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.