Kel Ayr

The Kel Ayr were a semi-nomadic Tuareg confederation of the Aïr Mountains in present-day Niger, controlling settlements at Assode, Agadez and In-Gall.

Around 1405 the Kel Ayr helped establish the Sultanate of Agadez. Songhai seized Agadez in 1500; the sultanate regained independence after Songhai was defeated in 1591. In 1740 the Kel Owey destroyed Assode and sacked Agadez, dispersing the Kel Ayr south and west and imposing their overlordship.