Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen

Born in 1880 near wadi Tamazlaght Aïr (modern Niger), Kaocen from tribe of Ikazkazan berber, a subset of the Kel Owey confederation.

Born into the wuro's family tribe of Ikazkazan Tuareg in what is now (Aïr Mountains) the north of Niger, his exact lineage is debated.

His brother Mokhtar Kodogo was his second in command throughout his life, and survived only a year after his death, killed while leading a revolt amongst the Toubou Fula in the Sultanate of Damagaram.

[citation needed] An adherent to the militantly anti-French Sanusiya Sufi religious order, Kaocen engaged in numerous, mostly unsuccessful battles against French forces from at least 1909.

They seized all the major towns of the Aïr, including Ingall, Assodé, and Aouderas, placing what is today northern Niger under rebel control for over three months.