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Discuss the origin and the organization of Trans-Saharan trade

Discuss the origin and the organization of Trans-Saharan trade

Answers

Dana
The trade started before the Sahara desert dried up. Merchants were travelling between North Africa and West Africa using horse drawn chariots. Due to the increase in aridity, the trade decreased, but with the introduction of the camel from Asia during the last century BC, the trade revived. The period dating seventh century witnessed a great expansion in the trade. In the period from 1100 AD to 1500 AD, a flourishing trade was conducted between the western Sudan and North African states.
The Trans-Saharan trade was organized in the following ways:
Wealthy merchants financed the trade in two ways. Firstly, the merchants would gather commodities and commit to their employees who would organize caravans. Secondly, they would commit their merchandise as loans to their traders who would organize caravans. Caravans were made up of hundreds of people
The traders were guided by the Tuareg or Berber guides. They were expected to guide the caravans through the locations with the highest demand at the time
Traders engaged local agents. Local agents served as intermediaries. They acquired goods that were in demand in the north. They also maintained goods relations with the local rulers through gifts and tributes.
The traders used three primary trade routes and three secondary trade routes
Dana05 answered the question on May 23, 2019 at 09:44

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