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Trans- Saharan Trade

Trans- Saharan Trade. Connecting Western Africa to the Mediterranean World. Origins of the Trans- Saharan trade. Sporadic encounters for more than 1,000 years Initiators of trade were Berber nomads. What was traded?. Salt Ivory Slaves Gold Helped the spread of Islam

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Trans- Saharan Trade

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  1. Trans- Saharan Trade Connecting Western Africa to the Mediterranean World

  2. Origins of the Trans- Saharan trade • Sporadic encounters for more than 1,000 years • Initiators of trade were Berber nomads

  3. What was traded? • Salt • Ivory • Slaves • Gold • Helped the spread of Islam • Muslim traders not only exchanged salt, but their religion

  4. West African encounter with the Arabs • Solid market for gold in Islamic society • In eastern parts, sufficient mines • In western parts, more difficult • Arabs organized trade as they consolidated control • Very little is known about the volume during first Islamic centuries • Real boom of trade began in 10th c.

  5. Gold Trade • Major commodity- prestigous item • Standard weight system in Rome used in Africa • Arab traders are believed to have brought first scales and weights • Deposits in several different regions enriched Africa’s pre-colonial cities and kingdoms

  6. Gold Trade cont’d • Actual sources of gold never told • Early methods of mining- little is known • Gold mining seen as an arduous and dangerous task • Slaves often employed to work in mineshafts, accidents very common

  7. The Trans- Saharan Gold Trade (7th to 14th c. CE) The shaded portion indicates the empire of Mali in the fourteenth century, and the dashed lines trace the main trans-Saharan routes of the period

  8. West Africans in the Mediterranean • Africans were not unfamiliar in the ancient Mediterranean • Not until Islamic period most arrived as slaves

  9. Salt Trade • Probably one of the earliest goods traded • Large deposits located in Sahara and Mali • Traded salt for slaves, gold, ivory, craft goods, pepper, cola nuts, and foodstuffs • Accumulation of goods exchanged for salt promoted social stratification

  10. Ivory Trade • Symbol of luxury • Used for- furniture, book covers, birdcages, broaches • All over ancient world • Most of supply from present-day Sudan • After Rome’s decline, China and India largest importers of African ivory • Ivory trade was slowed in order to preserve elephant population (late 19th c.)

  11. Slave Trade • Dates back several millennia • Slave traffickers were Muslims • Far less institutionalized than Trans- Atlantic • 2/3’s of slaves exported were females- concubines or servants

  12. Slave Trade cont’d • Taken from the savanna and forest zones of West Africa • Acquired through raids, warfare or tribute • Once purchased, traveled on foot and assisted with daily chores • Slave trade tapered ~1830, but then slavery abolished in 1920s through League of Nations

  13. End of Trans- Saharan Trade • Collapse of Songhay empire after the Moroccan attack in 1591 • Trade less profitable after • Disintegration of West African political structures • Contemporary economic decline of Northern Africa • European competition on the Guinea coast • Shift in favor of the Atlantic trade began with arrival of Portuguese ships ~1440s

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