Trans-Saharan trade istrade betweensub-Saharan Africa andNorth Africa that requires travel across theSahara.[1] Though this trade began inprehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century CE. The Sahara once had adifferent climate and environment. InLibya andAlgeria, from at least 7000 BCE,pastoralism (the herding of sheep and goats), large settlements and pottery were present. Cattle were introduced to the Central Sahara (Ahaggar) between 4000 and 3500 BCE. Remarkable rock paintings (dated 3500 to 2500 BCE) in arid regions portray flora and fauna that are not present in the modern desert.[2]
As a desert, the Sahara is now a hostile expanse that separates the Mediterranean economy from the economy of theNiger River Basin. AsFernand Braudel points out, crossing such a zone, especially without mechanized transport, is worthwhile only when exceptional circumstances cause the expected gain to outweigh the cost and the danger.[3] Trade was conducted bycaravans ofcamels.[1] According to Maghrebi explorerIbn Battuta, who once traveled with a caravan, an average one would amount to 1,000 camels, but some caravans were as large as 12,000.[4][5] The caravans were guided by highly-paidBerbers, who knew the desert and could ensure protection from fellow desertnomads. The caravans' survival relied on careful coordination: runners would be sent ahead tooases for water to be shipped out to the caravan when it was still several days away, as the caravans could usually not carry enough to make the full journey. In the mid-14th century CE, Ibn Battuta crossed the desert fromSijilmasa via the salt mines atTaghaza to the oasis ofOualata. A guide was sent ahead, and water was brought over a four-day journey fromOualata to meet the caravan.[6]
Culture and religion were also exchanged on the trans-Saharan trade routes. ManyWest African states eventually adoptedArabic writing and the religion of North Africa, resulting in these states' absorption into theMuslim world.[7]
Ancient trade spanned the northeastern corner of the Sahara in theNaqadan era.Predynastic Egyptians in theNaqada I period traded withNubia to the south, the oases of theWestern Desert to the west, and the cultures of theeastern Mediterranean to the east. Many trading routes went from oasis to oasis to resupply on both food and water. These oases were very important.[8] They also importedobsidian fromSenegal to shape blades and other objects.[9]
The overland route through theWadi Hammamat from theNile to theRed Sea was known as early aspredynastic times;[10] drawings depicting Egyptianreed boats have been found along the path dating to 4000 BCE.[11] Ancientcities dating to theFirst Dynasty of Egypt arose along both its Nile and Red Sea junctions,[citation needed] testifying to the route's ancient popularity. It became a major route fromThebes to theRed Sea port ofElim, where travelers then moved on to eitherAsia, Arabia or theHorn of Africa.[citation needed] Records exist documenting knowledge of the route amongSenusret I, Seti,Ramesses IV and also, later, theRoman Empire, especially for mining.[citation needed]
TheDarb El Arba'īn trade route, passing throughKharga in the south andAsyut in the north, was used from as early as theOld Kingdom for the transport and trade ofgold,ivory,spices,wheat, animals and plants.[12] Later,Ancient Romans would protect the route by lining it with varied forts and small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation.[citation needed] Described byHerodotus as a road "traversed ... in forty days", it became by his time an important land route facilitating trade betweenNubia andEgypt,[13] and subsequently became known as the Forty Days Road. FromKobbei, 40 kilometres (25 mi) north ofal-Fashir, the route passed through the desert to Bir Natrum, another oasis and salt mine, toWadi Howar before proceeding to Egypt.[14] TheDarb el-Arbain trade route was the easternmost of the central routes.
The westernmost of the three central routes was theGhadames Road, which ran from theNiger River atGao north toGhat andGhadames before terminating atTripoli.
Next was the easiest of the three routes: theGaramantean Road, named after the former rulers of the land it passed through and also called theBilma Trail. TheGaramantean Road passed south of the desert nearMurzuk before turning north to pass between theAlhaggar andTibesti Mountains before reaching the oasis atKawar. From Kawar, caravans would pass over the great sand dunes ofBilma, whererock salt was mined in great quantities for trade, before reaching the savanna north ofLake Chad.[15] This was the shortest of the routes, and the primary exchanges wereslaves andivory from the south for salt. One early 20th century researcher wrote of theTripoli-Murzuk-Lake Chad route, "Most of the [trans-Saharan] traffic from the Mediterranean coast during the last 2,000 years has passed along this road."[16]
Another Libyan route wasBenghazi toKufra to the lands of theWadai Empire between Lake Chad and Darfur.[16]
The western routes were theWalata Road past present-dayOualata, Mauritania, from theSénégal River, and theTaghaza Trail, from the Niger River, past the salt mines ofTaghaza, north to the great trading center ofSijilmasa, situated inMorocco just north of the desert.[14] The growth of the city ofAoudaghost, founded in the 5th century BCE, was stimulated by its position at the southern end of a trans-Saharan trade route.[17]
To the east, three ancient routes connected the south to the Mediterranean. The herdsmen of theFezzan ofLibya, known as the Garamantes, controlled these routes as early as 1500 BCE. From their capital ofGerma in the Wadi Ajal, the Garamantean Empire raided north to the sea and south into the Sahel. By the 4th century BCE, the independent city-states ofPhoenicia had expanded their control to the territory and routes once held by the Garamantes.[14] Shillington states that existing contact with the Mediterranean received added incentive with the growth of the port city ofCarthage. Founded c. 800 BCE, Carthage became one terminus for West African gold, ivory, and slaves. West Africa received salt, cloth, beads, and metal goods. Shillington proceeds to identify this trade route as the source for West African iron smelting.[18] Trade continued into Roman times. Although there are Classical references to direct travel from the Mediterranean to West Africa (Daniels, p. 22f), most of this trade was conducted through middlemen, inhabiting the area and aware of passages through the drying lands.[19] TheLegio III Augusta subsequently secured these routes on behalf ofRome by the 1st century CE, safeguarding the southern border of the empire for two and half centuries.[14]
The Garamantes also engaged in thetrans-Saharan slave trade. The Garamantes used slaves in their own communities to construct and maintain underground irrigation systems known as thefoggara.[20] Early records oftrans-Saharan slave trade come fromancient Greek historianHerodotus in the 5th century BCE, who records the Garamantes enslaving cave-dwelling Egyptians in Sudan.[21][22] Two records of Romans accompanying the Garamantes on slave raiding expeditions are recorded - the first in 86 CE and the second a few years later toLake Chad.[21][22] Initial sources of slaves were theToubou people, but by the1st century CE, the Garamantes were obtaining slaves from modern dayNiger andChad.[22]
In the earlyRoman Empire, the city ofLepcis established aslave market to buy and sell slaves from the African interior.[21] The empire imposedcustoms tax on the trade of slaves.[21] In the 5th century CE,Roman Carthage was trading in black slaves brought across the Sahara.[22] Black slaves seem to have been valued in the Mediterranean as household slaves for their exotic appearance.[22] Some historians argue that the scale of slave trade in this period may have been higher than medieval times due to high demand of slaves in the Roman Empire.[22]
Herodotus wrote of the Garamantes huntingEthiopianTroglodytes fromchariots; this account was associated with depictions of horses drawing chariots in contemporarycave art in southern Morocco and theFezzan, giving origin to a theory that the Garamantes or some other Saharan people had created chariot routes to provideRome and Carthage with gold and ivory. However, it has been argued that no horse skeletons have been found dating from this early period in the region, and chariots would have been unlikely vehicles for trading purposes due to their small capacity.[23]
The earliest evidence for domesticatedcamels in the region dates from the 3rd century. Used by theBerbers, they enabled more regular contact across the entire width of the Sahara, but regular trade routes did not develop until the beginnings of the Islamic conversion of West Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries.[23] Two main trade routes developed. The first ran through the western desert from modern Morocco to the Niger bend, the second from modernTunisia to theLake Chad area. These stretches were relatively short and had the essential network of occasional oases that established the routing as inexorably as pins in a map. Further east of the Fezzan with its trade route through the valley ofKaouar to Lake Chad, Libya was impassable due to its lack of oases and fierce sandstorms.[24]
Several trade routes became established, perhaps the most important terminating inSijilmasa (Morocco) andIfriqiya to the north.[1] There, and in other North African cities, Berber traders had increased contact with Islam, encouraging conversions, and by the 8th century, Muslims were traveling to Ghana. Many in Ghana converted to Islam, and it is likely that the Empire's trade was privileged as a result.[1] Around 1050, Ghana lostAoudaghost to theAlmoravids, but new goldmines aroundBure reduced trade through the city, instead benefiting theMalinke of the south, who later founded theMali Empire.[1] Sijilmasa peaked in importance as a trading city in the 11th and 12th centuries under the Almoravids, due to its access to gold and therefore its ability to mint golddinars, as well as its access to the uniqueTafilalit agricultural oasis that allowed the city to feed those participating in the caravan economy.[25]
Unlike Ghana, Mali was a Muslim kingdom since its foundation, and under it, the gold–salt trade continued. Other, less important trade goods were slaves,kola nuts from the south andslave beads andcowry shells from the north (for use as currency). It was under Mali that the great cities of theNiger bend—includingGao andDjenné—prospered, withTimbuktu in particular becoming known across Europe for its great wealth.[1] Important trading centers in southern West Africa developed at the transitional zone between the forest and the savanna; examples includeBegho andBono Manso (in present-day Ghana) andBondoukou (in present-dayCôte d'Ivoire). Western trade routes continued to be important, withOuadane,Oualata andChinguetti being the major trade centres in what is now Mauritania, while theTuareg towns ofAssodé and laterAgadez grew around a more easterly route in what is nowNiger.
The eastern trans-Saharan route led to the development of the long-livedKanem–Bornu Empire as well as the Ghana, Mali, andSonghai empires,[1] centred on the Lake Chad area. This trade route was somewhat less efficient and only rose to great prominence when there was turmoil in the west such as during theAlmohad conquests.
Thetrans-Saharan slave trade, established inAntiquity,[22] continued during theMiddle Ages. The slaves brought from across the Sahara were mainly used by wealthy families as domestic servants,[26] and concubines.[27] Some served in the military forces of Egypt and Morocco.[27] For example, the 17th century sultanMoulay Ismail himself was the son of a slave,[1] and relied on an army of black slaves for support. The West African states imported highly trained slave soldiers.[27]
Estimating the number of enslaved people who were transported via the trans-Saharan routes is challenging, particularly prior to widespread record-keeping. Historian John Wright offers an estimated average of 5,000 people per year over the 1250 years of the trade (from the 7th to 20th century), resulting in a total estimate of "between 6 and 7 million".[28] The majority of these people were transported after the 1500s.
The rise of theGhana Empire in what is nowMali,Senegal, and southernMauritania, accompanied the increase in trans-Saharan trade. Northern economies were short of gold but at times controlled salt mines such asTaghaza in the Sahara, whereas West African countries likeWangara had plenty of gold but needed salt.[1] Taghaza, a trading and mining outpost whereIbn Battuta recorded the buildings were made of salt, rose to preeminence in the salt trade under the hegemony of theAlmoravid Empire.[29] The salt was mined by slaves and purchased with manufactured goods from Sijilmasa.[29] Miners cut thin rectangular slabs of salt directly out of the desert floor, and caravan merchants transported them south, charging a transportation fee of almost 80% of the salt's value.[29] The salt was traded at the market ofTimbuktu almost weight for weight with gold.[29] The gold, in the form of bricks, bars, blank coins, and gold dust went toSijilmasa, from which it went out to Mediterranean ports and in which it was struck intoAlmoravid dinars.[29][1]
The spread of Islam to sub-Saharan African was linked to trans-Saharan trade. Islam spread via trade routes, and Africans converting to Islam increased trade and commerce which increased the trade's population.[30]
Historians give many reasons for the spread of Islam facilitating trade. Islam established common values and rules upon which trade was conducted.[30] It created a network of believers who trusted each other and therefore traded with each other even if they did not personally know each other.[31] Such trade networks existed before Islam but on a much smaller scale. The spread of Islam increased the number of nodes in the network and decreased its vulnerability.[32] The use of Arabic as a common language of trade and the increase of literacy throughQuranic schools, also facilitated commerce.[33]
Muslim merchants conducting commerce also gradually spread Islam along their trade network. Social interactions with Muslim merchants led many Africans to convert to Islam, and many merchants married local women and raised their children as Muslims.[33][1]
Islam spread into Western Sudan by the end of the10th century, into Chad by the11th century, and intoHausa lands in12th and13th centuries. By 1200, many ruling elites in Western Africa had converted to Islam, and from 1200 to 1500 saw a significant conversion to Islam in Africa.[34]
ThePortuguese forays along the West African coast opened up new avenues for trade between Europe and West Africa. By the early 16th century, European trading bases, thefactories established on the coast since 1445, and trade with Europeans became of prime importance to West Africa.[vague] North Africa had declined in both political and economic importance, while the Saharan crossing remained long and treacherous. However, the major blow to trans-Saharan trade was theBattle of Tondibi of 1591–92. In a majormilitary expedition organized by theSaadian sultanAhmad al-Mansur, Morocco sent troops across the Sahara and attacked Timbuktu, Gao and some other important trading centres, destroying buildings and property and exiling prominent citizens. This disruption to trade led to a dramatic decline in the importance of these cities and the resulting animosity reduced trade considerably.
Although much reduced, trans-Saharan trade continued. But trade routes to the West African coast became increasingly easy, particularly after theFrench invasion of the Sahel in the 1890s and subsequent construction of railways to the interior. A railway line fromDakar toAlgiers via the Niger bend was planned but never constructed. With the independence of nations in the region in the 1960s, the north–south routes were severed by national boundaries. National governments were hostile toTuareg nationalism and so made few efforts to maintain or support trans-Saharan trade, and theTuareg rebellion of the 1990s andAlgerian Civil War further disrupted these routes, closing many.
Traditional caravan routes are largely void of camels, but the shorterAzalai routes fromAgadez toBilma andTimbuktu toTaoudenni are still regularly—if lightly—used. Some members of the Tuareg still use the traditional trade routes, often traveling 2,400 km (1,500 mi) and six months out of every year by camel across the Sahara trading in salt carried from the desert interior to communities on the desert edges.[35]
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TheAfrican Union andAfrican Development Bank support theTrans-Sahara Highway fromAlgiers toLagos viaTamanrasset, to stimulate economic development, and the latter noted an increase in traffic at the border with Chad due to exports to Algeria crossing Niger.[36] The route is paved except for a 120 mi (200 km) section in northern Niger, but border restrictions still hamper traffic. Only a fewtrucks carry trans-Saharan trade, particularlyfuel and salt. Three other highways across the Sahara are proposed: for further details seeTrans-African Highways. Building the highways is difficult because of sandstorms.
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