Takrur was one of the minor Iron Age states of West Africa, which flourished roughly parallel to the Kingdom of Ghana. Located in the Senegal Valley, along the border of present-day Senegal and Mauritania, it was a trading center, where gold from the Bambuk region, salt from the Awlil, Sahel grain, and slaves from the south all passed. Takrur apparently adopted Islam in the eleventh century, before Ghana, and sided with the Berber Almoravids in their war with that kingdom. As early adherents of Islam, Takrur played an important role in the introduction of that religion into West Africa. Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... West Africa is the region of western Africa generally considered to include these countries: Benin Burkina Faso Cameroon Côte dIvoire (Ivory Coast) Equatorial Guinea Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Chad, Mauritania, and... The Ghana Empire (existed c. ... The Republic of Senegal is a country south of the Senegal River in West Africa. ... The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in northwest Africa. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11 (IB), 6, d Density, Hardness 19300 kg/m3, 2. ... For other meanings of the word salt see table salt or salt (disambiguation). ... See also Sahel, Tunisia, a region of eastern Tunisia. ... Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام,  listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group indigenous to the Maghreb, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Almoravides (From Arabic المرابطون sing. ...