In-Gall

In-Gall is an oasis settlement west of the Aïr Mountains, where gardens and date palms grow amid the dry country of the southern Sahara. It is closely linked to the salt pans of Teguidda-n-Tesemt to the north. Workers from In-Gall tend the evaporation ponds and carry the salt back to the oasis, whose gardens sustain a permanent settlement.

In-Gall lay on routes used by trans-Saharan traders and served as an eastern outpost of the Songhai Empire in the sixteenth century. It later became an important centre of the Aïr Sultanate. Salt caravans brought Tuareg merchants to the area, carrying the mineral onward to markets across the Sahel. The oasis also became a seasonal gathering place for pastoral communities returning to the surrounding pastures.