Trans-Saharan Trade Network in the 1470s

Timeline

1. 1471–1475Taghaza · SaharaNorth African caravans mined salt at Taghaza and carried it south, exchanging it at Timbuktu, Gao, and elsewhere for gold from West African mines and kola nuts. Caravans traveled along fixed wells and oasis relay stations, and caravan leaders signed safe-conduct agreements with local sultans. In the 1470s, the salt–gold exchange remained the core mechanism of the trans-Saharan economy, supporting the prosperity of Sahel cities.
2. 1472–1478Gao · MaliIn the 1470s, the Askia dynasty consolidated control over the cities of the middle Niger, bringing Timbuktu and Gao into the empire's direct taxation system. Songhai rulers levied transit trade taxes and patronized Islamic scholars, using trade revenue to maintain the army and court. The empire's expansion meant more North African merchants needed Songhai permission to enter the southern-flank gold regions, deeply binding West African political centralization with commercial networks.
3. 1474–1480Fez · MoroccoAfter the Wattasid dynasty took power, merchants of Fez and Tunis continued to organize southbound caravans, but Portuguese maritime threats toward Ceuta and Tangier forced Morocco to strengthen coastal defenses, with some trade profits shifting to the Atlantic coast. By 1480, trans-Saharan trade was still prosperous, but North African regimes faced the dual pressure of overland trade taxes and competition from maritime routes; the pattern of West African gold flowing across the Sahara was about to be disrupted by early modern colonial trade.