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Songhai Trade Network
The Songhai trade network was an economic exchange system centered on Gao in the middle Niger River, linking Sahel overland routes with river transpo…
Timeline
- c. 900–1050Gao · MaliThe Songhai established the settlement of Gao at the bend of the Niger River, using river transport to connect the upstream forest zone with the downstream Sahel, forming an intermediary trade in salt, dried fish, grain, and gold, subject to the suzerainty of the Ghana Empire.
- c. 1101–1110Gao · MaliAs the Ghana Empire declined, Songhai rulers of Gao expanded their intermediary control over river transport taxes and cross-ethnic caravans; the trade network linked north to trans-Saharan routes and south to Mande and Yoruba regions, increasing political independence.
- c. 1464–1591Gao · MaliSunni Ali and the Askiya dynasty incorporated the existing trade network into the imperial administrative system, appointing port and trade-tax officials; Gao and Timbuktu formed a twin-core imperial trade system linking river and overland transport.
Sources
- Songhay, Bornu and Hausaland in the Sixteenth Century — Nehemia Levtzion (1977)
- Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History — N. Levtzion; J. F. P. Hopkins (1981)