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Trans-Saharan Gold Trade

Type Object Region West Africa Time 800–1500

A long-term trade system moving gold north from West African goldfields via Saharan routes and salt and North African goods south, known as the 'gold…

Timeline

  1. 1200–1230Wangara–Gao trade route · GaoAs the Ghana Empire declined, control of goldfields shifted to Mande polities; caravans still carried gold north along routes via the Taghaza salt mines and the Niger River bend, with Arab and Berber merchants of the Sahara dominating the relay trade.
  2. 1231–1240Bure–Timbuktu–North Africa trade route · MaliAfter Sundiata's unification, the Mansa of Mali levied shares on goldfields and regulated caravan passage; gold was carried north through Timbuktu and Gao to North African markets such as Fez and Tunis, while salt slabs and cloth moved south, forming the core circulation of imperial finance and the trans-Saharan network.

Sources