Tagāwuṣt à l’aube du XVIe siècle

Abstract

Tagāwuṣt, the principal town of the Wad Noun region at the beginning of the 16th century, was a trading centre and regional entity created by the Bū Ṭāṭā alliance. This active centre of Saharan trade had become the locus for intense competition between catholic Spain, which had recently occupied the Canary Islands, and Portugal who effectively controlled the principal networks of Atlantic trade, connecting Morocco to African coastwise trade. The previously unpublished Arabic letter presented in this article offers precious insight into the agency of local rulers faced with the Iberian Powers. The connection of the trans-Saharan and Atlantic networks is a crucial nexus for the study of Saharan societies in the modern era of “early globalization”.

Keywords

• Tagāwuṣt
• Bū Ṭāṭā
• Manuel Ist
• iberian expansion- Trans-saharan trade
• Wādān
• Zārā