The city was founded in 777, and by the 11th century had become a trading center for a confederation of Berber tribes known as the "Sanhaja", Confederation. It was at the crossroads of trade routes. Soon after settling "Chinguetti", the Sanhaja first interacted with and eventually melded with the Almoravids, represented by Abdallah ibn Yasin. The Almoravids would eventually control an empire stretching from present-day Senegal to southern Spain (called "al-Andalus", the modern Andalucia). The city's stark unadorned architecture reflects the strict religious beliefs of the Almoravids, who spread the Malikite rite of Sunni Islam throughout the Western Maghreb.