التأثيرات الحضارية لإقليم توات في بلاد السودان الغربي خلال العصر الوسيط

Abstract EN

The region of Touat was a linking point between the North of the Sahara and its South, and a major economic and cultural centre in the Sahara.

Thanks to its geographical position, it played an important role in linking the Islamic Maghrib with Western Sudan.

These commercial and cultural ties flourished during the middle Ages under the context of Trans-Saharan trade and continued up to the colonial era.

The peaceful atmosphere that reigned in the region encouraged people to move northward and southward in frequent journeys seeking for profit and knowledge.

This situation gave birth to an elite among the people of Touat which reached high degrees of education in different disciplines locally and in Western Sudan.

Economically, the region of Touat served as an intermediate trade centre through which hundreds of caravans used to cross northward to Sijilmassa, Fezzan, Tafilelt, Wargla and Ghdames, and southward to Timbuktu, Gao and Djenne.