Note 129 — IBN BAṬÚṬAH’S JOURNEY.

Aïwalátin ايْولَاتِنْ is a regular plural, formed from the singular Walet or Waláta. Thus afíus, a hand, makes in the plural aïfásen (Höst’s Marokos, p. 137); tar, a foot, makes itaren. The Berber names of towns are often in the plural number, comprehending the several villages within the limits of a Tenzert, or district. Waláta (Gualata) is described by Leo (pt. VI. c. 60), not as a town, but a territory containing three hamlets (casali) and some scattered habitations. Hence he might with propriety have written Igualaten, as he wrote Iguaden for Wádán, the Hoden of Cadamosto. The commercial importance once enjoyed by Aïwalátin is agreeably illustrated by an anecdote related in the History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain, p. 302. While Ibn Baṭúṭah was at the court of Málí, he witnessed one day a Masúfí rushing into the presence of the King, and prostrating himself in the manner of a suppliant. When asked who had wronged him, he replied, Manshajú biwalátin منشاجوا بولاتن, which means the Governor or Viceroy of Aïwalátin. Manshajú or Manshagú is obviously derived from Mansá, with the Berber pronunciation; the b prefixed to the following word is the sign of the possessive case (Venture on the Berber Language, in the Appendix to Langlés’ Translation of Hornemann’s Travels, p. 420).