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Taghaza
 
 
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Taghaza is an abandoned town in the desert region of northern Mali
Mali

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the C?te d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west....
. Founded in the 10th century, it was once an important salt
Salt

A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and base . Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically electric charge ....
-mining centre, visited by Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta was a Muslim Berber, scholar and traveller who is known for the account of his travels and excursions called the Rihla. His journeys lasted for a period of nearly thirty years and covered almost the entirety of the known Muslim world and beyond, extending from North Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in t...
 in 1352. Slaves quarried the salt in 200 lb. blocks, which were then transported 500 miles by camel to Timbuktu
Timbuktu

Timbuktu is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African nation of Mali. It was made prosperous by Mansa Musa, tenth mansa of the Mali Empire....
 and exchanged for gold. Taghaza produced salt throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries under Berber
Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous ethnic groups of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River....
 supervision. It was drawn into the Songhay Empire in the late 15th century.






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Taghaza is an abandoned town in the desert region of northern Mali
Mali

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the C?te d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west....
. Founded in the 10th century, it was once an important salt
Salt

A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and base . Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically electric charge ....
-mining centre, visited by Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta was a Muslim Berber, scholar and traveller who is known for the account of his travels and excursions called the Rihla. His journeys lasted for a period of nearly thirty years and covered almost the entirety of the known Muslim world and beyond, extending from North Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in t...
 in 1352. Slaves quarried the salt in 200 lb. blocks, which were then transported 500 miles by camel to Timbuktu
Timbuktu

Timbuktu is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African nation of Mali. It was made prosperous by Mansa Musa, tenth mansa of the Mali Empire....
 and exchanged for gold. Taghaza produced salt throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries under Berber
Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous ethnic groups of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River....
 supervision. It was drawn into the Songhay Empire in the late 15th century. Because the area in and around Taghaza was unsuitable for farming, the inhabitants traded salt for gold from the secret mines of the Wangara
Soninke Wangara

The Wangara were Soninke clans specialized in trade, Islamic scholarship and law , who migrated from the Mand? city of Awkar into the Mali Empire provinces of Mema, Beledugu, Zaga, Bendugu, and Massina, among others....
 and traded that gold with other nations for food and supplies.

After the town's destruction by the Moroccan
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
 Judar Pasha
Judar Pasha

Judar Pasha was a military leader of Morocco's Saadi Dynasty and the conqueror of the Songhai Empire.Born a Spain, Judar had been captured as a baby....
's forces in 1591, Taoudenni
Taoudenni

Taoudenni is a remote village in northern Mali known for its salt mines. The salt is mined and quarried from ancient dry lake beds, by hand, using a crude axe....
 took its place as the region's key salt producer.

At one time the "Azalai
Azalai

The Azalai is a semi annual salt Camel train route practiced by Tuareg traders in the Sahara desert, or the act of traveling with a caravan along that route....
" caravan route from Timbuktu extended through Taghaza to the lands north of the Sahara on the Mediterranean Sea. Caravans with up to 10,000 camels carried gold and slaves north, returning with manufactured goods and salt from Taghaza and Taoudenni.

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