What is this about?
Causes and effects of rising trade and cross-cultural contact in the Trans-Saharan trade
- Although empires on the East Coast of Africa such as the Swahili city states were thriving from Indian Ocean Trade, West African states weren’t as engaged in trade due to the harsh Saharan Desert
- However when empires such as Mali came about in the 1200s, commerce exploded
- Commerce primarily with Arab merchants
- Africans gave gold, ivory, slaves; Arab merchants gave salt, cloth, paper, horses
- Gold most valuable commodity on the Trans-Saharan trade routes
Trans-Saharan Trade
- Oases are places in a desert where water can be found
- This land is also fertile
Camels, Saddles, and Trade
- Muslim merchants traveled across the Sahara Desert on camels
- Camels were very well suited to the harsh environment of the Sahara Desert as they were used to living in the Arabian Desert
- Don’t need water for a long time
- Different types of camel saddles were also invented
- Northern Arabians invented saddle which put the rider higher in the air, useful in battle
- Southern Arabians invented saddle which made riding easier
- Saddle the Somalis in East Africa developed could carry loads up to 600 pounds!
- Most important saddle and without this the scale of the trans-Saharan trade would have been impossible
- Trans-Saharan trade brought great wealth to East African kingdoms, especially Ghana and Mali
- Trans-Saharan trade also caused the further expansion of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa
West African Empire Expansion
- By the 1100s wars with neighboring states permanently weakened and caused the fall of Ghana
- In its place rose Mali
Mali’s Riches
- Profited by taxing trade entering West Africa, most notably the gold trade
- Most of Mali’s citizens were farmers who ate rice and sorghum
- Cities of Timbuktu and Gao got very wealthy due to trans-Saharan trade and subsequently developed into centers of Muslim life
- Timbuktu in particular became a world-renowned center for Islamic learning and was home to several prominent Islamic universities, or madrasas.
Expanding Role of States
- Rising trade and wealth also created need to administer and maintain everything
- Rulers started to establish standardized currencies
- Rulers also conquered resource-rich areas with horses and iron weapons bought from tax revenue
Sundiata
- Also known as the “Lion Prince”, he was the founder of the Mali Empire
- Was a Muslim and used his faith to establish trade relationships with North African and Arab merchants
- Cultivated a thriving gold trade in Mali
- Under his rule, the wealth and prosperity of Mali grew tremendously
Mansan Musa
- Also ruled Mali Empire
- Best known for his religious leadership rather than his political or economic accomplishments
- Went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in early 1300s and went with an enormous caravan and tons of gold
- His pilgrimage showed off his and Mali’s wealth to the world
- After he returned from Mecca, he built a ton of Muslim schools and mosques in Timbuktu and other trading cities
- Under Mansan Musa, Islam became even more important in the culture of Mali and is still influenal today
Songhai Kingdom
- The rulers of Mali after Mansan Musa were ineffective and the empire started to decline
- By late 1400s the Songhai Kingdom had taken over and eventually became larger and richer than Mali
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