History of Ingal

prominent Tuareg seasonal center, to which certain clans return each year, but it has a history as a stop in the Trans-Saharan trade, was a western outpost of the Songhay Empire in the 16th century, was an important center of the Air Sultanate thereafter, and became a French colonial fort in an often hostile region in the early 20th century.

Pre-history

Archaeological evidence shows the area as a center of prehistoric populations dating back some eight thousand year to when it sat in the midst of a now dry Azawagh river valley, fed by the Air Massif and flowing south to the Niger River. Of particular note have been thousands of pre-common era stone burial mounds which suggest a common culture in the area. Archeologists have also found in the In-Gall region many of the earliest mosques in Niger, dating back to early Berber occupations before 1000CE.In-Gall is intimately linked with the nearby salt industry at Teguidda-n-Tessoumt, around 15 km to the north. Teguidda, on the site of an ancient lake bed, floods as water washes down from the Aïr Massif to the east each year, producing natural salt ponds. The population