Tidjikja

Tidjikja stands among palm groves on the Tagant plateau, where its old quarter of stone houses grew beside an oasis. The town was founded in the seventeenth century by Idaw Ali families from Chinguetti, who brought date palms to the valley. Their settlement became a centre of religious learning as well as a stopping place for Saharan trade. Caravans connected Tidjikja with Tichitt, Ouadane and Chinguetti, and with markets farther south along the Senegal River and towards Timbuktu.