Decline of Trans-Saharan Trade (1600s)

Timeline

1. 1601–1605West African Atlantic coast · West AfricaPortuguese, Dutch, and British merchants expanded coastal trade in the Gulf of Guinea and the Senegal River estuary; gold, ivory, and slaves were shipped by sea to the Americas and Europe, some of which had previously been carried north via trans-Saharan routes, causing a decline in inland caravan freight volumes.
2. 1606–1610Timbuktu · MaliTimbuktu, Gao, and other traditional trading cities still maintained some trade, but revenues from the salt–gold trade routes were squeezed by coastal competition and political turmoil. By the end of the 1600s, the scale and frequency of long-distance trans-Saharan caravans had shrunk markedly from their 16th-century peak, foreshadowing further decline in the 17th–18th centuries.