The connections of West Africa with the Mediterranean world is a very old one, which long predates the rise of Islam in the late 6th century CE. Several centuries before the rise of the Roman empire, the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484-425BCE) wrote of peoples in Africa. Herodotus wrote repeatedly of the peoples of the Nile Valley, stressing that many of them were black Africans, and suggesting connections with people further to the west. Rock art from this period, and later, suggests the
existence of wheeled chariots south of what is now the Sahara, and suggest a connection with the Mediterranean world.
It is important to know that the Sahara itself was not as harsh in ancient times as it is later and today. There are numerous rock paintings in the Sahara, some of which are 12,000 years old. A good example is Tassili n’Ajjer, north of Tamanrasset in the Algerian Sahara. It is one of the oldest examples of rock art in the Sahara. Another good example is the Tibesti massif in Chad, which also contains rock paintings from this period.These old images show now abandoned areas as fertile and full of animals that can no longer live in these desert areas, such as buffalo, elephants, rhinos and hippos. It is important to remember that this era of fertility in the Sahara coincided with the European Ice Age. The Ice Age was not a problem in Africa; it even seems to have been a time of plenty.
appears to be around 3000 BC. to be. The Sahara began to lose its charters more and more rapidly, but the close connections with the Mediterranean remained until later times. This is shown by the Carthaginian general Hannibal.Carthage was around 220 BC. BC an empire based in Libya [the most powerful empire in the Mediterranean until the rise of Rome]. Hannibal launched an attack on Roman forces in Europe, crossing the high Alps. Its military supplies were transported by elephants, namely African elephants, which were associated with sub-Saharan peoples and geographical areas.
Desertification is increasing and geographical boundaries are becoming more difficult to overcome. At the time of the rise of Islam, in the early 7th century AD [from ca. 610fl., with the establishment of the first caliphs around 610 AD] there were fewer connections. However, the development of powerful Islamic kingdoms in Morocco and centers of learning in Cairo, Tripoli and the Middle East led to an expansion of the caravan trade. In the 9th century AD, the Ghana [also known as Awkar] Empire was founded in the territory of modern-day Mauritania [the first historical evidence dates back to 830 AD]. approximately], with the capital Koumbi-Saleh [the trade route from Ghana passed through Western Sahara and ended in Sījīlmassa]. In the 10th century AD there were separate settlements for followers of African religions and followers of Islam in Koumbi-Saleh, suggesting that many traders came from North Africa. As early as 1000 AD, the gold trade spread and influenced trade and society in the Mediterranean region. For the first time, West African gold was minted for European markets.
It is important to understand how events in West Africa were linked to events in North Africa and even Europe in the 11th century. At this time a major change occurred, initiated by the Almoravid movement. They appear to be descended from Berber Muslims who migrated north of the Senegal River after the mid-11th century in search of a purer form of Islam.They conquered the Kingdom of Morocco, founded Marrakesh in 1062, and then advanced to Al-Andalus in southern Spain in the 1080s, where they defended the Caliphate of Cordoba against the Reconquista led by Spain’s Christian kings. By the 1030s, Córdoba had already split into a series of several mini-states in southern Spain, known as the Taifa states. In the 12th century they were conquered by the Almohads, also originally from Morocco, who overthrew the Almoravids in 1147.
In West Africa, the most significant changes occurred in Ghana. Muslims and followers of African religions lived there side by side until 1076, but in that year the Almoravids sacked the city and Ghana fell into decline. Mali was only founded in the 13th century.Since then, gold trade has become the main axis of trans-Saharan trade. Money was the reason for Arab traders’ early interest in West Africa, which they actually viewed as the “Land of Gold.” The influence of the trans-Saharan gold trade on European societies can be seen, for example, in the fact that in the 15th century the Spanish word for gold coin, maravedí, comes from the Almoravid murabit dinar.
The gold trade saw the rise of powerful empires such as Mali, Bono-Mansu and Songhay, the expansion of urban centers such as Kano and the rise of powerful trading classes such as the Wangara. With the spread of Islam and its use as an administrative script, Arabic became increasingly influential. When the Atlantic trade began in the 15th century, the trans-Saharan trade had already been flourishing for at least five centuries and had already shaped the rise, fall and consolidation of many West African states and societies.
Key factors of trade: environment, gold, horses and organization of the caravan trade
One of the main elements for creating business networks is geography. Trade generally involves exchanging products that are not available in one region for those that are needed in another region. For example, societies that live in forest producing areas can exchange them for salt from desert areas and grain from savannah areas. In return, savannah and desert populations can receive forest products. Therefore, in
the Sahara was an important factor in the formation of the social fabric of West Africa.
Where geographical barriers between different climates are large, the trade networks required to transport goods must be more complex. To be successful, companies must develop new ways to welcome foreign traders. Where the barrier is as large as the Sahara or the Atlantic Ocean, the social fabric is intertwined with these complex trade networks. This happened in West Africa with the trans-Saharan trade, and the social conditions that emerged with this trade subsequently influenced the development of early transatlantic trade. Therefore, it is difficult to understand the significance of the trans-Saharan trade without understanding its importance to society in terms of organization and beliefs.
There were two main gold mining areas in West Africa. One of them was in the upper reaches of the Senegal, more precisely on the Falémé tributary. The second took place in the forests of the Gold Coast. Proximity to a source of gold was of course a great political reward, and it is significant that stable political systems developed over centuries in the areas around Falémé and in the forests of the Côte de l’Est. In Falémé, it was the kingdom of Gajaaga [known to the French as
Galam] that enjoyed stable power for eight centuries [according to the Senegalese historian Abdoulaye Bathily].On the Gold Coast this occurred in a number of powerful Akan states, beginning with Bono-Mansu in the 14th century, followed by Denkyira and Akwamu in the 18th century, all based on the gold trade.
In Senegambia, the Falémé gold spring was located in a semi-arid area where the tsetse fly could not thrive [it later lay near the heart of the Bund Kingdom]. This encouraged the emergence of powerful cavalry forces, so one of the main products exchanged by North African traders in the trans-Saharan trade was their famous “Arabian” horses. Chivalry played an important role in state formation and military control in areas such as the Jolof Empire in northern Senegambia and, in
, Borno and Kano further east. In fact, one of the first areas of trans-Saharan trade imitated by Europeans was the horse trade, where horses were bred on the Cape Verde Islands and traded to the West African coast as early as 1470.
However, in Bono-Mansu, horses could not thrive due to the tsetse fly.This meant that the role of the chief gatekeepers was crucial to the smooth running of the gold trade. The gold was mined in forests a hundred miles north of the Atlantic coast and then transported north to the frontiers of trans-Saharan trade at Oualata [in present-day Mauritania], Timbuktu [in present-day Mali], Kano and N’ Gazarzamu in Borno.
These urban centers played a key role in organizing the entire trans-Saharan trade. They had to create a complex infrastructure to provide services for long-distance trade. By the 15th century, each of these cities had hotels for horses and traders, exchange offices through which animals returned for trade long distances to the Mediterranean, and markets where supplies needed for trade could be purchased: saddlery and other equipment for camels and horses. , huge reserves of grain (millet, rice
and couscous) to feed the slaves and traders who crossed the Sahara, skins for water, dried meat, etc.Some, like Timbuktu, also became centers of learning for the scholars who accompanied the caravans; In fact, Islam was increasingly linked to the success and transformation of the trans-Saharan trade.
Traders and Diasporas
Wangara were traders who specialized in connecting the various centers of trans-Saharan trade. In the 15th century, the Wangara formed a significant trading diaspora stretching from Gambia in the west to Borno in the east; They also had connections in the Mali Empire as far as Bono-Mansu and in some Akan states on the southern Atlantic coast of what is now Ghana.
As we have seen, Islam became closely linked to the trans-Saharan trade: all the North African traders who arrived with the caravans were Muslim and preferred to trade only with Muslims. The rise of the Almoravid movement in the 11th century and the fall of Ghana made it clear that rulers who converted to Islam would fare better in the face of the trans-Saharan pyre.
At the same time, Islam remained the religion of the nobility and the merchant class.This was not everyone’s opinion and some vehemently opposed it. Therefore, West African leaders who wanted to succeed in the trans-Saharan trade had to develop a complex strategy. On the one hand, they needed to be perceived as Muslims to attract trans-Saharan traders, but at the same time they also needed to be able to establish contact with their subjects, many of whom were not Muslims.
This commercial reality contributed to the emergence of what historians call a “plural society.” A pluralistic society can be defined as a society in which more than one religion is permitted and tolerated, in which people can mix across ethnic and religious boundaries, and in which the ability to respect more than one religion is an important element of the political and social life.This is evident in the oral histories of important rulers such as Sunjata Keita of Mali, many of which emphasize the place of musicians in the Malian court. The balafon was a royal instrument, as evidenced by its association with the oral accounts of the witch-king Sumanguru Kante, whom Sunjata defeated. Sumanguru was also considered the “King of the Blacksmiths,” in reference to the supernatural powers of blacksmiths and previous political regimes. In this way, Islamic rulers like Mali
also showed respect for African religions [and this may also explain why Mali’s political leaders told Cairo in the 1420s that it was impossible to convert gold producers to Islam].
The Wangara trade diaspora gradually gained importance and created a common culture in different regions of West Africa. Their arrival in Borno in the 15th century demonstrated how the pluralism of society, the spread of Islam as a scientific, religious and commercial religion, and the emergence of a growing number of global influences came together across much of West Africa.
Arabic, literacy and scientific production
One consequence of the growing trans-Saharan trade was the spread of Arabic as a written language in West Africa. Arabic has become the language of faith and religious knowledge not only thanks to the numerous Mallams, Sharifs and other seers who came to the region. It was also the language of government and law.The numerous manuscripts now housed in the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu testify to the spread of literacy in West Africa since ancient times, which certainly became more important in the 13th century.
The rulers of large West African empires such as Mali and Songhay apparently maintained existing indigenous power structures. However, they adopted Islamic bureaucratic, religious, scientific and legal forms to manage the new states and the complex international relations they developed through trade with the rest of the Islamic world. Taxes, laws and government functions developed in parallel with the educated class, which became essential to the functioning of the
countries of the Sahel.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, some desert clans were known for their knowledge and learning.In western regions such as Mauritania they were known as Zwāya and in the late 17th century they played an important role in the Islamic revival movement that spread in the 18th century. Desert clans such as the Masūfa also migrated from Māsina in central Mali to Timbuktu, bringing with them certain areas of study in Islamic law (fiqh). The high status of these scholars is demonstrated by the fact that the great Timbuktu scholar Ahmad Baba had a
scholar from Djenné in Niger as his chief sheikh or religious teacher. [Achmed Baba lived from 1556 to 1627 and wrote over 40 books during his life; has the reputation of being Timbuktu’s greatest scholar].
Some historians have examined the spread of the Arabic language through the spread of Arabic on tombstones.Brazilian historian PF de Moraes Farias has devoted his career to studying these epitaphs in cemeteries in Mauritania, Mali and Niger. He discovered a more holistic history of the Songhay, Tamasheq, Berber and Mandé peoples than traditional stories suggested. In addition to being the language of instruction for the elite, Arabic became the language that many people used to pay homage to their deceased family members.
An important feature of the rise of the Arabic language was the spread of North African scholars to educational centers such as Kano and Timbuktu. In fact, it was also an exchange, as scholars traveled from West African cities to further learn, study and preach. One of them was Al-Kānemī of Kanem-Borno, who lived and taught in Marrakesh around 1200 before dying in Andalusia, Spain. In the 14th century, annual caravans brought pilgrims from West Africa to North Africa and then to Mecca, and in Cairo there were
shelters that could only accommodate pilgrims from Borno; while Askia Mohammed, the ruler of Songhay c.In 1495, he created a garden and refuge for West African pilgrims in Medina [Islam’s holy city in Arabia] during his Hajj.
The frequency of this presence of West Africans in the wider Islamic world is evidenced not only by the spread of the Arabic language and the number of documented journeys, but also by oral traditions. For example,
One of the most important branches of Islam at this time was Souvis Islam. According to oral tradition, the founder of sovereign Islam, al-Hajj Sālim Suware, made seven pilgrimages to Mecca in the early 13th century. This is unlikely given the difficulty of the journey [and the Quran also requires Muslims to undertake the pilgrimage once in their life if possible as an obligation].However, history shows how normal these trips were and how often they occurred.
In the 15th century, the development of the gold trade was accompanied by an emphasis on science. The last 15th-century Sarki of Kano, Mohammed Rimfa, invited a large number of scholars to the city, and one of them – Sherif Abdu Rahman – came from Medina. Rahman brought his library and many learned students. The construction of the city walls of Kano and the establishment of the Kurmi market demonstrated how closely urban development, science and the development of trans-Saharan trade were linked.
This was also clearly visible in Timbuktu. Timbuktu had earned a reputation as a city of scholars, but during the reign of Sonni Ali (c. 1464-93) of Songhay, its scholars felt weakened and neglected. After Sonni Ali’s death, many Mallams in Timbuktu complained about his rule and his departure from orthodox Islam, as well as claiming that he had persecuted the Mallams. In the 16th century, successive Askiahs ruled, following a more orthodox Islamic path, and the city’s reputation as a center of learning reached its peak in
.However, this happened with the Moroccan invasion of Songhay in 1591 [after which many of his scholars dispersed westward to Mauritania; Therefore, many Islamic scholars in Mauritania see this place as the center of Islamic knowledge in the Sahel in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Mali and Mansa Musa
Mali was perhaps the most famous and influential kingdom related to the trans-Saharan trade. Mali was founded in the 13th century by Sunjata Keita, who defeated the blacksmith king Sumanguru Kante. However, in Mali, the ruler who gained worldwide fame during this time was Emperor Mansa Musa.
Mansa Kankan Musa Keita was the son of Mansa Aboubacarra II, the sailor who sent an expedition across the Atlantic from the Gambia River in the 14th century to discover new territories. His son Mansa Kankan Musa Keita, better known as Mansa Musa, ruled Mali from 1312 to 1337.His reign lasted only a quarter of a century, but the entire 13th century is still called the Century of Mansa Musa because of his lasting legacy.
This legacy is due more to his heroic deeds on the way to Mecca for pilgrimage in 1324-1325 than to the wars fought, won or lost. Apparently he did not want to perform Hajj because he was still an official Muslim, but when he accidentally killed his mother, he decided to perform Hajj to purify himself and atone for his crime. He took his entire court with him to Mecca, including doctors, princes, griots and an army of bodyguards of 8,000 men! He left the capital of Mali in
and crossed the Sahara via Walata, now Mauritania, then Libya before reaching Cairo.From Cairo he reached the holy city of Mecca.
This pilgrimage has economic, political and religious consequences.
From an economic point of view, Mansa Musa gave away so much gold on his journey to Mecca that he has since been called the richest man to ever live on this earth. It also strengthened trade links between Mali, the Middle East and Cairo, so that in 1325 caravans of over 10,000 camels crossed the Sahara into Mali at Gao and Timbuktu. From a religious perspective, Mansa Musa and his large entourage returned from Hajj with renewed Muslims who now wanted to strengthen and spread the religion widely.The new pilgrims quickly converted the Malian masses, who were largely animist at the time. Mali also opened up to more Arab scholars, attracted by Mansa Musa’s enormous wealth. These Arabs built large mosques and courtyards for Mansa Musa. He also brought with him great scholars who helped him build famous libraries in Gao, Jenné and Timbuktu. The Hajj has become one of the largest public relations exercises in the world!Politically, Mali gained great importance and Mansa Musa achieved international fame. His pilgrimage definitely put Mali on the map. In fact, before his death in 1337, Mansa Musa transformed Mali into a vast empire with over 400 cities, stretching from the Atlantic in the west to the forestlands in the south. All then known states such as Songhay, Ghana, Galam, Tekrur were part of Mali Mansa Musa. Mansa Musa actually gave Mali its fame, and Mali also gave Mansa Musa its fame!
Political Reorganization in the 15th Century: Bono-Mansu, Mossi, Kano and Songhay
The development of the trans-Saharan trade from the 10th to the 15th centuries led to profound changes throughout West Africa, as evidenced by the series of changes in the 15th century from west to east and from north to south. It is the political, economic and social changes in West Africa that will determine globalization and Europe’s role in it, and not the other way around.
The events in Nigeria are a good example of this. In Borno, the development of the Bono-Mansu gold trade led to the relocation of the capital from the old center of Kanem, further south, to Gazargamo (Ngazargamu) in Borno around 1470. A new system, the Sarauta system, was established in Kano.At the same time, a 10 meter deep dam known as “Eredos” built around Ijebu in Yoruba land was recently dated [by archaeologist Gérard Chouin] to 1370-1420.
Similar changes also occurred in other regions. The Dogon population of the Bandiagara Escarpment probably settled in Mali in the 15th century. At the same time, in the 15th century, the Mossi Kingdom expanded into what is now Burkina Faso, fueled by the profits that could be made through greater taxation of the gold trade. Al-Sa’dī describes Mossi’s attack on the city of Mâssina during this period.
In other words, across West Africa, from Borno to Fuuta Tooro, political changes were taking place long before trade with Europe began. Mining technology, economic change and political reorganization in West Africa have intensified. This helped create the framework within which European powers sought to expand their knowledge of the world when they began sailing along the coast of West Africa in the 15th century.
The most unusual example occurred in northern Nigeria. In the 15th century, Kano grew rapidly, sending military expeditions south and becoming a regional hub, connecting trade networks from southern Nigeria to modern-day Mali and beyond. [The Kano Chronicle provides some details of these changes.] During the reign of Sarkin Dauda of Kano (c. 1421-38) we learn of connections between Kano and Nupe Province.The main power between Kano and Nupe was Zaria, which conquered a huge area. The Chronicle of Kano states: “At this time Zaria, under the leadership of Queen Amina, conquered all the cities up to Kwararafa and Nupe. Every city paid homage to him. Sarkin Nupe sent there forty eunuchs and ten thousand kols…In time, all the products of the West were brought to the Hausa country [of which Kano was the capital].”
So, in the 15th century, as European power began to expand along the west coast of Africa, the influence of trans-Saharan trade reached its peak.The 15th century was a time not only of European expansion but also of global expansion of networks, trade and production, and the manifestation of this power in more complex states, in West Africa and beyond.
He formed and mobilised a vast army and ravaged through Fouta Jallon, Mali and Jollof to make Tekrur the unvanquished power in the region. Koli was crowned as Satigi or emperor over the vast lands now under the control of his Fula armies. His capital was at Gode, near the present-day Matam.
Koli is remembered in the Fouta Toro legends as the big chief of the Fula animist aristocracy who lived on war and slavery, catching especially of the Fula and Tukulor Muslims of his empire. No doubt then in 1776, the Muslims headed by Sulayman Bal revolted against Koli’s oppression to found the Muslim state of Fouta.It existed in modern Mali and Mauritania between the 5th and 13th centuries and was closely linked to the trans-Saharan trade. The Ghana Empire, with its capital Kumbi Salih in Mauritania, is not to be confused with modern Ghana, with its capital Accra named in his honor. The main inhabitants of Ghana were the Serahuli, also called Soninké, who belonged to the Mande-speaking people.
Ghana owes its progress, prosperity and influence to the strategic role it plays in the trans-Saharan trade. British historian Kevin Shillington was categorical: “…Ghana’s position on trade….this made it powerful and its leaders became rich…. “It is likely that trade has been an important factor in Ghana’s growth from the beginning.
Ghana lies halfway between the sources of two trans-Saharan trade goods: desert salt in the north and bamboo gold in the east. Ghana played an enviable intermediate role. The introduction of the camel as a means of transport in trade gave a huge boost to trade between Ghana and desert peoples such as the Berbers.
Ghana’s fame could not remain hidden just because it was well discovered and documented by the Arab traders who arrived there. As early as the 11th century, the Arab geographer al-Bakari visited the capital Kumbi Salih and described the fabulous wealth he saw there and the advanced administrative form of the ruler of Ghana.When the Almoravids went to war with other Berber tribes, the trade routes to Ghana became dangerous and trade suffered. The dry climate also affected Ghana’s ability to feed itself and its vast army. This significantly weakened the state. Furthermore, in the 12th century, vassals such as Mali began to rebel to free themselves from Ghana’s rule.
While Songhay
lasted from the 11th to 16th centuries. It gained importance through the trans-Saharan trade.From the 14th century, Muslim traders settled in Gao, Songhay’s main trading city. Gao became a center of trans-Saharan trade with Central and Eastern Sahara. The farmers and fishermen of Songhay ensured that the traders were well fed.
Songhay derived most of its revenue from taxes levied on trading caravans. One of the great emperors of Songhay was Muhamed Ture, also called Askia Muhamed, who introduced Islam to Songhay and expanded the reach of the empire.As Mansa Musa of Mali, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he showed how rich and powerful his kingdom was. Trans-Saharan trade contributed to Songhai’s wealth and prosperity.
It is worth noting that trans-Saharan trade continued to play an important role well into the 19th and 20th centuries, as evidenced by the continued trade and movement of people. The desert is a geographical barrier that requires a complex organization to overcome: those who crossed it laid the foundations of some of the most important countries in the world.
