Trans-Saharan trade
In-Gall is not only a prominent Tuareg seasonal centre, to which certain clans return each year, but it has a history as a stop in the Trans-Saharan trade, was a western outpost of the Songhay Empire in the 16th century, was an important centre of the Aïr Sultanate thereafter, and became a French colonial fort in an often hostile region in the early 20th century.