Development of trans saharan trade. The Trans 2022-10-13
Development of trans saharan trade Rating:
8,7/10
522
reviews
The development of trans-Saharan trade played a significant role in shaping the history and cultures of the African continent. It refers to the trade routes that connected West Africa to the Mediterranean and the Middle East across the Sahara Desert. The trade routes were established in ancient times and continued to evolve over the centuries, leading to the exchange of a wide range of goods, ideas, and technologies.
One of the earliest examples of trans-Saharan trade can be traced back to the Kingdom of Ghana, which flourished in West Africa from the 6th to the 11th centuries. Ghana was a major trading center that dealt in a variety of goods, including gold, salt, ivory, and slaves. The kingdom controlled the trans-Saharan trade routes and imposed taxes on the merchants who passed through its territory.
During the 8th and 9th centuries, the trans-Saharan trade routes experienced a period of expansion, due in part to the rise of the Islamic empires in the Middle East and North Africa. The spread of Islam led to the development of a common religious and cultural identity among the peoples of West Africa, which facilitated trade and cooperation. The trans-Saharan trade routes became a vital link between West Africa and the Islamic world, with merchants exchanging gold, slaves, and other goods for textiles, horses, and other luxury items.
In the 10th and 11th centuries, the Kingdom of Ghana declined and was replaced by the Kingdom of Mali, which also played a major role in the trans-Saharan trade. The Kingdom of Mali was known for its rich deposits of gold, which attracted the attention of European traders. The kingdom also controlled the trans-Saharan trade routes, which allowed it to extract significant profits from the trade.
The trans-Saharan trade routes continued to evolve over the centuries, with different empires and kingdoms vying for control. The trans-Saharan trade also faced various challenges, including the threat of banditry and the difficulties of traversing the Sahara Desert. Nevertheless, the trade routes remained an important factor in the economic and cultural development of West Africa and the broader African continent.
In conclusion, the development of trans-Saharan trade was a significant event in the history of Africa. It facilitated the exchange of goods, ideas, and technologies between West Africa and the Mediterranean and Middle East, and played a key role in the economic and cultural development of the region. Despite the challenges it faced, the trans-Saharan trade routes remain an enduring symbol of the rich history and cultural diversity of Africa.
Explain six factors that facilitated the growth and development of Trans
The Portuguese monarchy also hired explorers such as Alvise Cadamosto, a Venetian slaver sent to scout the region of Senegambia. It was not long before large-scale sugar plantations sprang up on the islands and the Portuguese entrenched themselves in the Gulf of Guinea. Camels, horses, donkeys, and the like could not easily survive in areas where the tsetse fly could live and thrive. Though the Soninke had managed to keep the Ghanaian gold sources secret, this did not stop others from opening up their own mines. From Cairo he entered the Holy city of Mecca.
Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. With the increased volume of trans-Saharan trade in the Islamic period, new cultural influences began to spread in Western Africa. Still, the Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, and oases served these Saharan caravans as makeshift refueling stations. Decline The gold fields' profitability in time worked against them. This legacy came out more for his exploits on his way to Mecca to perform his pilgrimage 1324-1325 than in any wars he fought and won or lost.
Over time these caravans grew from a few dozen camels to several thousand strong! Important trading centers in southern West Africa developed at the transitional zone between the forest and the savanna; examples include Begho and Bono Manso in present-day Ghana and Bondoukou in present-day CĂ´te d'Ivoire. Add to this the threat of raids and the possibility of a hostile merchant population, and to Europeans the undertaking of a trans-Saharan journey by themselves seemed likely to be disastrous. Indeed, travelers to these early African states have left accounts of plentiful quantities of gold decorating sub-Saharan African courts, homes, and people, from gold-embroidered clothing, swords, and scabbards, to even gold pet accessories! Their arrival in Borno by the 15 th century showed how the pluralism of society, the spread of Islam as a scholarly, religious, and commercial religion, and the arrival of more and more global influences were all coming together across a wide part of West Africa. Songhay, on the other hand lasted from the 11 th to 16 th century. The Arrival of Europeans Europeans had long known that there were three ancient trade routes through the Saharan Desert. Indeed, travelers to these early African states have left accounts of plentiful quantities of gold decorating sub-Saharan African courts, homes, and people, from gold-embroidered clothing, swords, and scabbards, to even gold pet accessories! Thus, a vital factor in the emergence of the social fabric of West Africa was the Sahara desert.
Arab sailors, starting their journeys in Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, traded with East African peoples on the Somalian and Kenyan coasts. Challenges include incomplete links along the road infrastructure of the TSR corridor, road safety concerns, and uneven road conditions between countries. The perils of too much gold in northern marketplaces was on full display when Mansa Musa, the famous Malian king, arrived in Cairo around 1325 carrying an enormous quantity of gold. By the 15 th century, when the Atlantic trade would begin, the trans-Saharan trade had been flourishing for at least 5 centuries, and had already shaped the rise, fall, and consolidation of many West African states and societies. At the same time, the spread of Islam to parts of sub-Saharan Africa reshaped those regions with lasting effects.
When the trade was at its height, between the 7th and 11th centuries, complex systems were devised where word was sent ahead to oases and water was brought to the caravans as they passed so the traders never had to stop moving. Indeed, this was also an exchange, since scholars from West African cities moved to learn, study, and preach further afield. For example, the Soninke Empire of Ghana's rise during the 8th century C. Innovations in camel use like camel saddles and caravanserais essentially rest stops for camels made desert trade much easier. According to the report, upgrading the road and transport corridor to an economic one can lead to significant trade and development gains by attracting investment and generating economic activity, benefiting surrounding regions. For hundreds of years, the history of West Africa was shaped by the trans-Saharan trade. Although the Kanuri, the people of Kanem, mainly exported ivory and ostrich feathers, they also specialized in the selling of captives to the Muslims of North Africa and later to Europeans, notably the Portuguese who paid in guns and horses.
The Role of Kanem-Bornu In about 900 CE, an empire called Kanem arose in the Central Sudan, located to the east of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, and confined initially to the northeast of Lake Chad. The many manuscripts now housed in the th century. Works Cited Austen, Ralph A. One such power was the Soninke or Ghanaian Empire which flourished for two centuries beginning around the year 1000. The Malian masses which were mostly animist then, were soon converted by the fresh pilgrims. However, the major blow to trans-Saharan trade was the Battle of Tondibi of 1591—92. The value of enslaved captives passing through Whydah was enormous, and the slave trade benefited both the African slave merchants and the state, which was entitled to customs duties and taxes.
The report offers a vision for the establishment of a cooperation framework to help the TSR evolve towards an economic corridor. But by midcentury, these centers—also the destination points for some caravans from West African trade centers such as Timbuktu—were sending larger caravans of captives to the markets at Tripoli. By 1500, they had successfully settled both, which were prized for their strategic location off the West African coast and for their tropical climate and volcanic soil, ideal for planting and harvesting sugar. It is significant as it has been the only connection between sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world for most of human history. Mali was founded by Sunjata Keita in the 13 th century, defeating the blacksmith king Sumanguru Kante. North Africa had declined in both political and economic importance, while the Saharan crossing remained long and treacherous. The Garamantean Road passed south of the desert near Murzuk before turning north to pass between the Alhaggar and Tibesti Mountains before reaching the oasis at Kawar.
The longest-lived of all the African kingdoms, Kanem-Bornu depended primarily on trade in the enslaved, whom it acquired by raiding neighboring states. How did Africans treat the people they enslaved? It is estimated that, in the 17th and 18th centuries, 1. The prosperity of Kanem-Bornu was tied to the trans-Saharan trade in enslaved people destined for the markets of North Africa and the Atlantic coast. They conquered the Kingdom of Morocco, founded Marrakech in 1062, and then swept into Al-Andalus in southern Spain in the 1080s, where they defended the Caliphate of CĂłrdoba from the reconquest led by the Christian kings of Spain. In humid forest zones, the tsetse fly which causes Sleeping Sickness meant that it was hard for pack animals to survive. Without a powerful central authority, a host of small states emerged whose chiefs saw the benefits of dealing directly with wealthy Europeans rather than through the centuries-old system of caravan trade. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
