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12 INTRODUCTIONKel Denneg, were dissolved. Loyal collaborating clans were promoted to therank of a federation, which might lead a French recognised confederation. Thiswas the case with the Ifoghas federation in the Adagh, which was recognised bythe French as an ettebel independent from the Ouillimiden Kel Ataram in 1910.Their leader Attaher ag Illi was promoted to the rank of amenokal, whoinformally led the other ramage groups in the Adagh Mountains – the Idnan, theKel Taghlit and the Taghat Mellet – in a confederation called Kel Adagh.Although it might well be that the Ifoghas perceived themselves as independentfrom the Ouillimiden prior to French conquest, it is secretly known that this wasnot the case. However, the Ifoghas present themselves today as having had theirown ettebel since the late 19 th century, prior to French arrival, which, accordingto their own version of history, only helped to have their independence finallyrecognised by their neighbours. At present ittebelen are seen as historical relicsin Northern Mali but, informally, they do exist and have an influence on localpolitics that is hard to measure.It is clear that the flexibility and interchangeability of the social-politicalsystem outlined above would get on the nerves of French colonial administrators.Most colonial administrators dealt with this problem in the same way:They decided for themselves who belonged together and what that group shouldbe called. The administration in Soudan Français was characterised by thecolonial administration itself as a double system of French Commandants andlocally recruited Chefs Traditionels. The largest administrative unit was theCercle, lead by a Commandant de Cercle, who could be a military officer or acivil administrator. The Cercle was divided into Subdivisions, also headed by aCommandant, and into parallel French created chefferies coutumiers, traditionalchieftaincies. In sedentary societies, these were the cantons and villages, eachheaded by a chief, the Chef de Canton being placed over de Chefs de Village.Among the nomads, the French had created tribus and fractions – tribes andfractions – as ‘traditional’ social and now administrative units, with bothheaded by a chief, and the tribu regrouping the fractions. At first these tribesand fractions were based on the French understanding of the tewsit system. Theterm tribus was believed to be the proper translation of the Tamasheq tewsit as alarger ramage group, for example the Ifoghas. Fraction was seen as the propertranslation of the term tewsit as a clan, for example the Irayakan tewsit withinthe tewsit Ifoghas. It then slowly evolved into a system based on French politicsof control. Commandants could merge or split tewsiten to group them togetheragain into new tribus or fractions. The creation of tribus and fractions shouldnot however be seen as a one-way process dictated by French administrators.Their administrative grouping and regrouping often took place on the demandof, and effected under the influence of, the chiefs. In the end, the connectionwith the pre-colonial tewsit system was almost totally severed when dependent