Djerid

Djerid was a region of Saharan oases with its seat at Ghadames. In the Islamic Middle Ages its Berber inhabitants traded across the desert.

At Ghadames the road from Tripoli through the Jabal Nafusa met routes to Ghat, Fezzan and Timbuktu, carrying gold, enslaved people and dates. The wider Ibadi oasis network from the Tunisian Jerid to the M'zab was often governed by local imams and elders under nominal Hafsid tribute. In the eighteenth century the town prospered under Ottoman Tripoli as a major caravan market.