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What Were The Benefits Of The Trans-Saharan Trade

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The Trans-Saharan trade remained a constant source of wealth and ultimately enabled the spread of ideas, thus strengthening the West African kingdoms. The route was established by the Berbers, a group of caravan traders who created a network of routes through the region from 700 to 900 CE.The kingdom of Mali’s primary export was gold, which was frequently traded across the Mediterranean. Using this popular commodity, Mali imposed a tax on gold trade, which allowed the empire to increase its wealth through the income that the tax produced. (Hamilton 4). This income was then greatly invested in Mali’s army, creating a stronger military force and making Mali a more strong and powerful kingdom. The subsequent empire of Songhai gained its wealth …show more content…

Slaves were also used within the kingdom itself, for labour in areas such as agriculture and mining. They were a substantial part of Songhai’s workforce, providing many benefits for the kingdom. This included the production of more resources for both citizens, as well as products to trade with other kingdoms, which created an abundance of wealth for Songhai. Both these usages allowed for the kingdom to prosper and become more powerful as their massive income allowed the empire to strengthen and become more powerful and wealthy. The Trans-Saharan Trade not only brought wealth to both Mali and Songhai, but also enabled the spread of ideas through the book trade. This allowed for different ideas such as astronomy and mathematics to be shared amongst scholars all over the region (“The Road” 00:48:09-49:23). The ideas that were contained in the books were spread through the Trans-Saharan Trade, which allowed for different subjects and discoveries to be distributed, thus spreading those ideas to many different people. The Trans-Saharan Trade created a continual income for the West African Kingdoms and assisted the spread of ideas across the

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