Regional study: trans-Saharan trade

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139059251.026

24 - Regional study: trans-Saharan trade

from Part II - Trans-regional and regional perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015

Ralph Austen

Edited by

Craig Benjamin

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Craig Benjamin: Affiliation:
Grand Valley State University, Michigan

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Summary

The Sahara Desert, became a major highway of trade along with political and cultural transformation by the eighth or ninth century CE through the introduction of Islamic camel caravans. The Sahara is the world's largest desert, covering some 3.5 million square miles of sand along with gravel, rocky plains, and plateaus. Urbanization and centralized state-building came late to this entire portion of Africa, in comparison with neighboring Mediterranean regions. The major attraction of Africa for these foreign ventures lay in the fertile regions near the coast, which produced significant quantities of wheat, olive oil, and wine for export. Sudanic goods have been purchased by Saharan peoples with their own products and then exchanged for Mediterranean commodities that never reached the Sudan. Widespread camel usage in North Africa was established by the early centuries CE yet was soon followed by a decline in Roman rule as well as general social order throughout the region.

Keywords

East Asian cultural zone Northern Wei dynasty Buddhism Bronze Age China Xianbei bands southwestern Manchuria Shang court

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge World History , pp. 662 - 686

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139059251.026 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2015

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