Editing History of Western Sahara (section)

==Islamic era==
[[Islam]] arrived in the 8th century AD between the [[Berber people|Berber]] population who inhabited the western part of the Sahara.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1382/the-spread-of-islam-in-ancient-africa/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Wiafe-Amoako|first=Francis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nttJEAAAQBAJ&q=the+world+today+africa+2022|title=The World Today Series: Africa|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2021|isbn=978-1-4758-5649-1|page=3|language=English}}</ref>  The Islamic faith quickly expanded, brought by [[Arab]] immigrants, who initially only blended superficially with the population, mostly confining themselves to the cities of present-day [[Morocco]] and Spain.

The Berbers increasingly used the traditional trade routes of the [[Sahara]]. [[Camel train|Caravan]]s transported [[salt]], [[gold]] and [[slave]]s between North Africa and [[West Africa]], and the control of trade routes became a major ingredient in the constant power struggle between various tribes. On more than one occasion, the Berber tribes of the Western Sahara would unite behind religious leaders to sweep the ruling leaders from power, sometimes founding dynasties of their own. This was the case with the [[Almoravid]]s and [[Al-Andalus]], and was also the case with the jihad of Nasir al-Din in the 17th century and the later [[Qadiriyyah]] movement of the [[Kunta family|Kunta]] in the 18th century.<ref>Philip Curtin (ed.), African History,  1978, p. 211-212</ref>