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CAMELS WERE VITAL TO THE WEALTH OF MANY WEST-AFRICAN KINGDOMS

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CAMELS WERE VITAL TO THE WEALTH OF MANY WEST-AFRICAN KINGDOMS

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Thank you for your service!

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-Trans-Saharan trade was an old practice that dated back to 400 B.C.E
-Challenging trade route due to the heat and dryness
-All changed when the camel was introduced because
->It can hold enough water to travel for many days
->Could see through sandstorms with their double row eyelashes
-A lot of gold was being transported from West to North Africa for the production of gold coins
-Spread of Islam into West Africa sped up trade with more merchants settling there than ever
-Ghana was able to tax almost all trans-Saharan trade due to their positioning and expanded into a wealthy kingdom
-Major West African Exports included salt and copper as well as luxury items like horses, books, and steel weapons

This picture shows how traders would have got through the Sahara desert 2,000 years ago.

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-It was a very long journey starting at the northwestern border of the Sahara and passed through Ghana and ended near modern-day Chad
-Ibn Battuta, a historian from the 1300s went on a 2-month journey across the Sahara like a trader
->Travelled on a caravan from oasis to oasis and walked until the sun was high and restarted walking at sunset
->Many traders lost their way and died or could not find water and killed camels for the water in their stomachs
->Stopped at Taghaza to get salt to transfer to porters at the edge of the desert before finally arriving at the markets near the Gulf of New Guinea
-After the French invasion of the Sahel, many railways and water routes were created to get across or around the Sahara - was more efficient for trade because it was days compared to months of travel

This map shows the various trade routes used by trans-Saharan traders.

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This video has a good explanation of how trans-Saharan trade worked.

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-Traders were forced to pay taxes both ways when entering and exiting
->Each salt load coming into the kingdom equaled 1/6oz gold in taxes and each load going out was taxed 1/3oz gold
->A load of copper was taxed 5/8oz gold
->General products were usually taxed about one ounce
-Due to Ghana's positioning near the edge of the Sahara, perfect for trans-Saharan trade, helped the kingdom grow rich
-Armies hired by the rich treasury benefitted traders by helping them stay safe from bandits on secure trade routes
-Ghana's neighbors soon got jealous of its power and an attack was launched in the mid-11th century by a group called the Almoravids

Ounces of gold, as shown below, were exchanged for secure trade routes.

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- Gold was in much demand from the Muslims to trade with China for gold and silks
-Wangara was a secret area in the forests south of Ghana
-Wangarans would lose their lives in order to not reveal the secret land which is still unknown today
-Tales have said that Wangarans even stopped trading for three
years after they thought their secret was discovered

This is what the land near Wangara may have looked like.

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-Salt was worth more than gold in West Africa
->It was a vital part of a human diet
->External salt was needed as salt is lost when animals or people sweat
->Helped keep food fresh for longer and added a new dimension of taste
->Produced only through slow evaporation or mining
-Taghaza was a perfect salt mine because salt deposits were found 3 feet under the ground - making it easier to mine
-Their economy was entirely built upon salt because no crops could grow there
-They had to travel in caravans to sell their salt in Ghana and bring back various food items
-It was first mentioned as Taghara by geographer Al Qazwini
->He was amazed that the buildings were all made of salt

This shows how slave salt miners would have taken out salt from the mines.