ABSTRACT
The fall of Touat put relations among the French, the makhzan, and the population of the Southeast on an entirely new footing. In the aftermath of Touat the war advocates in Tafilalt, especially the Ait Khabbash, encouraged Mawlay Rashid to lead a harka against Igli. Mawlay could have played a commanding role in organizing a united resistance movement against the French. He was not only an important member of the royal family and informal head of the Filali shurfa community, but he had held his position as khalifa since the early 1860s when he was appointed by his farther, Sultan Sidi Muhammad. Mawlay 'Abd al-'Aziz's diplomatic efforts to restrain both the French and his own subjects along the frontier partially accounted for the indecision. Neither the visit of the Commission nor the signing of more detailed accords in Algiers made much of an impression on Figuig, for attacks against French convoys and personnel only increased during 1902 and early 1903.
