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| Caravan traders across the Sahara |
Introduction
The Trans-Saharan trade was a trade between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa that required travel across the Sahara. The trade was organized between the
Berbers of North Africa and the people of Western Sudan. The Berber
pastoralists usually procured manufactured goods from the Phoenician colony of
Carthage, which were later exchanged for products of Western Sudan across the
Saharan Desert.
Factors that influenced the rise of the Trade
1.
Differences in commodities of
exchange
In the first place, the different
regions involved in the trade produced certain commodities that could be sold
or were in high demand in one or another of the zones. These commodities
comprised the industrial goods of the Mediterranean world, Europe and North
Africa such as salt, copper and dates. Ivory, gold, slaves were found in the
Sahara. Gold and kola nuts were found in the forest areas. Of particular
importance in the trade were the item of salt, iron, gold and slaves. As salt
and iron were in hot demand in the savannah and forest areas, so were gold and
slaves highly desired in Europe and the Mediterranean world. Until the European
discovery of the Americas, the Sudan was the main source of gold needed in the
Muslim world and Europe, and by the fourteenth century A. D., two-thirds of the
world’s production of gold was coming from the Sudan to fill the raw material
needed for the European mints.
2.
Introduction of Camel into West
Africa
Another reason for the development of
the trans-Saharan trade was the introduction of the camel into North Africa by
the Romans during the first century A.D. The camel was suitable for the
trans-Saharan trade as it could travel for several days without food or water,
and could carry quite a heavy load, while its flat feet could cope easily with
the sands of the desert. The eyelashes of the camel could also prevent sand
from entering the camel’s eye during sandstorms. For these reasons, the camel
is often referred to as the “ship” of the desert. Due to its
importance, the Berbers of the Sahara adopted it from the Romans and used it in
their southward migrations. The Berbers settled in the oases in the desert and
spread to as far down as the southern fringes of the Sahara where they
established trading links with the Western Sudanese peoples between the second
and fifth centuries. The spread of the use of the camel as from the seventh
century accelerated the pace of the development of the trans-Saharan trade.
3.
The conquest of North Africa
The conquest of the whole of North
Africa by the Arabs from the Middle East between 641 and 708 A.D. provided yet
another reason for the development of the trans- Saharan trade. This conquest
was accompanied by some developments. One was that it increased the use of the
camel in North Africa as well as the Sahara.
Again, among the invaders were
religious zealots and traders. In addition, traders from the eastern parts of
the Muslim world, particularly from Iraq, moved to North Africa and settled in
the termini of the caravan routes from the Sudan. Some of them later moved
further south to settle in such trading centers as Ghadames, Ghat, Tadmekka and
Awdaghost, where they combined trading with missionary activities.
These Arab immigrants and their Berber converts were responsible for the
increase in the volume of the trade and the opening up of new routes,
especially between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
4.
Introduction of Islam into Sudan
Islam also contributed to the development of the trade, especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Islamization of the Sudan allowed trade with the Muslim world. Muslim traders felt more secured in Islamic courts and towns of the Sudanese empires and kingdoms than before, particularly as Islam encouraged the spread of Arabic as a lingua franca. The introduction of Islamic mode of dressing encouraged the import trade in textiles as well as the local textile industries in which the Hausa soon became great experts. The great increase in Islamic learning and education, which accompanied the introduction of Islamic, greatly encouraged the trade in paper, books and manuscripts. The greatest contribution which Islam made to the growth of the trans-Saharan trade, however, was the pilgrimage or the hajj that was required of its members. Many of the Sudanese rulers of the period embarked on the pilgrimage to Mecca and drew the attention of the Muslim world to their states and further attracting traders and scholars.
How was the trade organized?
Firstly, Goods
were carried by caravans made up of men, donkeys and later camels. The camels
were introduced in the Sahara because they could move faster across the desert.
The camel and the donkey are referred to as “beast of burden” in the
sense that they are used for carting heavy loads on its back. Prior to the
introduction of camels to North Africa, the Berbers used two-wheeled
horse–drawn “chariots” to convey the commodities of the trade.
The Trans-Saharan trade was organized
in caravans. The rich Berber merchants of North Africa provided the capital.
They owned large numbers of camel, and also had resources to buy the
commodities needed in West Africa. The Caravans were owned and organized by the
Berbers. They also planned the routes.
However, it was not safe to use the trade routes because of the Tuareg
who were known for their acts of vandalism.
To ensure security on the routes, the Berbers usually employed guides, mostly the Tuareg, who were paid for their services. The Berbers also paid protection money to the tribesmen in the desert. African rulers who controlled the lands through which the trades passed were offered gifts which took the form of custom tariffs. The rulers made laws by which the trade could be conducted.
The journeys
usually started at the end of the rainy season. This was the time when there
was little danger of sandstorms. It took almost three months to cross the
desert. This meant that a merchant could undertake the journey only in a year.
Some trading posts
developed on the routes. They became warehouses where the traders could store
their goods. Such post also provided accommodation for the traders. Sijilmasa,
Awdaghost and Walata were examples of such
stopping places.
The Berber trades
obtained salt and other articles from the north and exchanged them for gold and
other commodities from the forest area to the south. For instance, because of
its great demand in ancient Ghana, salt was exchanged for its equivalent weight
in gold.
Initially, the
Caravan trade took the form of barter, as currency was not use at the time. The
Berber trades had agents in the cities of the Western Sudan who got goods and
slaves ready for them. It was during a later period that cowry shells and
currency were introduced and used in the trade.
The
main items of trade from North Africa were salt,
beads, textiles, horses, cloth, cattle and metal goods While other goods like gold, ivory, pepper, slaves, hides and
skins, copper, kola nuts, ostrich feathers, corn and gum were from the western
sudan.
What were the trade routes?
There were three main
routes that linked the Western Sudan to North Africa. These were the western, central and eastern routes.
The
Western route started from Morocco and Algeria and ran through Fez,
Marrakesh, Siljilmasa and Awdaghost in Ghana.
The
Central route began in Tunis and Tripoli and passed
through Ghat (on the south-west border of Libya) to Gao
and Timbuktu
on the Niger Bend.
The
Eastern route ran from Egypt through the Fezzan
to Ghat
Agades to Kanem-Bornu in the Hausaland.
Arab and western Sudanese traders met at
Sijilmasa where salt from Taghaza and Taodeni both in Mali was exchanged for
gold from Wangara, district north of the agricultural and gold-producing lands
of the Upper Niger and Senegal rivers. The middlemen role was played by the Soninke of Ghana between Arab gold
buyers and Wangara gold miners. Awdaghost
was Ghana’s most important centre of trade; Ghana served as the gateway to the
western Sudan up to eleventh century.
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| Trade routes across the Sahara dessert |
The Trans-Saharan trade
had its own difficulties and dangers connected to it, and some of these dangers
were:
One challenge was the frequent shortage of food and water. The most challenging problem encountered by the Caravan traders was how to get food and water in the desert. This was as a result of the fact that the Sahara Desert was very dry. Besides, it was extremely difficult to grow adequate food crops to provide food for the traders and their camel. For this reason, the traders were obliged to carry along food and water on the journey. However, the food and water could get finish before reaching their destination.
Two, the traders also faced mugging and harassment. Another danger faced by the traders on their journey to the Saharan desert was the risk of mugging (attacks) and harassment. For example, the desert tribesmen known as the “Tuareg” used to attack and rob the traders of their valuable goods whilst passing through their territories.
Three, they encountered sandstorms and poor visibility. The Sahara Desert appeared too horrific. The place experienced sand storms that were very severe and could easily make one go blind. When this occurred, it made it quite difficult for traders missed their bearing (direction) because of poor visibility. It was therefore advisable for their traders to suspend their journeys until after the rains where sandstorms experience will be less likely.
Four was the challenge of accommodation. The traders also encountered the problem of having a place to lay their heads. They travelled long distances without any village or town in sight where they could rest or lodge for some days.
Other challenges includeded the loss of direction and attacks by desert snakes, scorpions and other invaders.
Role played by the Tuareg in the Trans-Saharan Trade
The Tuareg (singular: Targui) are a nomadic community who mostly live in the Sahara Desert and nearby regions of countries across north and West Africa. Generally, the Tuareg were fair-colored and very often appeared in public veiled. The Berbers and Arabs called them Mulethemin, meaning the veiled people. They also share a common language known as Tamasheq. The Tuareg were veiled people and whose contributions made the caravan trade succeed. Their roles include:
1. The Tuareg acted as guides to the
trans-Saharan (caravan) traders for pay.
2. They practiced agriculture. Thus they
grew crops and reared animals in the oasis areas to feed themselves and sold
the surplus to the caravan traders.
3. They dug wells along the caravan
routes to supply water to the traders and their animals- donkeys and camels.
4. They reared camels (the ship of the
desert) which they supplied to the caravan traders. The coming of the camels
revolutionized the trans-Saharan trade.
5. The Tuareg also acted as interpreters to the caravan traders since they could speak many of the leading languages of the areas involved in the trade.
J Effects of the Trans-Saharan trade on the Western Sudanese states
The Trans-Saharan trade brought in its
wake far-reaching effects on the West African Sudanese states. These effects
were political, social and economic.
Firstly,
the trade led to widespread of instabilities in the regions where these
commodities were collected from. This was due to constant
raids in search for gold and slaves where many people were displaced and others
taken as slaves that were needed by North Africans. It also created the
formation of states and kingdoms in the Western Sudan. The trade created in the
rulers of the existing communities, the desire to gain control over the trade
routes that were developing as well as areas that produced gold, kola-nuts and
salt. For example, Ghana extended their conquests as far as north in order to
take control over salt and copper producing areas of Taghaza and Takedda.
The
profitability of the trade led to the rise of powerful kingdoms in West Africa.
Examples: Soninke in Ancient Ghana, Mandika in Mali accumulated a lot of wealth.
To ensure their influence in maintaining the trade, they annexed the neighboring
communities in search for a wide place to exploit gold and other commodities.
Besides, the trade also helped to project the fame of Western Sudanese states
abroad. Thus, they became known in North Africa and the Muslim world in
general. For instance, as early as the 8th century AD, Ghana was
well known in the courts of the Abba-sid
caliphs of Baghdad as the “land of
gold”.
The
trade resulted in the provision of regular source of income.
Moreover, the rulers of Western Sudan had their power and authority
strengthened. The rulers had regular income through custom duties which they
levied on imports and exports. Again, they gained absolute control over goods
of great political importance such as horse and iron for the production of
powerful weapons. The taxes they collected on goods provided them with the
opportunity to employ well-educated Muslim traders as: advisers, civil servants
and ministers to help in the running of the kingdoms.
The
trade led to the exploitation of natural resources.
The Trans-Saharan trade promoted the exploitation of natural resources such as
gold and salt which later made the Western Sudan famous across the length and
breadth of Europe and Muslim world.
The
trade led to the development of craft industries.
The trade led to the development of craft industry. Cobir became known for shoe production and the Hausa states also
produced high quality craftsmen, weavers, dyers, tanners and leather works.
These items were exported to areas including North Africa and the Mediterranean
states’
The
trade facilitated the spread Islam. Through the activities
of the Trans-Saharan traders, Islam spread into Western Sudan and this
influenced the Western Sudanese. The major participants were the Muslim Berbers and the Arabs from North Africa along the Mediterranean region. They came with their
cultures that were superior to that of the natives. Islamic doctrines were
widely spread and accepted as a medium of communication in commercial
transactions as well as a belief.
The
Trans-Saharan trade led to the spread and promotion of Islamic education and
literacy. New learning centers were established such
as the Sankore University at Timbuktu
which attracted scholars from the Muslim world. These new learning centers
produced professionals such as: lawyers,
teachers, doctors, judges, administrators among others.
The
trade also promoted urbanization and the development of trading centers.
Small villages and settlements developed into large towns and cities. Cities
such as Kumbi-Saleh, Jenne, Timbuktu and
Gao sprang up as a result of the Trans-Saharan trade. As the trade
developed, infrastructure was developed in the form of trade routes, schools,
mosques and monuments. The trade also led to the development of strong trading
centers. Example: Saleh, Gao, Tadmekka, Fezzan, Walata, Ghat etc. All
these led to cultural exchanges between the Arabs from North Africa and the
people of Western Sudan
The trade led to the emergence of a new social class. Two new classes of people emerged in the Western Sudan as a result of the trade. The first class was made up of resident foreign merchants who lived in their own quarters of the towns. The second class was a group of local professional traders such as Dyula or Wangara among the Mande and Hausa. The trade promoted the use of luxury goods and also improved the standard of living of the West Africans.
Reasons for the decline of the Trans-Saharan Trade
Firstly, the Moroccan invasion of the
Songhai Empire between 1591 and 1595 AD was a major reason that accounted for
the decline of the trade. The intense struggle
for power at the same time created an atmosphere of instability and insecurity
especially on the strategic trade routes. This made the traders to lose
interest in the trade as they were compelled to move away from the trading
centers.
The Partition of West Africa and the
establishment of ports. The trade further declined because
of the partition of West Africa by the European powers such as: Great Britain, Portugal, France, Germany,
among others after the Berlin Conference
of 1844-5. The partition marked the beginning of colonial rule in West
Africa. For that matter, the Europeans introduced efficient means of transport
such as motor roads, railway lines and harbors that made the transportation of
goods and services easier, safer and better in comparison to the riskier
journey across the desert.
Another
reason was anti- slavery campaigns which led to the abolition of the Slave
Trade. Another significant reason for the decline was the
abolition of the slave trade and slavery by Britain in 1807. The resultant effect of the abolition was that the
Trans-Saharan trade could not continue any longer because the purchase of
slaves formed part of the major commodities of the trade.
The arrival of the Europeans on the coast
killed the middlemen role in the trade. In addition, the
trade declined as a result of the arrival of the Europeans on the West Africa
coast. For example, the Dutch, the Danes and the Portuguese’s who arrived on
the coast introduced a wide range of gun powder, jeweler, cloths, among others.
The activities of these Europeans influenced the caravan traders to instead,
turn their attention to the coast to take part in the thriving trade.
Five,
the Tuareg changed their role from offering protection/ security to being
raiders.
Assessment
· How was the trans-Saharan trade organized?
(NOV/DEC 2002)
· List six southern
termini of the trans-Saharan (caravan) trade.
· List any three
articles of trade exported to North Africa from Western Sudan during the
trans-Saharan trade. (NOV/DEC 2017)
· Outline any five
ways by which the trans-Saharan trade was organized (MAY/JUNE 2018)
· In
what four ways did the trans-Saharan trade contribute to the development of the
West African Sudanese empires? (NOV/DEC 2012)
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