Sub- Saharan Trade Routes

Trade conducted, technologies used and/or developed

Camel saddles were good for riding and tying down baggage to the wooden arches at its front; however, the saddles were militarily not suitable because the rider knelt on the cushion behind the camel's hump, making weapon use challenging.

The lightest and most adequate saddles came from the Sub- Sahara, where personal travel and warfare were more important than trade.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Arab merchants in southern Morraco brought gold from the Berbers to finance more caravans crossing the Sahara desert. These annual trade caravans followed routes described by Arabic authors.

Who Traded..

Eastern and Northern European kingdoms traded with Gali, Ghana, and Songhai

Muslim traders from north Africa crossed Saharan desert on large camel caravans.

Nomads located in Saharan desert.

Governmental entity controlling trade route

Starting by the eighth century C.E., Moracco had assumed a prominent role over the sub- Saharan trade route. In addition, emerging cities took a new found interest in the trade route, such as Almoravitds.

Moroccan conquest of the Songhay empire contributed to the disruption of the traditional trade routes. By the eighteenth century, Morocco's control over the southern Saharan provinces weakened. Soon after the French and Spanish occupation of the Saharan area dealt the final blow to the weakened Moroccan hold on the trade routes.

Difficulties or Problems

Some of the difficulties that the sub- Saharan trade route included were invasions from outsiders such as nomads, and other kingdoms. The journey through the Saharan desert was long, it usually lasted about 90 days traveling through it with camels.

The arrival of Mansa Musa in Cairo carrying tons of metal caused the gold market to crash.

The flow of gold on the trade route was a very small and slow stream. This is a problem because if it is a small stream this will restrict how quickly the people may be able to retrieve gold.

Location

In sub- Sahara Africa and parts of southern Africa but mainly in the Sahara.

Spreading of goods and ideas

Origins

Muslim traders crossing the Saharan desert traded items such as textiles, silks, beads, ceramics, ornamental weapons and utensils in exchange for gold, ivory, ebony, and kola nuts which contained caffeine. Muslim traders also brought and spread their Islamic religion.

Saharan Nomads exchanged salt and meat as well as knowledge in guides for cloth making, gold, and slaves.

Connection to the European and Mediterranean world

The sub- Saharan trade route was started in 300 B.C.E. to 1,100 C.E.

Arose within the region and took the form of folk migration.

In the fifteenth century, the arrival of Europeans shifted much of the sub- Saharan trade to the Atlantic.

Mali, Ghana and Songhay traded among other African and Eastern and Northern European empires. This spread of culture and tradition allowed European ideas and philosophies to spread to African empires.

In the seventh to eleveenth centuries, trade linked the Mediterranean economies in need of gold, to the gold abundant colonies of sub- Sahara. In turn, Mediterranean traders provided salt to the sub- Saharan economy.

Themes continued again..

Themes continued..

Significance of the sub- Sahara trade route

Themes

The sub- Sahara trade route was influenced by the supply and demand for gold and coinage.

Areas to the north and south of the Sahara became very important because of goods, traded and produced. During the time span of the trade routes, kingdoms in the areas such as Mali and Ghana, arose with extreme wealth.

Control of these trade routes fueled the great Ghana empires of West Africa.

8. Agricultural and pastoral production- The vast diversity in sub- Saharan Africa constitutes diversity in food production systems in the region. Hunting and gathering is carried out differently by the people's living in the equatorial forest than those of the southwestern desert. Pastoral societies display less diversity across the Sahel and Savanna.

9. State building, expansion, and conflict- 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.

10. Regional, trans- regional, and global structures- The earliest coastal communities of the Swahili coast practiced iron working and were largely subsistence farmers and fishers. Between 500 and 800 AD, they shifted to a sea- based trading economy and began to migrate south by ship.

5. Patterns of settlement- Proto- Bantu speaking peoples migrated from their core region near modern day Cameroon. They migrated south through the great forests. They split off into two groups. One moved down the west side of the continent, and the other crossed the Sahel and continued down the east side. This may explain the origin and similarity of the Bantu's language and modern languages spoken in those regions today.

6. Labor systems-basketry, pottery, weaving, and woodcarving were common occupations among the people residing in the Congo region. Hunters, sculptors and boat builders put an economic value on skills and created a market for labor.

7. Social and economic classes- Environment determined the success of economies based mainly on livestock. Those who possessed cattle in Bantu societies were seen as wealthy and held a high position in society. Cattle were used to establish connections and to redistribute wealth among kin.

1. Migrations- The sub- Saharan trade route began in the form of folk migration. Migrations and exchanges between these groups established enduring characteristics of African cultures.

2. Technology- The technology is not likely to have migrated due to the natural barrier of the Sahara desert, so it may have been developed independently.

3. Belief systems and philosophies- Sub- Saharan cal diversity was the result of many factors including the vastness of the African continent and the absence of convenient trade routes, various environmental regions, and natural barriers.

4. Trade and commerce- Linkage between the trading systems in the Sahara, one in the south and one in the north, formed slowly. Each received the products that they needed in their homelands from each other.

Works Cited

Sub- Saharan Trade Routes

"Morocco and Sub–Saharan Africa." New Encyclopedia of Africa.

Ed. John Middleton and Joseph C. Miller. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. 602-607. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

Department of AAOA. "The Trans-Saharan Gold Trade (7th–14th

century)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gold/hd_gold.htm (October 2000)

Bulliet, Richard W., et al. The Earth and Its People. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.

N.d. Google Image Result for Http://

camelphotos.com/Graphics/saddle26.jpg. Web. 24 Nov. 2014

Josiah Arterberry, Ashley Cagle, Trisdan Thompson