Possible identifications include the site of Sinthiou Bara in the Matam Region of Senegal,[1] the village of Silla near Kaedi in Mauritania,[2] or a site closer to the juncture of the Senegal and Faleme rivers.
Al-Bakri described Silla as the capital of a ‘vast kingdom’ led by a ruler almost as grand as Ghana's/Wagadu's, but modern scholars tend to view it as a powerful city-state often politically dependent on its neighbors rather than a kingdom.
[7] The inhabitants of Silla may have been converted to Maliki Sunni Islam following war with Wagadu, who had asked the Almoravids for assistance, in the 1080s.
[6][9] Ibn Khaldun reported that Silla was a part of the Mali Empire in the 14th century.
[10] In the Soninke epic Gassire's Lute, Silla is mentioned as a previous "appearance" of Wagadu.