| Summary: | The medieval Arab authors are an invaluable source for the knowledge of Sahelian spaces. However, these observers defined these lands according to geographical or ethnic concepts, fitting with the spirit of their time (9th-10th centuries). The guidelines of the medieval geography impose a mathematical definition to the space and determine an ethnography for these peoples, while natural conditions seemed to legitimate this vision, that established a huge differentiation between the populations located North and South of the Sahara. This desert was seen as a transitional space rather than a barrier. Once established, this framework didn’t move in spite of the islamization of these lands and the increasing contacts between the Arabs and the bilād al-Sūdān in the 12th century. The toponymy becomes richer and the cultural observations are more numerous. The more the customs are far from the habits of the observers, the more they are noteworthy.
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