"Historically, Tuareg society was divided between those who tended the land and those who did not. At one time, tilling the land was considered the work of the lower classes, while the upper classes reaped the benefits of trading. Usually groups of sedentary Tuareg would pay allegiance to a locally appointed headman, who in turn would report to the noble who considered the village his domain. As time has passed, however, these sedentary farmers have been able to accumulate wealth while the trans-Saharan trade routes diminished in importance. They were also given political status by colonial and postcolonial administrations."