Why was trans saharan trade important to africa

He also brought along great scholars who helped him establish the famous libraries in Gao, Jenne and Timbuktu. Politically, Mali became well known and Mansa Musa earned international repute. His pilgrimage put Mali firmly on the map. Indeed, before his death in , Mansa Musa has expanded Mali into a sprawling empire with over cities extending from the Atlantic in the West to the forest zones of the south.

The growth of the trans-Saharan trade from the 10 th to the 15 th century led to profound transformations across West Africa, and this can be seen through a whole range of transformations that took place in the 15 th century, from West to East and from North to South. A good example are events in Nigeria. In Borno, the growth of the gold trade from Bono-Mansu would lead to the movement of the capital away from the old centre of Kanem, further south to Gazargamo Ngazargamu in Borno circa In Kano, there was the establishment of a new system, the Sarauta system.

In other regions similar transformations were afoot. In Mali, the Dogon people of the Bandiagara escarpment probably moved there in the 15 th century. At the same time, in the 15 th century, the Mossi kingdom rose in what is now Burkina Faso, linked to the profits to be made from taxing the onward gold trade. It was also at this time that Bono-Mansurose to prominence. Meanwhile, the key gold-trading centre of Bighu, also on the Gold Coast and which was to become very important in the 17 th and 18 th century, is mentioned by al-Ouazzan as Bito in the s, suggesting that it too rose to prominence in these decades.

Meanwhile, in Senegambia, the rise of the major military leader Koli Tenguela at the end of the 15 th century coincided probably with an attempt to control the gold trade which came from the kingdom of Wuuli, on the north bank of the Gambia river. Tenguela, a Fula, would eventually lead an army south across the Gambia river to the Fuuta Jaalo mountains in Guinea-Conakry and establish a new polity there.

This would lead in turn to the establishment of Fuuta Tooro on the Senegal river. In other words, all across West Africa, from Borno to Fuuta Tooro, political transformations were taking place well before trade with Europe had begun. West African mining technology, economic transformation, and political reorganization grew. This helped to create the framework in which European powers sought to expand their knowledge of the world, as they began to sail along the West African coast in the 15 th century.

The most remarkable example came in northern Nigeria. Kano grew very rapidly in the 15 th century, sending out military expeditions to the south and becoming a regional hub linking trading networks from southern Nigeria to what is now Mali and beyond.

The major power between Kano and Nupe was Zaria, which conquered a large area of land. Every town paid tribute to her. Just as European power was beginning to expand along the West African coast in the 15 th century, therefore, so the impact of the trans-Saharan trade reached its zenith. The 15 th century was not just the time of European expansion, but of global expansion of networks, trade, productions, and the manifestation of this power in more complex states, in West Africa and beyond.

Tekrur was another of the states which thrived largely as a result of the Trans-Saharan trade. It was founded in the 7 th century, and was located in present day North-East Senegal in the valley of the Senegal River.

For many years, Tekrur laid quietly as a vassal of the Ghana and Mali empires. Tekrur had largely Serahuly and Mande speaking populations, but in the 15 th century, the Fula became powerful and removed the ruling Mande class and established the Janonkobe dynasty. He formed and mobilised a vast army and ravaged through Fouta Jallon, Mali and Jollof to make Tekrur the unvanquished power in the region. Koli was crowned as Satigi or emperor over the vast lands now under the control of his Fula armies.

His capital was at Gode, near the present day Matam. Koli is remembered in the Fouta Toro legends as the big chief of the Fula animist aristocracy who lived on war and slavery, catching especially of the Fula and Tukulor Muslims of his empire.

How did Koli benefit from the trade across the Sahara? Simply put, by trading grain in exchange for firearms. It is clear from what has been said above that the trade across the Sahara helped to build strong states and also to destroy them as weapons became readily available and the lucrative trade also generated envy and the desire to dominate.

Ghana was one of the most famous and earliest of the West African empires. It existed between the 5 th and 13 th centuries in the modern Mali and Mauritania, and was heavily connected to the trans-Saharan trade.

The Ghana empire with its capital of Kumbi Saleh in Mauritainia, is not to be confused with modern Ghana with its capital at Accra, which was named after it. The principal inhabitants of Ghana were the Serahuli, also called Soninke, who were part of the Mande-speaking people. Ghana owed her progress and prosperity and influence to the strategic role it played in the Trans-Saharan trade.

Ghana was located half way between the sources of the two Trans-Saharan trade items: salt from the desert up north and gold from Bambuk to the East. Ghana played the enviable role of middleman. The introduction of the camel as carrier of goods in the trade was a massive boost to the exchange between Ghana and the desert peoples such as the Berbers.

As early as the 11 th century an Arab geographer called al-Bakari visited Kumbi Saleh, the capital and described the fabulous wealth he saw and the well advanced form of administration run by the Ghana ruler. The dumbstruck Arab visitor also described in glowing terms how well dressed in gold the Ghana king was, how he was able to raise an army of , men and how he allowed both Islam and animism to be practised in Kumbi Saleh.

Of course, our Arab writers only met the royals, nobles and traders as they were interested only in gold. They said little about what the ordinary people did for a living; but we can glean from the writings that they fished and farmed along the banks of the River Senegal to survive. When the Almoravids started to wage war against other Berber tribes, the trade routes to Ghana became unsafe and trade was affected.

Songhay, on the other hand lasted from the 11 th to 16 th century. It rose to prominence as a result of the Trans-Saharan trade. As early as the 14 th century Muslim traders were settled in Gao, the principal trade town of Songhay. Gao became the hub for the Trans-Saharan trade for the central and eastern Sahara. The farmers and fishermen of Songay ensured the traders were well fed.

Songhay collected the bulk of her revenue from the taxes levied on trade caravans. Like Mansa Musa of Mali, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca where he showed how rich and powerful his kingdom was. The Trans-Saharan trade helped to make Songhai rich and prosperous. It should be noted that the trans-Saharan trade continued to be important into the 19 th and even the 20 th century, as the continuing trade and human traffic shows.

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Related Articles Expand or collapse the "related articles" section about About Related Articles close popup. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Introduction Since E. General Overviews This section lists publications that provide broad historical and cultural contexts for understanding trans-Saharan trade.

How to Subscribe Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. Jump to Other Articles:. The traffic in gold was spurred by the demand for and supply of coinage. The rise of the Soninke empire of Ghana appears to be related to the beginnings of the trans-Saharan gold trade in the fifth century.

From the seventh to the eleventh century, trans-Saharan trade linked the Mediterranean economies that demanded gold—and could supply salt—to the sub-Saharan economies, where gold was abundant.

Although local supply of salt was sufficient in sub-Saharan Africa, the consumption of Saharan salt was promoted for trade purposes. In the eighth and ninth centuries, Arab merchants operating in southern Moroccan towns such as Sijilmasa bought gold from the Berbers, and financed more caravans. These commercial transactions encouraged further conversion of the Berbers to Islam. The Soninke managed to keep the source of their gold the Bambuk mines, most notably secret from Muslim traders.

Yet gold production and trade were important activities that undoubtedly mobilized hundreds of thousands of African people. Leaders of the ancient kingdom of Ghana accumulated wealth by keeping the core of pure metal, leaving the unworked native gold to be marketed by their people. By the end of the twelfth century, however, Ghana had lost its domination of the western Sudan gold trade.