Trans-Saharan Caravans

Timeline

1. 1671–1674Timbuktu to Tripoli route · North AfricaIn the early 1670s, the main trans-Saharan caravan route from Timbuktu northward across the Sahara to North African coastal cities still operated at high frequency, with several large caravans completing round trips each year; camel trains could number in the hundreds or even thousands, and oasis cities along the way supplied water and provisions.
2. 1674–1678Central Saharan oasis nodes · North AfricaCaravans carried North African salt, cloth, and metal goods southward, and returned north with West African gold and ivory; oasis cities such as Ghadames and Agadez served as important relay nodes, providing water, supplies, and markets, while also forming a key link in the slave trade.
3. 1678–1680Islamic trade sphere from North Africa to West Africa · West AfricaTrans-Saharan caravans were not merely carriers of goods but also channels for the spread of Islamic culture and scholarship; caravan leaders were mostly Muslim merchants who maintained complex political and tributary relationships with the Sahelian states and Ottoman North African provinces, sustaining a wide network of cross-cultural connections.