11th century – 16th century
Air, central Sahara
Agades was the later capital of Air and a major caravan town whose political importance grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its walled settlement hosted foreign merchants and large numbers of slaves used in caravan work, while Songhay, Bornu, Kano, Katsina, and Kebbi successively shaped its political fortunes.
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The Story
Agades emerged as the capital of Air after an earlier location proved too inaccessible for the oxen needed to bring grain from the Sudan. The town may originally have been associated with local Hausa-speakers, and fighting followed Tuareg pressure on these inhabitants. By the end of the period, many of the original communities had been pushed southward into Gobir.
The town’s rise was closely connected with caravan commerce. A ruler of Air secured a legal opinion supporting tolls on passing caravans, although later advice opposed such levies. Agades also stood near the salt routes from Bilma and within the wider network carrying goods between Hausaland, Bornu, and the Sahara.
Agades became a target of external powers. Songhay expeditions in 1500/1 and 1516 brought tribute, occupation, or both, and the second intervention was remembered as lasting for a year north of the town. Bornu may have conquered Agades around 1532, while later rivalry among Kano, Katsina, and Kebbi weakened the already precarious sultanate. Despite this instability, Agades retained prestige, and a Songhay dialect was still spoken there in the nineteenth century.
11th century – 16th century
Air, central Sahara
Agades was the later capital of Air and a major caravan town whose political importance grew during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its walled settlement hosted foreign merchants and large numbers of slaves used in caravan work, while Songhay, Bornu, Kano, Katsina, and Kebbi successively shaped its political fortunes.
Continue exploring
The Story
Agades emerged as the capital of Air after an earlier location proved too inaccessible for the oxen needed to bring grain from the Sudan. The town may originally have been associated with local Hausa-speakers, and fighting followed Tuareg pressure on these inhabitants. By the end of the period, many of the original communities had been pushed southward into Gobir.
The town’s rise was closely connected with caravan commerce. A ruler of Air secured a legal opinion supporting tolls on passing caravans, although later advice opposed such levies. Agades also stood near the salt routes from Bilma and within the wider network carrying goods between Hausaland, Bornu, and the Sahara.
Agades became a target of external powers. Songhay expeditions in 1500/1 and 1516 brought tribute, occupation, or both, and the second intervention was remembered as lasting for a year north of the town. Bornu may have conquered Agades around 1532, while later rivalry among Kano, Katsina, and Kebbi weakened the already precarious sultanate. Despite this instability, Agades retained prestige, and a Songhay dialect was still spoken there in the nineteenth century.
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