Until 12th century
Western Sahara, probably near Tegdaoust in southeastern Mauritania
Awdaghust was a major Sahelian trading town whose urban development began from earlier industrial activity and reached a high point in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Archaeology reveals streets, squares, a mosque, private building, luxury consumption, and quarters associated with merchants from the Maghrib. The town participated in long-distance trade in gold, hides, imported foodstuffs, glass, pottery, metals, stones, and ornaments before suffering a major disruption in the mid-eleventh century and losing its luxury market after 1100 at the latest.
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The Story
Awdāghust stood beyond the territory called Anbiya and served as one of the principal urban and commercial centres of the western Sahara. Al-Yaʿqūbī described the wider region as Ghast, a pagan kingdom whose ruler raided the Land of the Blacks. Other Arabic writers used Awdāghust for both the city and the surrounding country, placing it along the route connecting Sidjilmäsa with Ghana.
The city’s markets attracted travellers from many directions, and purchases were made with gold dust. Its inhabitants were Muslims, while the chief of the region belonged to the Sanhādja. Awdāghust’s population included Arabs and Berbers from groups such as the Nafūsa, Lawāta, Zanāta, Nafzāwa, and Barkadjāna, as well as merchants from North African settlements and oases.
Between 350/961 and 360/971, the state was ruled by the Sanhādja king Tin Yarūtān, whose authority reportedly extended over two months’ march and was recognized by more than twenty black kings. Later, the Berber ruler acknowledged the supremacy of Ghana, until Awdāghust was conquered around 446/1054 by the Lamtūna, Massūfa, and Djuddāla, whose federation was becoming the Almoravid state.
The city was situated in a sandy plain beneath a barren mountain and was surrounded by gardens and palms. The extract identifies it tentatively with Tegdaoust, whose ruins lie southwest of Tichitt and west-northwest of Kumbi Saleh, the site associated with old Ghana. This identification remains archaeological and geographical rather than certain.
Awdaghust developed from an earlier industrial settlement into a substantial town. Industrial activity was already present in a non-urban setting during the eighth or ninth centuries, and by the ninth and tenth centuries the site had acquired streets, squares, a mosque, private-enterprise construction, and signs of growing luxury. Local pottery production continued, suggesting continuity rather than a complete cultural rupture during this transformation.
During the tenth and eleventh centuries, Awdaghust became a busy town of several thousand inhabitants. Its commercial life was connected to Ghana, Barisa, the Senegal region, Sidjilmasa, and wider Saharan routes. The town’s merchants and residents consumed wheat, dates, raisins, glazed oil lamps, glass vessels, silver ornaments, beads, and precious or semi-precious stones, while gold and hides formed part of the outward trade.
The archaeological record gives Awdaghust an unusually rich profile. Excavations have recovered cups, vases, perfume-burners, decorated glasses, phials, goblets, silver jewellery, bead moulds, cowries, chalcedony, cornelian, amazonite, garnet, and other materials. The evidence suggests a market serving a wealthy northern clientele settled in the Sahel, rather than a large redistribution centre for luxury goods destined farther south.
A major break in the town’s life occurred in the middle of the eleventh century, after which settlement resumed in a different form. The luxury trade declined rapidly when the northern clientele disappeared, by 1100 at the latest. The excerpt leaves the principal causes of this decline outside its chronological and analytical scope.
Until 12th century
Western Sahara, probably near Tegdaoust in southeastern Mauritania
Awdaghust was a major Sahelian trading town whose urban development began from earlier industrial activity and reached a high point in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Archaeology reveals streets, squares, a mosque, private building, luxury consumption, and quarters associated with merchants from the Maghrib. The town participated in long-distance trade in gold, hides, imported foodstuffs, glass, pottery, metals, stones, and ornaments before suffering a major disruption in the mid-eleventh century and losing its luxury market after 1100 at the latest.
Continue exploring
The Story
Awdāghust stood beyond the territory called Anbiya and served as one of the principal urban and commercial centres of the western Sahara. Al-Yaʿqūbī described the wider region as Ghast, a pagan kingdom whose ruler raided the Land of the Blacks. Other Arabic writers used Awdāghust for both the city and the surrounding country, placing it along the route connecting Sidjilmäsa with Ghana.
The city’s markets attracted travellers from many directions, and purchases were made with gold dust. Its inhabitants were Muslims, while the chief of the region belonged to the Sanhādja. Awdāghust’s population included Arabs and Berbers from groups such as the Nafūsa, Lawāta, Zanāta, Nafzāwa, and Barkadjāna, as well as merchants from North African settlements and oases.
Between 350/961 and 360/971, the state was ruled by the Sanhādja king Tin Yarūtān, whose authority reportedly extended over two months’ march and was recognized by more than twenty black kings. Later, the Berber ruler acknowledged the supremacy of Ghana, until Awdāghust was conquered around 446/1054 by the Lamtūna, Massūfa, and Djuddāla, whose federation was becoming the Almoravid state.
The city was situated in a sandy plain beneath a barren mountain and was surrounded by gardens and palms. The extract identifies it tentatively with Tegdaoust, whose ruins lie southwest of Tichitt and west-northwest of Kumbi Saleh, the site associated with old Ghana. This identification remains archaeological and geographical rather than certain.
Awdaghust developed from an earlier industrial settlement into a substantial town. Industrial activity was already present in a non-urban setting during the eighth or ninth centuries, and by the ninth and tenth centuries the site had acquired streets, squares, a mosque, private-enterprise construction, and signs of growing luxury. Local pottery production continued, suggesting continuity rather than a complete cultural rupture during this transformation.
During the tenth and eleventh centuries, Awdaghust became a busy town of several thousand inhabitants. Its commercial life was connected to Ghana, Barisa, the Senegal region, Sidjilmasa, and wider Saharan routes. The town’s merchants and residents consumed wheat, dates, raisins, glazed oil lamps, glass vessels, silver ornaments, beads, and precious or semi-precious stones, while gold and hides formed part of the outward trade.
The archaeological record gives Awdaghust an unusually rich profile. Excavations have recovered cups, vases, perfume-burners, decorated glasses, phials, goblets, silver jewellery, bead moulds, cowries, chalcedony, cornelian, amazonite, garnet, and other materials. The evidence suggests a market serving a wealthy northern clientele settled in the Sahel, rather than a large redistribution centre for luxury goods destined farther south.
A major break in the town’s life occurred in the middle of the eleventh century, after which settlement resumed in a different form. The luxury trade declined rapidly when the northern clientele disappeared, by 1100 at the latest. The excerpt leaves the principal causes of this decline outside its chronological and analytical scope.
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