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The town formed part of the [[Ghana Empire]] and grew wealthy through trade. At the beginning of the thirteenth century Oualata replaced [[Aoudaghost]] as the principal southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade and developed into an important commercial and religious centre.{{sfn|Levtzion|1973|p=147}} By the fourteenth century the city had become part of the [[Mali Empire]].
An important trans-Saharan route began at [[Sijilmasa]] and passed through [[Taghaza]] with its salt mines and ended at Oualata. The French historian {{ILL|Raymond Mauny|fr}} estimated that in the [[Middle Ages]] the town would have accommodated between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants.{{sfn|Mauny|1961|p=485}}
Moroccan explorer [[Ibn Battuta]] found the inhabitants of Oualata were Muslim and mainly Massufa, a section of the [[Sanhaja]]. He was surprised by the great respect and independence that women enjoyed. He only gives a brief description of the town itself: "My stay at Iwalatan (Oualata) lasted about fifty days; and I was shown honour and entertained by its inhabitants. It is an excessively hot place, and boasts a few small date-palms, in the shade of which they sow watermelons. Its water comes from underground waterbeds at that point, and there is plenty of mutton to be had."{{sfn|Gibb|1929|p=320}} The town's original [[Mande languages|Mande]] name ''Biru'' had already shifted to the Berber ''Iwalatan'', a reflection of the changing identity of the residents. This would change again with the town's Arabization, and the development of the current name, ''Walata''.{{sfn|Cleaveland|2002|p=37}}
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