 Nasr's focus on these states also gained him control of the entrepôts for the gum trade along the Senegal.French trade on the Senegal had seen large growth since the beginning of the century, and thus control of the entrepôts strengthened Nasr financially, whilst offsetting the Hassan control of the trade to the ports on the Saharan coast.Nasr then turned his attention to strengthening the rule of his Islamic state, and imposed the zakat on the tributary tribes north of the Senegal river.