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Tea Horse Route (Made by Santiago Navarro

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Tea Horse Route (Made by Santiago Navarro

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The Tea Horse Route has 2 names, The Ancient Tea-Horse Route, and the Tea and Horse Caravan Trail. The route is as much a historical concept as a physical entity. It began around the 7th century but peaked between the late 1600s and mid-20th century. The trade route connected China, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. The name shows the importance in the trade of tea and horses. The Tea Horse Route served as a corridor for migration and a channel for communication.

What goods were traded along this route?  The goods traded on this route include tea, horses, sugar, salt, silk, wool, gold, silver, and many more common items.

What ideas were traded along this route?  Ideas traded on the Tea Horse Route include Religious Instruction, Languages, and Cultural Richness.

Who benefitted from this trade? The Tea Horse route was appreciated by towns and cities, Tea farmers since one of the main things traded was tea, and the Chinese Army that needed horses to continue their military campaigns.

Who was harmed by this trade? Tea Porters because they had to carry heavy loads while going through the route, and the route itself because people began building highways that caused endangerment in the route.

What maritime or land-based empires influenced or contributed to this trade? How did they impact the trade? The Qing Dynasty, Han, Tang, Song, and other dynasties contributed to the Tea Horse Route.

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The Roman Via Salaria, the Salt Route. As the name suggests, it was a routee used to transport salt, an essential and desired commodity not only at the time but also today. The Salt Route connected many empires many of which controlled the trans-Saharan the important and utilised section of the routes. 

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What goods were traded along this route?

The salt road primarily functioned to move salt, an important product used in food preservation and part of a Roman soldier's pay. Another exchange along the route was spices and other ingredients such as kola nuts, pepper, and sugar. These kola nuts were a crucial part of social and religious ceremonies in West Africa and carried caffeine. Pepper was the "Black Gold"; it was used for seasoning food. Sugar was uncommon and was used to sweeten food and medicine. The route traded in luxury goods used for their beauty and functionality aspects, including ivory and skins. The most chased commodity was gold, which was used as currency and a sign of lavishness. It also connected many empires and led to wealth down the route.

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The salt and gold trade in the Ghana Empire one of the most influential and contributors to the development of the salt route that existed between the 8th to 13th century.

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What ideas were traded along this route?

The salt route made trade in art and knowledge easier, influencing many cultures along its path. Other traded items included gold-embroidered things, saltcellars, and bell-making techniques in the 11th century. It was also an important route through which Islam was spread through immigrating traders and thus saw conversions among local populations. Besides, languages such as Arabic, Català, Dansk, Suomi, and Tamil were transferred due to traders and the transfer of soldiers and enslaved people. Overall, the route showed the effects of globalization by showing the sharing of ideas and practices.

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Mansa Musa, recognized as the world's wealthiest man ever, controlled the Mali Empire and led it to its success.

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Who benefitted from this trade?

The Salt Route connected many neighborhoods, cities, and nations, benefiting numerous empires, mainly the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires. The Ghana Empire's control over and taxing this trade allowed it to enjoy a well-protected life with minimal competition in gold and salt between 300-1100 AD. Gold and salt mines were plentiful, which enabled Mansa Musa, leader of the Mali Empire in the 13th century, to trade much and expand at an incredible rate. Mansa Musa was renowned as the world's richest man, famously traveling with a caravan of camels carrying vast amounts of gold. Afterward, the Songhai Empire extended its trade networks further, although it did not surpass the Mali Empire in profits.

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The Songhai empire that existed between the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak it was one the biggest African Empires to ever exist.

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Who was harmed by this trade?

While these empires benefited from the Salt Route, they were also harmed. The Mali Empire, under Mansa Musa, was overextended. it was too hard to rule, and thus, the empire was conquered by other powers. The Ghana Empire was heavily dependent on control of the trans-Saharan salt trade. When competitors reached dominance, it highly weakened the Ghana empire, and the fall of the empire followed. In the same way, the rapid expansion of the Songhai Empire led to ineffective government control and was a contributing factor to its fall.

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The Mali Empire was in West Africa from c. 1226 to 1670. Further, the empire was created by Sundiata Keita. However, it only became renowned in the control of Mansa Musa. 

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What maritime or land-based empires influenced or contributed to this trade? How did they impact the trade?

The Mali Empire, under Mansa Musa, is exemplary of the more influential empires dealing in the salt trade. Mansa Musa possessed so much gold that, as a gift, this king distributed gold so freely that the price decreased for the following 12 years. The empire controlled and protected trans-Saharan trade routes, taxing them to establish a central trading power through dominance over rivals and key locations such as Timbuktu. The Mali Empire did this by taxing the trade to generate revenue, hence effectively organizing the exchange of goods. Its powerful armies also conquered key regions vital to the salt trade, reinforcing its dominance.