Almoravids Seize Sijilmasa and the Trans-Saharan Trade

1053

Abdallah ibn Yasin led the Almoravid faithful out of their Senegal River ribat and struck north, capturing Sijilmasa, the great caravan terminus at the Sahara's edge. Control of this single oasis city meant control of the gold road - every ounce of Sahelian gold bound for the Mediterranean now passed through Almoravid hands. The movement was no longer a religious revival; it was an empire in embryo.