Another source for Abu Bakr's death says "In the region of Tagant on his way to Djabal al-Dbahab, the Mountain of Gold, he was wounded, according to the chronicles, by a poisoned arrow, shot by an old black bowman who could not see unless his eye- lids were raised up to uncover his eyeballs. The black bowman asked his daughter to hold open his eyes so that he could aim his arrow. It struck the Amir in the knee. Abu Bakr turned his horse around and rode off..." dying when he arrived in Tagant.
During this period, there were three marabouts of great influence in Mauritania: Shaykh Sidiya Baba, whose authority was strongest in Trarza, Brakna, and Tagant; Shaykh Saad Bu, whose importance extended to Tagant and Senegal; and Shaykh Ma al Aynin, who exerted leadership in Adrar and the north, as well as in Spanish Sahara and southern Morocco.
Mauritania is divided in 12 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 capital district*; Adrar, Assaba, Brakna, Dakhlet Nouadhibou, Gorgol, Guidimaka, Hodh Ech Chargui, Hodh El Gharbi, Inchiri, Nouakchott*, Tagant, Tiris Zemmour, Trarza
With its rich silos, its irrigated agriculture, Tichitt were visited caravans and merchants from Hodh, from Tagant but also of North Africa and Black Africa.
With military pressure applied, the strategy worked, and the emirates of Tagant, Trarza and Brakna all accepted French rule in 1903-04.
Tagant | Tagant Region |
By then some of the Zawāyā were moving south to avoid the depredations of the warrior tribes, risking conflict with the sedentary populations of Chemama, Gorgol and Tagant.