10th century – 16th century
Adrar, Western Sahara
The Idjil salt mine was a major driver of renewed western Saharan trade in the fifteenth century. Walata, Tichitt, and Wadan participated in the circulation of Idjil salt, while gold from Mali moved through Wadan toward North African and Mediterranean markets. The mine formed part of a commercial system linking Saharan producers, Sudanese merchants, Arab camel suppliers, and European buyers.
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The Story
Trade along the routes crossing Adrar increased again in the fifteenth century as the Idjil salt mine grew in importance. The mine helped revive western Saharan commerce after earlier shifts toward Tuat and Timbuktu. Its influence extended beyond the extraction site, drawing nearby desert towns into the circulation of salt and Sudanese gold.
Walata, Tichitt, and Wadan participated in the salt trade of Idjil. Wadan was described as the principal town of Adrar and the only walled town in the region. Gold from Mali was sent to Hoden, identified with Wadan, and redistributed to Oran, Hunayn, Fez, Marrākush, Safi, and Massa, where it was sold to Italian merchants.
Portuguese involvement added another layer to this commercial system. After reaching the Saharan coast in the mid-fifteenth century, the Portuguese established a factory at Arguin and briefly attempted an entrepôt at Wadan. They abandoned Adrar because of desert hardships and local hostility, but continued their Saharan trade from Arguin, exchanging manufactured goods and camel transport for Sudanese gold and Idjil salt.
As Taghāza declined, Idjil gained importance as a source of desert salt. The mine lay between Rio de Oro and Fort Gouraud. V. Fernandes first mentioned it under the name Ygild, while Ca da Mosto may have described the same mine roughly half a century earlier, although he still called it Taghāza. The identification remains probable rather than certain.
The salt moved through a chain of markets. Traders from Wadan bought a camel load at Idjil for one and a half mithqāls; the price rose to two or three in Wadan and as much as seven in Tichitt. Merchants from Walata then sent the salt to Timbuktu, where a camel load was said to sell for one hundred or one hundred and twenty mithqāls. The account itself cautions that the most dramatic price increase may be exaggerated.
Transport shaped the economics of the trade. Salt was bulky, while gold was easier to carry, and only twenty-five of four hundred camels loaded with salt on the southward journey reportedly returned north with gold. The remaining camels were sold in the Sahel. From Timbuktu, salt continued by canoe up the Niger to Jenné, while other loads crossed the Sahel by camel toward Mali and its goldfields.
10th century – 16th century
Adrar, Western Sahara
The Idjil salt mine was a major driver of renewed western Saharan trade in the fifteenth century. Walata, Tichitt, and Wadan participated in the circulation of Idjil salt, while gold from Mali moved through Wadan toward North African and Mediterranean markets. The mine formed part of a commercial system linking Saharan producers, Sudanese merchants, Arab camel suppliers, and European buyers.
Continue exploring
The Story
Trade along the routes crossing Adrar increased again in the fifteenth century as the Idjil salt mine grew in importance. The mine helped revive western Saharan commerce after earlier shifts toward Tuat and Timbuktu. Its influence extended beyond the extraction site, drawing nearby desert towns into the circulation of salt and Sudanese gold.
Walata, Tichitt, and Wadan participated in the salt trade of Idjil. Wadan was described as the principal town of Adrar and the only walled town in the region. Gold from Mali was sent to Hoden, identified with Wadan, and redistributed to Oran, Hunayn, Fez, Marrākush, Safi, and Massa, where it was sold to Italian merchants.
Portuguese involvement added another layer to this commercial system. After reaching the Saharan coast in the mid-fifteenth century, the Portuguese established a factory at Arguin and briefly attempted an entrepôt at Wadan. They abandoned Adrar because of desert hardships and local hostility, but continued their Saharan trade from Arguin, exchanging manufactured goods and camel transport for Sudanese gold and Idjil salt.
As Taghāza declined, Idjil gained importance as a source of desert salt. The mine lay between Rio de Oro and Fort Gouraud. V. Fernandes first mentioned it under the name Ygild, while Ca da Mosto may have described the same mine roughly half a century earlier, although he still called it Taghāza. The identification remains probable rather than certain.
The salt moved through a chain of markets. Traders from Wadan bought a camel load at Idjil for one and a half mithqāls; the price rose to two or three in Wadan and as much as seven in Tichitt. Merchants from Walata then sent the salt to Timbuktu, where a camel load was said to sell for one hundred or one hundred and twenty mithqāls. The account itself cautions that the most dramatic price increase may be exaggerated.
Transport shaped the economics of the trade. Salt was bulky, while gold was easier to carry, and only twenty-five of four hundred camels loaded with salt on the southward journey reportedly returned north with gold. The remaining camels were sold in the Sahel. From Timbuktu, salt continued by canoe up the Niger to Jenné, while other loads crossed the Sahel by camel toward Mali and its goldfields.
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