What Was Traded On The Trans Saharan Trade Route
Camila Farah

The first known use of paper money in china is reported from the tang dynasty but it was during the song dynasty.
By 1400 the countries of west africa traded regularly with those on the north african coast and a complex network of trade routes and trunk roads linked up the two regions. The establishment of regular trade routes stimulated the development of various monetary systems in the western sudan which used cowrie shells from the maldive islands strips of cotton cloth minted gold dinars from north africa standard weights of gold dust kola nuts glass beads and salt as currency. The gupta empire traded with the han dynasty and roman empire through the trade routes of the tiber river and the silk road. Some of the most essential items traded along the route included gold and slaves.
The trans saharan trade route was one of africa s most essential trade routes as it linked various regions of the sahara. Gold slaves salt and cloth were traded along the route as were objects like ostrich. Camels were indispensable to the trade as they allowed the traders to cover long distances. They traded precious stones spices horses and copper.
Trans saharan trade was the transit of goods between sub saharan africa and the northern arab and european worlds. By the 11th century caravans composed of more than a thousand camels would carry goods across the sahara. The dutch arrived in 1621 followed by the english in 1660 when charles ii gave his brother james a monopoly to trade for gold in west africa. Trans saharan trade requires travel across the sahara between sub saharan africa and north africa while existing from prehistoric times the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century the sahara once had a very different environment in libya and algeria from at least 7000 bc there was pastoralism the herding of sheep goats large settlements and pottery.
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Goods included precious metals such as gold as well as slaves. The goods being traded along this route are simple. In fact the trans saharan trade routes were so famous that one of the aims of the portuguese voyages of discovery was to find the source of this golden trade of the moors. The earliest european presence in west africa was that of the portuguese who traded in slaves and gold with the ashante in what europeans called the gold coast now ghana.Source : pinterest.com















