Iwellemmeden Kel Dinnik

Origins

The Iwellemmeden confederation split in the 18th century, around 1770, into a western branch, the Iwellemmeden Kel Ataram, and an eastern branch, the Kel Dinnik. The Kel Dinnik settled in the Azawagh and the region of Tahoua in present-day Niger.

Rule and society

Led by an amenokal from a noble lineage, the Kel Dinnik ruled vassal herding groups and dependent farming villages in the Ader region. They raided and traded with the Hausa kingdoms and the Kingdom of Gobir, and in the 19th century alternately fought and cooperated with the Sokoto Caliphate. Salt, livestock and grain were the basis of the economy.

Decline and legacy

French forces occupied Tahoua and the surrounding region around 1900. Tuareg uprisings during the First World War were crushed by 1917, and the confederation was integrated into the Colony of Niger under French administration.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.