I-n-Azaoua was a crude, French colonial-era redoubt built in February 1899[1] alongside an established well, three kilometres south of the current border line between Algeria and Niger.

During the French colonisation of north and west Africa, the Foureau–Lamy Mission of 1898-1900 constructed a small redoubt 800 metres from the well.

[2] The 1972 Institut géographique national NG-32-II map indicates water at a depth of 6 metres.

Once the easier trans-Sahara crossing via In Guezzam was established in the 1960s,[3] this remote 720-km track between Tamanrasset and Iferouane in Niger's northern Aïr Mountains became even less frequently used.

As tourism grew in the 1970s, the remote Algerian part of the route to I-n Azaoua was closed by Algerian authorities and an important sign was erected 95 km south of Tamanrasset on the main In Guezzam route at the fork leading ESE for I-n Azaoua.