Sand Roads
Technological Accomplishments
Agricultural Success
- Using camel caravan for transport
- Boats for carrying trade across rivers
- Great Sahara held large deposits of salt and sweet, nutritious Dates.
- Donkeys were used for short distances and Camels
for long distances
- North African coastal areas = cloth, glassware, weapons, books
- Sahara region = copper and salt
- Savanna grasslands = grain crops
- Sub-Saharan forests = tree crops and kola nuts
- Camels were a turning point in the trans-Saharan trade, which increased trade between the Mediterranean basin and Africa
Political
New states were created through the Trans Saharan Trade routes
- Central Sudan
- Ghana
- Mali
- Songhay
- Kanem
- Hausa
- All were monarchies
- All were rich
Religion
- Sufis, teachers of the Islam religion spread the word of Allah through the Sand Roads
- Islam and Hinduism clashed creating Sikhism
Interactions
- Islam soon became a dominant religion in West Africa
- Islam religion was open to trade
Several cultures interacted
- Romans
- The Sudan people (West Africa)
- Niger River civilization
- Arabs (North Africa)
Economic
- They sought to find gold which was found in abundance at the border areas of the grasslands and forests of West Africa
- Came to Africa for gold, ivory, kola nuts, slaves
- Given in return: salt, horses, cloth, weapons, tools
- The states of Sudanic Africa developed substantial urban/commercial centers
Tool
(probably used to collect grains)
Social
Arrangements
- With the development of civilization, males slaves were used as officials, porters, craftsmen, miners
- Most slaves came as a result of raids on non-islamic and stateless societies farther south