Azalay ( Azalaï, Aẓālāy ) is the name of the large November caravan that travelled under escort from Timbuktu via Araouane (Arawān) to fetch rock salt from Taoudenni (in present-day northern Mali); a smaller caravan in April reprovisioned the miners. Some writers (e.g., Bovill) give the name to a similar caravan from Agades (Agadez) to Bilma (both in present-day Niger). Organised by the Touareg, the trade is now conducted by smaller caravans from October to March. The origin of the name, reported by the French at Taoudenni in 1906