The History of the Sahara Trade

 

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. Far from it. The sahara at all periods, has provided highways for Africans to cross; it is more of a than a barrier. Those who separate Africa north and south of the sahara as if they were two distinct entities make stupid of history.

A series of none engravings (which seem to represent chariots) have been traced out along a curve leading from southern Morocco to the middle Niger near Tunbuktu. This curve marks the western trade routes across the desert. Farther east there was another route from the Lake Chad region northward through the Fezzan to near the modern Tripoli. There may have been other routes too.

Until the camel was introduced into north western Africa (during the period of the Roman empire), the volume of Trans-sahara trade cannot have been large. It has been suggested that until then cattle must have been used to drag loads across the desert from one oasis to the next, for horses would not be able to stand such work. The main article exported into the Roman empire across the sahara was probably precious stones. The Roman had other sources of Gold (which was later to become the main export commodity), and of slaves (Britain, for instance)

The great development of the Trans-saharan trade of Western Sudan began after the muslim arab invasion of North africa of the seventh century. By this time camel transport had made the desert crossing easier and increased the freight load that trading caravans could bring.