There are various accounts on the origins of the sultanate, dependent on the relationships among the drum-groups (descent-based clans) and confederations.

Oral history of the Aïr describes the foundation of the sultanate around 1405 by local Tuareg tribes seeking an inter-tribal organisation for mediation between different clans to settle disputes.

For this, the first Sultan, Yunǝs or Yunus, was chosen for being the son of a distant Tuareg from Targa (Libya) and a local taklit or female slave, which made him politically neutral between the factions (Iṣandalăn, Itesăn, Ilisăwăn and Ibǝrkorăyăn) involved in the founding.

[3][4]: 26–27 Yunǝs' successor and tegăze (nephew by his sister) Ălxăsăn (or Akkasan) transferred the seat of the Sultanate to the then recently (1413) founded Agadez, inhabited by Kel Gubǝr, Ibǝrkorăyăn and Igdalăn Tuareg, as well as Katsināwa Hausa merchants, who established the first indigo dyeing facilities.

[3] Originally, the seat of the Sultanate was Tadaliza, and then Tin Chaman, which are now archaeological sites in the Air Mountains.

This occurred amidst various developments in the region in the 15th century, as the Bornu Empire underwent a wave of expansionism and Katsina came under the dynasty of Muhammad Korau.

Regardless, it serves as a metaphor that allows the sultan to mediate disputes as an actor outside the local descent-based or alliance system.

The female names of the first rulers according to oral tradition indicate that the Berber type of matrilineal descent was initially adopted.

In the present day, most cultural events have moved from the amenukal's palace near the Agadez Mosque to the outskirts.