The Godala or Gudāla is a
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
tribe in Western Africa that lived along the Atlantic coast in present-day
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
and participated in the Saharan salt trade and the salt mines of
Ijiil. The Godala may be linked to or the same as the ancient
Gaetuli
Gaetuli was the Romanised name of an ancient Berber tribe inhabiting ''Getulia''. The latter district covered the large desert region south of the Atlas Mountains, bordering the Sahara. Other documents place Gaetulia in pre-Roman times along the ...
tribe of Berbers.
According to a 1985 study of West African history,
the area along both sides of the mouth of the
Senegal River
,french: Fleuve Sénégal)
, name_etymology =
, image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...
was controlled by the Godala group of Berbers. They mined the
Awlil salt deposits along the coast just north of the mouth of the Senegal, and controlled a coastal trade route that linked southern
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. Godala territory bordered that of
Takrur
Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 800 – c. 1285) was an ancient state of West Africa, which flourished roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire.
Origin
Takrur was the capital of the state which flourished on the lower Senegal River. Takruri was ...
, and Godala caravans traded salt mined at Awlil along the north bank of the Senegal.
Guezula
The Godala are also known as the Guezula. Today, there are only two small fractions of the Godala left, each with only a few families who bear this name, one in
Tiris and the other in
Brakna Region
Brakna ( ar, ولاية البراكنة) is a region in south-west Mauritania. Its capital is Aleg. Other major cities/towns include Boghé. The region borders the Mauritanian regions of Tagant to the north-east, Assaba and Gorgol to the sout ...
.
References
Sources
* General History of Africa: Africa from the twelfth to the sixteenth century edited by D. T. Niane, UNESCO, 1984 - 751 pages, (found on Google books
link* UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. By Joseph Ki-Zerbo, (found on Google books) University of California Press, May 10, 1998 - 277 pages, p6
link* WESTERN AFRICA TO c1860 A.D. A PROVISIONAL HISTORICAL SCHW BASED ON CLIMATE PERIODS by George E. Brooks, Indiana University African Studies Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, August, 198
{{Berber
Berber peoples and tribes
Berbers in Mauritania