Reflect the extent of trans-saharan trade network
INTRODUCTION
Trade across the Sahara goes back at least one thousand years before the beginning of our period- perhaps many thousands of years. People often speak and write of ‘Africa South of the Sahara’ as if the Sahara was a frontier that divided Africa. On the contrary, the Sahara, at all periods, has provided highways for Africans to cross; it is more of a bridge than a barrier, even though there is a sharp drop both in altitude and life-supporting conditions from the Atlas into the Sahara desert itself, which is one of the most arid and least hospitable climates on earth.
Trans-Sahara trade refer to the trade between North Africa and Western Sudan across the Sahara desert. The trade requires travel across the Sahara to reach Sub-Saharan Africa from the North Africa Coast, Europe or the Levant. While the trade existed from pre-historic times, the peak of the trade extended from the eighth century until the late sixteenth century. Although there were relatively few necessities of life which the early West African descent groups could not provide for themselves in their own environment, a significant exception was salt which could not be easily obtained except by the peoples living near the sea. The Saharan salt mines were controlled by the Berbers of North Africa who in turn were willing to trade salt for West African Gold which was in high demand in the Magrib. This early trade in salt and Gold was to serve as the foundation for a more elaborate and flourishing trade between the two regions that was to have far reaching effects on the political and social histories of the people who inhabited the two regions. Moreover, the notion that Africans have been nothing but passive objects in their encounter with other civilizations, ‘’having no interest to explore the world outside their own home village,’’ is both oversimplified and fallacious. The establishment and success of regular Trans-Sahara trade for instance, was not possible without the active
Trade across the Sahara goes back at least one thousand years before the beginning of our period- perhaps many thousands of years. People often speak and write of ‘Africa South of the Sahara’ as if the Sahara was a frontier that divided Africa. On the contrary, the Sahara, at all periods, has provided highways for Africans to cross; it is more of a bridge than a barrier, even though there is a sharp drop both in altitude and life-supporting conditions from the Atlas into the Sahara desert itself, which is one of the most arid and least hospitable climates on earth.
Trans-Sahara trade refer to the trade between North Africa and Western Sudan across the Sahara desert. The trade requires travel across the Sahara to reach Sub-Saharan Africa from the North Africa Coast, Europe or the Levant. While the trade existed from pre-historic times, the peak of the trade extended from the eighth century until the late sixteenth century. Although there were relatively few necessities of life which the early West African descent groups could not provide for themselves in their own environment, a significant exception was salt which could not be easily obtained except by the peoples living near the sea. The Saharan salt mines were controlled by the Berbers of North Africa who in turn were willing to trade salt for West African Gold which was in high demand in the Magrib. This early trade in salt and Gold was to serve as the foundation for a more elaborate and flourishing trade between the two regions that was to have far reaching effects on the political and social histories of the people who inhabited the two regions. Moreover, the notion that Africans have been nothing but passive objects in their encounter with other civilizations, ‘’having no interest to explore the world outside their own home village,’’ is both oversimplified and fallacious. The establishment and success of regular Trans-Sahara trade for instance, was not possible without the active
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