Tähert was an Ibāḍite urban centre that served as an early northern point of departure for commercial links toward the Bilād al-Sūdān. In the late eighth century, its inhabitants regarded routes to the south as open to business and trade. The city later lost its position after the Fāṭimid victory at the beginning of the tenth century, which drove Ibāḍites toward Isedraten, a refuge settlement associated with the trans-Saharan corridor.
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The Story
Tāhert appears in the passage as a major center of the Ibāḍite political world that stretched from southern Tripolitania and Djabal Nafusa toward what is now western Algeria. Its position made it a potential intermediary between the northern Maghrib and the Sahel. The evidence does not permit a complete reconstruction of its institutions or commercial organization, but it clearly places the town within debates about early trans-Saharan exchange.
The strongest connection attributed to Tāhert was with Gao. These links are presented as among the first regular trans-Saharan connections known to the author, and they are explicitly distinguished from links with Ghana. The commercial relationship may have included the supply of salt to Gao, whose princes were said to stockpile and resell that commodity.
Tāhert also sought a share in the western route through a matrimonial alliance between its imam and the Midrārites of Sidjilmāsa. This alliance indicates political interest in the growing caravan trade, although the passage emphasizes that the broader organization of routes during the eighth and ninth centuries remains a matter of hypothesis awaiting further excavation and documentation.
Tähert was an Ibāḍite urban centre that served as an early northern point of departure for commercial links toward the Bilād al-Sūdān. In the late eighth century, its inhabitants regarded routes to the south as open to business and trade. The city later lost its position after the Fāṭimid victory at the beginning of the tenth century, which drove Ibāḍites toward Isedraten, a refuge settlement associated with the trans-Saharan corridor.
Continue exploring
The Story
Tāhert appears in the passage as a major center of the Ibāḍite political world that stretched from southern Tripolitania and Djabal Nafusa toward what is now western Algeria. Its position made it a potential intermediary between the northern Maghrib and the Sahel. The evidence does not permit a complete reconstruction of its institutions or commercial organization, but it clearly places the town within debates about early trans-Saharan exchange.
The strongest connection attributed to Tāhert was with Gao. These links are presented as among the first regular trans-Saharan connections known to the author, and they are explicitly distinguished from links with Ghana. The commercial relationship may have included the supply of salt to Gao, whose princes were said to stockpile and resell that commodity.
Tāhert also sought a share in the western route through a matrimonial alliance between its imam and the Midrārites of Sidjilmāsa. This alliance indicates political interest in the growing caravan trade, although the passage emphasizes that the broader organization of routes during the eighth and ninth centuries remains a matter of hypothesis awaiting further excavation and documentation.
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