Trans-Saharan Camel Trade Route

Timeline

1. c. 1300–1360Taghaza · TaghazaAfter the Mali Empire controlled the goldfields of the Volta and Niger river basins, fixed caravan routes formed along the Taghaza salt mines, the Volta hills, and Timbuktu; dromedaries carried salt blocks and cloth north and gold and slaves south.
2. 1360–1369Gao · GaoIn the 1360s the Mali court supervised caravans through the customs stations of Timbuktu and Gao; Arab and Berber merchants' camel caravans regularly crossed the Sahara, and gold flowed into Mediterranean markets via Fez and Tunis, with route trade a major source of imperial revenue.
3. c. 1370–1591Timbuktu · MaliIn the 15th century the Songhai Empire inherited control of the trade routes, and Timbuktu became a dual center of scholarship and commerce; after a Moroccan expedition in the late 16th century the traditional caravan pattern declined, but over centuries the trans-Saharan routes shaped the economic and cultural ties between West and North Africa.