← Explore on the interactive map
Ghana Empire gold trade
Around the 9th century, the Ghana Empire (in present-day Mauritania-Mali borderlands) became the core hub of the trans-Saharan trade network through …
Timeline
- 801–850Core territory of the Ghana Empire · SahelThe king of Ghana controlled the southern forest zones and riverine alluvial goldfields through vassal chieftains and caravan leaders, levying tribute and trade taxes on mining and circulation, establishing a stable gold supply mechanism.
- 850–900Trans-Saharan trade routes · trade routesBerber and Arab caravans traveled north along oasis routes, carrying gold to North African ports for onward shipment to the Mediterranean, while southbound caravans brought in salt from the Tademait salt mines and northern manufactured goods; trade route security was guaranteed by the imperial army.
- 850–900Koumbi Saleh · MauritaniaAccording to Arab writers such as al-Ya'qubi and al-Bakri, the capital was divided into a Muslim merchant quarter and a native royal district; markets flourished, gold was traded by weight, and the king of Ghana displayed his authority with gold ornaments, channeling vast quantities of West African gold into the Islamic world.
Sources
- Ancient Ghana and Mali — Nehemia Levtzion (1973)
- The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3: c. 1050—c. 1600 — J. F. Ade Ajayi (1977)