou Boni, et Matawai.

Les Maroons pillaient souvent les plantations pour recruter de nouveaux membres parmi les esclaves et capturer des femmes, ainsi que pour acquérir des armes, de la nourriture et des provisions. Ils tuaient parfois les planteurs et leurs familles lors de ces raids. Les colons construisirent des défenses, qui étaient suffisamment importantes pour être représentées sur les cartes du XVIIIe siècle.

Les colons menèrent également des campagnes armées contre les Maroons, qui s'échappaient généralement à travers la forêt tropicale, qu'ils connaissaient bien mieux que les colons. Pour mettre fin aux hostilités, au XVIIIe siècle, les autorités coloniales européennes signèrent plusieurs traités de paix avec différentes tribus. Ils accordèrent aux Maroons le statut de souveraineté et des droits commerciaux dans leurs territoires de l'arrière-pays, leur accordant ainsi une autonomie.

### Draft ###

### 1. Query Parsing

"Qui était mieux pendant la colonie, les Touaregs ou les autres gens ?"

Breaking down: "Qui" → which group, "mieux" → better how, "pendant la colonie" → during colonial period, "Touaregs" → nomadic Berber peoples of Sahara, "autres gens" → sedentary/non-Tuareg populations.

Key semantic issue: "mieux" = better implies value judgment. What metric? Survival? Resistance? Cultural preservation? Economic outcomes?

### 2. Contextual Mapping

Geographic scope: Niger colonial territory, 1900-1960
→ French colonial administration
→ Predominantly Sahel region, nomadic vs sedentary populations

Historical periods to triangulate:
- Pre-colonial: Tuareg hegemony over caravan trade routes
- Early colonial: Military conquest phases  
- Consolidation: Indirect rule implementation
- Resistance movements: Tuareg rebellions vs local alliances

### 3. Information Retrieval Challenge

※ Multi-hop reasoning required: French colonial tactics + Tuareg mobility + local population responses

Critical domains:
- Military history: Colonial pacification campaigns
- Anthropology: Nomad vs sedentary adaptation strategies  
- Political science: Indirect rule mechanisms
- Geography: Terrain advantages for different populations

⚠ Potential bias: Colonial sources vs oral histories, sedentary vs nomadic perspectives

### 4. Evidence Synthesis

**Tuareg Experience:**
● High confidence: Late resistance (Kaocen revolt 1916-1917) → suggests strategic retreat
◐ Partial: French inability to fully subjugate northern populations until 1906
○ Lower confidence: Economic marginalization post-conquest

**Other Populations Experience:**  
● High confidence: Zarma populations (Dosso region) → early collaboration with French
● High confidence: Indirect rule success → used existing hierarchies
◐ Partial: Local rebellions suppressed (Karma 1905-1906, religious movements)
● High confidence: Educational/administrative integration

### 5. Logical Cross-Reference

Pattern recognition:
- Tuareg: Mobile, decentralized → French found occupation difficult
- Sedentary: Fixed settlements, trade relationships → Easier administrative control

∴ Administrative efficiency ≠ cultural preservation
∴ Military suppression ≠ long-term population satisfaction

### 6. Synthesis Framework

Two-tier answer structure:
1. **Short response**: Sedentary populations fared better (administrative integration, education, economic development)
2. **Extended analysis**: Contextual factors explaining differential outcomes + limitations of colonial governance

⟨H≈0.8⟩ The desert nomads versus river valley farmers, two Nigerias split by sand and soil, mobility versus roots, the French administrator's map-mind meeting Tuareg spatial logic, who controls the caravan routes controls the wealth, controls the people, but how do you govern what you cannot easily see? ⟨/H⟩

### 7. Critical Limitations

? Missing data: Tuareg economic indicators, inter-group dynamics during resistance
? Translation issues: French colonial reports vs local perspectives
? Temporal bias: Post-independence narratives vs colonial period assessments

**Physical constraints help narrow analysis:**
- Tuareg mobility → natural resistance to fixed administration
- Sahel drought cycles → both populations vulnerable, but sedentary more impacted by famine interventions
- Trade route control → pre-colonial economic base differed significantly

### 8. Final Synthesis

● Sedentary populations: Better integration, education, administrative participation
● Tuareg populations: Greater cultural autonomy, but economic marginalization, late development
◐ Both experienced colonial suppression, but through different mechanisms

**Key insight**: French indirect rule optimized for sedentary, hierarchical societies. Tuareg decentralized structure → systematic marginalization rather than direct oppression.

NB: "Better" depends entirely on evaluation criteria - cultural survival vs administrative integration vs economic development.

**Response framework**: Address both groups systematically → contextualize differential outcomes → acknowledge complexity/limitations of colonial governance metrics.

### Answer###
Cette question sur le sort des Touaregs et des autres populations nigériennes sous la colonie française est complexe.

Les populations sédentaires ont globalement mieux résisté à la domination coloniale. Les Français ont adopté une stratégie d'administration indirecte, laissant les structures indigènes existantes en place sous leur contrôle. Les Zarma du royaume de Dosso, par exemple, se sont révélés particulièrement accommodants avec la règle française, les utilisant même comme alliés contre les Haoussa et autres États voisins. Au fil du temps, les Zarma sont devenus parmi les groupes les plus éduqués et occidentalisés du Niger.

En revanche, les Touaregs du nord du pays ont rencontré des difficultés considérables. La France a eu beaucoup de mal à soumettre les populations touareg, centrées sur le sultanat d'Aïr à Agadez, et n'a pu occuper complètement Agadez qu'en 1906. La résistance touareg s'est poursuivie, culminant dans la révolte de Kaocen de 1916-1917, menée par Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen avec le soutien des Senoussi dans le Fezzan. Cette révolte a été violemment réprimée.

Les populations sédentaires ont également bénéficié de certains développements économiques limités durant les années coloniales, notamment l'introduction de la culture d'arachide. Des mesures pour améliorer la sécurité alimentaire ont été introduites suite à une série de famines dévastatrices.

Cependant, il faut noter que cette période coloniale a été marquée par des méthodes brutales, notamment des massacres comme celui de Birni-N'Konni en 1899, ce qui a causé des "scandales" à Paris.