First, I'm not African, I'm Black American, but I've been reading these forums fairly often and they tend to be hilarious, but also helpful at times, so I figured Nairaland might be the right place to get some information.

I've been reading more about West African history, primarily Akan, Gold Coast and the Sahel history. In reading about this I came across the ethnic group the Tuareg and they throw me for a loop. Their origins tend to be disputed somewhat. Everyone seems to agree that they originated primarily in North Africa, most seem to say Libya. The problem is people tend to dispute who they originally were. Yes, this is kind of a race thing, not because it's a big deal, but as a history fan I tend to like to know what the people I read about look like for imagining purposes. I read about the Mongols and I look up pics of people from their neck of the woods. Back to the Tuareg, some say they were originally black Africans, but others say they weren't or that many are black due to enslaving black Africans. What makes me think this may be true is that from what I can tell the caste system seems to work out by having non-black Tuareg as the nobility. I look up Tuareg chiefs and MNLA leaders and I get images of people like this... The last guy being Intallah Ag Attaher a Tuareg leader that died in 2014 I think.

So, basically, is this really how the Tuareg are set up, with these types of guys at the top rung and blacks lower on the totem pole? And if they are set up like that, why is that? And what do you guys know of their origins?

Sahelians are in the best position to give us a close insight. Fulaman claimed in an old thread that original tuaregs were very dark skinned and that that kind of faces you've adjudged as true tuaregs were only as a result of later foreign roman(western) genetic influences.

Africans and African Americans delight in tracing their origins to Irish, Portuguese, English or Arab slave masters that raped their great grandmother and sold the children into slavery.

The Hausa do the same especially in West and East Africa. Many bleach their skins make their point.

How many pink colored skins have claimed you, even with one drop of their blood?

Look for your Sudanese ancestors.

googi:
Africans and African Americans delight in tracing their origins to Irish, Portuguese, English or Arab slave masters that raped their great grandmother and sold the children into slavery.

The Hausa do the same especially in West and East Africa. Many bleach their skins make their point.

How many pink colored skins have claimed you, even with one drop of their blood?

Look for your Sudanese ancestors.

While I too reject such insecure associations, the tripe you posted here is not pertinent to what hes asking.

And I wonder why you singled the Hausas out when they are literally the only ethnic group in Nigeria that has never claimed foreign descent.

The tuaregs are an off-shoot of berbers, a north african ethnic group that is predominantly Caucasian. In the old days they were notorious slave raiders and traders but also traded in other commodities in the region along with being renowned scholars. The black tuaregs you may find today may have been absorbed into the berber identity for various reasons from slavery to trade and cordial relations with other sahelian ethnic groups. The sahel in general is a very complicated place, you will find a lot of odd couples and even stranger explanations.

I'll give you an example of one of such interactions that without proper documentation may have led to a very confusing modern day outcome. One of the most renowned muslim scholars in the middle ages was Abdulrahman Al Maghili who was a berber from modern day Algeria. In the 15th century, he visited various black civilizations from the Songhai Empire, to Hausa States like Kano and Katsina. He acted as a vizier in these locations and was responsible for the reformation of Islam in these places. During his stay in Kano, he sired a few children and this bloodline known as "the sherifs/sharifai" still exist in Kano.