Thanks for a good lesson in History Haruna. However, I have one small questions for you. 
 
You write: 
"French colonialism did not lump any ethnicities together. The Sonrhai, Peulh, Soninke, Senufo, Bwa/Bozo, and Minianka have been the traditional owners and inhabitants of North Mali for centuries."
 
I certainly do not contest the fact that these peoples lived here from time immemorial. However, my question is: Did these "Sonrhai, Peulh, Soninke, Senufo, Bwa/Bozo, and Minianka" live under a territorial space called the Republic of Mali/Soudan before French Colonialism?  
 
If your answer is yes, then forgive my ignorance and futher enlighten me. But if your answer is no, as I strongly suspect it will be, then you get the point of my point that French colonialism lumped different ethnicities together.
 
That said, I learnt a lot of sub-regional history of "Mali" from your post. Thanks for sharing and enlightening us on this complex history.
 
Baba                                      

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