Editing Western Sahara (section)

=== Early history ===
{{Further|Timeline of Serer history|Serer history}}
The earliest known inhabitants of Western Sahara were the [[Gaetuli]]. Depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or the Gaetulian Daradae tribes. Berber heritage is still evident from regional and place-name [[toponymy]], as well as from tribal names.

Other early inhabitants of Western Sahara may be the [[Bafour]]<ref>{{Cite web |first=Robert |last=Handloff |title=The West Sudanic Empires |url=http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/WestSud.html |publisher=Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress |access-date=3 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511101722/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/WestSud.html |archive-date=11 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and later the [[Serer people|Serer]]. The Bafour were later replaced or absorbed by [[Berber languages|Berber-speaking]] populations, which eventually merged in turn with the migrating [[Beni Ḥassān]] Arab tribes.

The arrival of Islam in the 8th century played a major role in the development of the [[Maghreb]] region. Trade developed further, and the territory may have been one of the routes for [[Camel train|caravans]], especially between [[Marrakesh]] and [[Tombouctou Region|Tombouctou]] in [[Mali]].

In the 11th century, the [[Maqil]] Arabs (fewer than 200 individuals) settled in [[Morocco]] (mainly in the [[Draa River]] valley, between the [[Moulouya River]], [[Tafilalt]] and [[Taourirt, Morocco|Taourirt]]).<ref name=khaldun>History of Ibn Khaldun Volume 6, pp80-90 by [[ibn Khaldun]]</ref> Towards the end of the [[Almohad Caliphate]], the Beni Hassan, a sub-tribe of the Maqil, were called by the local ruler of the [[Sous]] to quell a rebellion; they settled in the Sous [[Ksar|Ksours]] and controlled such cities as [[Taroudant]].<ref name=khaldun /> During [[Marinid dynasty]] rule, the Beni Hassan rebelled but were defeated by the Sultan and escaped beyond the Saguia el-Hamra dry river.<ref name=khaldun /><ref>''[[Rawd al-Qirtas]]'', [[Ibn Abi Zar]]</ref> The Beni Hassan then were at constant war with the [[Lamtuna]] nomadic Berbers of the [[Sahara]]. Over roughly five centuries, through a complex process of acculturation and mixing seen elsewhere in the Maghreb and North Africa, some of the indigenous Berber tribes mixed with the Maqil Arab tribes and formed a culture unique to Morocco and [[Mauritania]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}