Walata

Walata, or Oualata, is an oasis town in south-eastern Mauritania that was an important terminus of trans-Saharan caravan routes. The nearby escarpment of Dhar Walata is associated with the Tichitt culture from which the Ghana Empire emerged. Accounts of the Mali Empire note that Tuareg forces seized Timbuktu and Walata in 1433, a sign of Mali's weakening hold on the north.