Oualata

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Oualata
ولاته
Commune and town
View of the town looking in a southeasterly direction
View of the town looking in a southeasterly direction
Oualata is located in Mauritania
Oualata
Oualata
Location in Mauritania
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Flag of Mauritania.svg Mauritania
Region Hodh Ech Chargui
Population (2000)[1]
 • Total 11,779
Official name Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv, v
Designated 1996 (20th session)
Reference no. 750
State Party  Mauritania
Region Arab States
Trade routes of the Western Sahara Desert c. 1000-1500. Goldfields are indicated by light brown shading.

Oualata or Walata (Arabic: ولاته‎‎) (also Biru in 17th century chronicles)[2] is a small oasis town in southeast Mauritania, located at the eastern end of the Aoukar basin. Oualata was important as a caravan city in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as the southern terminus of a trans-Saharan trade route and now it is a World Heritage Site.

History

Oualata is believed to have been first settled by an agro-pastoral people akin to the Mandé Soninke people who lived along the rocky promontories of the Tichitt-Oualata and Tagant cliffs of Mauritania facing the Aoukar basin. There, they built what are among the oldest stone settlements on the African continent.[3]

The town formed part of the Ghana Empire and grew wealthy through trade. At the beginning of the thirteenth century Oualata replaced Aoudaghost as the principal southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade and developed into an important commercial and religious centre.[4] By the fourteenth century the city had become part of the Mali Empire.

An important trans-Saharan route began at Sijilmasa and passed through Taghaza with its salt mines and ended at Oualata.

Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta found the inhabitants of Oualata were Muslim and mainly Massufa, a section of the Senhaja. He was surprised by the great respect and independence that women enjoyed. He only gives a brief description of the town itself: "My stay at Iwalatan (Oualata) lasted about fifty days; and I was shown honour and entertained by its inhabitants. It is an excessively hot place, and boasts a few small date-palms, in the shade of which they sow watermelons. Its water comes from underground waterbeds at that point, and there is plenty of mutton to be had."[5]

From the second half of the fourteenth century Timbuktu gradually replaced Oualata as the southern terminus of the trans-Sahara route and Oualata declined in importance.[6][7] The Arab diplomat, traveller and author, Leo Africanus, who visited the region in 1509-1510 gives a description in his book Descrittione dell’Africa: "Walata Kingdom: This is a small kingdom, and of mediocre condition compared to the other kingdoms of the blacks. In fact, the only inhabited places are three large villages and some huts spread about among the palm groves."[8][9]

The old town covers an area of about 600 m by 300 m, some of it now in ruins.[10] The sandstone buildings are coated with banco and some are decorated with geometric designs. The mosque now lies on the eastern edge of the town but in earlier times may have been surrounded by other buildings. The French historian, Raymond Mauny, estimated that in the Middle Ages the town would have accommodated between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants.[10] Today, Oualata is home to a manuscript museum, and is known for its highly decorative vernacular architecture. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 together with Ouadane, Chinguetti and Tichitt.[11]

See also

Oualata Images

  • Oualata Decorative Entrance 1.jpg

    Oualata Decorative Entrance

  • Oualata Mosque.jpg

    Oualata Mosque

  • Oualata Decorative Window.jpg

    Oualata Decorative Window

  • Oualata Decorative Secondary Entrance.jpg

    Oualata Decorative Secondary Entrance

  • Oualata Decorative Secondary Entrance 2.jpg

    Oualata Decorative Secondary Entrance

  • Oualata Decorative Entrance 2.jpg

    Oualata Decorative Main Entrance

  • View of Oualata 1.jpg

    View of Oualata 1

  • View of Oualata 2.jpg

    View of Oualata 2

  • View of Oualata 3.jpg

    View of Oualata 3

  • View of Oualata 4.jpg

    View of Oualata 4

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Hunwick 1999, p. 9 n4. Walata is the arabized form of the Manding wala meaning a "shady place" while Biru is the Soninke word and has a similar meaning.
  3. ↑ Holl 2009.
  4. ↑ Levtzion 1973, p. 147.
  5. ↑ Gibb 1929, p. 320.
  6. ↑ Levtzion 1973, p. 80, 158.
  7. ↑ Mauny 1961, p. 432.
  8. ↑ Hunwick 1999, p. 275.
  9. ↑ Today there is a deserted settlement called Tizert at a distance of 5 km from the town.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Mauny 1961, p. 485.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

References

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Further reading

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External links

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