ECO 110 NOTE FROM THE PDF
TRANS – SAHARAN TRADE
The first regular foreign contact with Nigeria was with North Africa. By the use of camels,
caravan routes were developed across the Sahara between West and North Africa, and for a long
period these routes were the only ways to and from West Africa and the outside World.
Trade across the Sahara Desert is known to be considerable antiquity. The trade is at least 2,000
years old. Indeed, it has been suggested that the Carthaginians crossed the desert and discovered
West Africa many countries before Christ, and that they established commercial contacts on the
coast, exchanging their manufactures by means of a process of barter called dummy trade.
Tran-Saharan Trade bridged the Sahara, the Sahara Desert become one of the Word’s most
formidable barriers to human intercourse. By the 19th Century, therefore the trade across the
Sahara had been on for Several centuries. The Sahara region was originally crossed with carts
drawn by Oxen and horses. Later, the Romans introduced the Camel, and this turned out to
become easily the most important development in the Trans-Saharan Trade.
Over the centuries, Trans-Saharan trade had been conducted along well-known major
routes, some of which flourished and then waned as a result of political vicissitudes in the Sudan
and Security situations in the Sahara. The Caravan routes known to exist around 17 th and 18th
centuries were grouped into three; Taghaza – Timbuktu, Ghadames – Air route – Kano and in the
Fezzan – Bornu route. On each of these routes, which were interconnected were long waterless
stages which heavily laden camel Caravans had to pass at great part. The journey across the Sahara
used to take between two to twelve months depending on the distance to be covered, the incidence
of animal diseases, cases for water supply and favourable weather conditions. Many of the early
Caravan routes were abandoned through the failure of wells and pasture which were necessary to
sustain the herders and their camels in the course of their journeys. Nothing illustrates the dangers
and ravages of the Trans-Saharan traffic more than the hundreds of skeletons littered the routes.
ORGANISATION OF THE TRADE
The Trans-Saharan trade was organized in a way that took account of the dangers of desert
crossing while at the same time enhancing the efficiency of the distributive system. There were
four principal staging points on the routes. Going from North to South, the first set were located
on the Barberry Coast on the North African Coast and included Mogador, Fez, Algiers, Tunis and
Tripoli. Tunis and Tripoli were the routes from northern Nigeria to the Mediterranean coastal
cities. Merchandise from Europe and the middle East destined for the Sudan were assembled at
those parts. At the same time goods from the Sudan and the Sahara destined for Europe and the
middle East were off-loaded there and prepared for shipment. These centres harboured big-time
financiers, brokers and bulk traders. The entrepreneurs are mostly Arabs, Jews and Berbers.
The second staging point is the point of caravans heading South across the Sahara Desert.
At this centre, travellers could hire camels, guides and guards and raise loans with which to foot
their travels bills. The third staging stations were those found in the Sahara Desert. Some of these
stations usually had oases where Caravans replenished their provisions for food, water, and
camels. Ghat, Muzurk and Bilma on the route leading into Borno were examples of these stations.
The fourth station which is the Southern termini in Nigeria consists of routes such as Ngurno,
Kukawa, Kano and Sokoto. Caravans that crossed the Sahara ended their journey at these areas.
, A number of cities played significant roles in the Caravan trade, but Kano was the most
important town in the Caravan trade not only in Nigeria but also in the Sudan. Up to 18th Century,
Katsina had been the principal town on the Sudan route but the Jihad of 1804, which was followed
by wars between the Gobirawa and the Fulani rendered the western part of the Caliphate insured.
Insecurity drove out traders from Katsina to Kano.
In addition, the opening of the Caravan routes during the dry season always brought an inflow of
traders to Kano. It was also the centre of a rich agricultural district which produced adequate food
stuffs for its great population. Lastly, Kano owed part of its prosperity to the industry and skill of
its craftsmen, especially the Weavers, the Leather workers and the Dyers, the products of whom
attracted many traders from many parts of Africa.
TRADE COMMODITIES
The goods involved in the trade were mostly non-perishable. The most important items
going North were embroidered Cloths, Kolanuts, Leather goods, Gold and Slaves, which were
exchanged for Salt, Arab dresses, Cowries and a number of European goods such as Manchester
Cotton, French Silks, Glass beads from Venice, Paper, Mirrors, Needles and Guns.
The Arabs (merchants) became or acted effectively as middlemen in the exchange of the West
African products for European manufactures.
ATLANTIC TRADE
Trade between Nigeria and Europe across the Atlantic ocean goes back to the 15th Century.
With the passage of time, the trade expanded to include the Americans and Caribbeans. It was
pioneered by the Portuguese Voyagers in search for a sea route to India. By the 17th century, the
Nigerian experts had become to be dominated by slaves. This was sequel to the in satiable
European and American demand for labour in North and South America and the Caribbean
Islands, mainly for the production of Sugar, Cotton and Tobacco and for the mining of precious
minerals. Thus, the establishment of European plantations in the new world South and North
America led to the increase demand for African Slaves.
Slaves from West Africa and from Nigeria in particular had been sent to Europe. The
European nations started to build large ships and form trading companies to carry African slaves
to the new world. In the New world African slaves produced raw materials which were transported
to Europe and were converted into manufactured goods and sent back to Africa to be exchanged
for more slaves. This is known as the Triangular Slave Trade
HOW SLAVES WERE ACQUIRED
There were many methods of acquiring slaves in Nigeria and these methods varies from
place to place. However, some of these methods include; Kidnapping, Political Prisoners,
Relatives sold to redeem debts, Wars.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TRADE
, The European traders arrived on the coast of Nigeria. The Portuguese made contacts with
the Oba of Benin and proceeded to build ports. It was rare for a slave to be bought directly from
captor in the hinterland and sold to the Europeans at the coast by a single Nigeria Merchant. Slaves
passed from one middleman to the next until they reached the coast. In the Southern Nigeria, the
Aro traders were highly proficient in this exercise. They dominated the hinterland trade through
their various settlement in the area. They established Small settlements along the trade routes but
with larger settlements at strategic places along the routes.
At the coast, the slaves were exchanged for European goods like Umbrella, Shoes,
Perfumes, Clothes, Guns, Knives among other items. The Coastal chiefs or the Nigerian
middlemen sometimes dictated the terms of the trade, that is the goods they were ready to
exchange for their slaves, ivory or cloth. This was particularly true of Benin where the king
insisted on the Europeans buying other goods particularly Ivory and pepper in addition to slaves.
Sometimes European merchants provided presents before transactions could become serious and
meaningful. What is more, Europeans were restricted to the coast while the Africans controlled
the hinterland. The Europeans established trading posts at the coast and paid rent on them.
In addition, during the slave trade era, transactions between the Europeans and Nigerians
were on the basis of equality and mutual respect. Sometimes credit facilities were even provided.
But during the nineteenth century, this situation changed in favour of the Europeans, while the
trade transactions were going on, the slaves were left in a unhygienic and poorly ventilated
environment. Sometimes they spent several days in these barracoons waiting for the arrival of
slave ships.
The final stage was the shipment of slaves to America, a long and tortuous journey across
the middle passage in which people lost their lives. The Survivors were taken mainly to the
Caribbean, Brazil, North America, Mexico and Peru. Here, they were forced to work on
plantations which provided the raw materials (cotton, sugarcane, and tobacco) that fed the
manufacturing industries of Europe.
EFFECT OF THE TRADE
The trade began to provide opportunities for long distance trade. It was usual for slaves to
be purchased in distant regions, and they were then brought down by various middlemen before
finally being taken to the coast. They mechanism of long-distance trade involving preparation and
diplomacy was gradually established in the country Perhaps, equally important was the
establishment of trading contacts with the Europeans. The goods that were brought by the
Europeans were redistributed through the network of markets. In this way, the trade provided
additional goods for the already existing long-distance trade.
A merchant class grew up in Nigeria. Their business was to serve as middlemen. They
became very rich and powerful. They also owned exotic goods. Some communities benefitted
from the trade, for example, the Ijaw profited from the traffic. They increased their salt production
in order to provide currency for exchange with the interior contacts. The attraction of guns and
gun powder also led to greater economic incentives for the people.
As a result of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, new forms of political arrangement emerged.
For example, on the coast, new canoe houses developed. These were compact and well-organized
trading and fighting corporations. This means that the houses had two roles; the first was a
Military one – to provide mento fight in the army of the state. The second role was a commercial
TRANS – SAHARAN TRADE
The first regular foreign contact with Nigeria was with North Africa. By the use of camels,
caravan routes were developed across the Sahara between West and North Africa, and for a long
period these routes were the only ways to and from West Africa and the outside World.
Trade across the Sahara Desert is known to be considerable antiquity. The trade is at least 2,000
years old. Indeed, it has been suggested that the Carthaginians crossed the desert and discovered
West Africa many countries before Christ, and that they established commercial contacts on the
coast, exchanging their manufactures by means of a process of barter called dummy trade.
Tran-Saharan Trade bridged the Sahara, the Sahara Desert become one of the Word’s most
formidable barriers to human intercourse. By the 19th Century, therefore the trade across the
Sahara had been on for Several centuries. The Sahara region was originally crossed with carts
drawn by Oxen and horses. Later, the Romans introduced the Camel, and this turned out to
become easily the most important development in the Trans-Saharan Trade.
Over the centuries, Trans-Saharan trade had been conducted along well-known major
routes, some of which flourished and then waned as a result of political vicissitudes in the Sudan
and Security situations in the Sahara. The Caravan routes known to exist around 17 th and 18th
centuries were grouped into three; Taghaza – Timbuktu, Ghadames – Air route – Kano and in the
Fezzan – Bornu route. On each of these routes, which were interconnected were long waterless
stages which heavily laden camel Caravans had to pass at great part. The journey across the Sahara
used to take between two to twelve months depending on the distance to be covered, the incidence
of animal diseases, cases for water supply and favourable weather conditions. Many of the early
Caravan routes were abandoned through the failure of wells and pasture which were necessary to
sustain the herders and their camels in the course of their journeys. Nothing illustrates the dangers
and ravages of the Trans-Saharan traffic more than the hundreds of skeletons littered the routes.
ORGANISATION OF THE TRADE
The Trans-Saharan trade was organized in a way that took account of the dangers of desert
crossing while at the same time enhancing the efficiency of the distributive system. There were
four principal staging points on the routes. Going from North to South, the first set were located
on the Barberry Coast on the North African Coast and included Mogador, Fez, Algiers, Tunis and
Tripoli. Tunis and Tripoli were the routes from northern Nigeria to the Mediterranean coastal
cities. Merchandise from Europe and the middle East destined for the Sudan were assembled at
those parts. At the same time goods from the Sudan and the Sahara destined for Europe and the
middle East were off-loaded there and prepared for shipment. These centres harboured big-time
financiers, brokers and bulk traders. The entrepreneurs are mostly Arabs, Jews and Berbers.
The second staging point is the point of caravans heading South across the Sahara Desert.
At this centre, travellers could hire camels, guides and guards and raise loans with which to foot
their travels bills. The third staging stations were those found in the Sahara Desert. Some of these
stations usually had oases where Caravans replenished their provisions for food, water, and
camels. Ghat, Muzurk and Bilma on the route leading into Borno were examples of these stations.
The fourth station which is the Southern termini in Nigeria consists of routes such as Ngurno,
Kukawa, Kano and Sokoto. Caravans that crossed the Sahara ended their journey at these areas.
, A number of cities played significant roles in the Caravan trade, but Kano was the most
important town in the Caravan trade not only in Nigeria but also in the Sudan. Up to 18th Century,
Katsina had been the principal town on the Sudan route but the Jihad of 1804, which was followed
by wars between the Gobirawa and the Fulani rendered the western part of the Caliphate insured.
Insecurity drove out traders from Katsina to Kano.
In addition, the opening of the Caravan routes during the dry season always brought an inflow of
traders to Kano. It was also the centre of a rich agricultural district which produced adequate food
stuffs for its great population. Lastly, Kano owed part of its prosperity to the industry and skill of
its craftsmen, especially the Weavers, the Leather workers and the Dyers, the products of whom
attracted many traders from many parts of Africa.
TRADE COMMODITIES
The goods involved in the trade were mostly non-perishable. The most important items
going North were embroidered Cloths, Kolanuts, Leather goods, Gold and Slaves, which were
exchanged for Salt, Arab dresses, Cowries and a number of European goods such as Manchester
Cotton, French Silks, Glass beads from Venice, Paper, Mirrors, Needles and Guns.
The Arabs (merchants) became or acted effectively as middlemen in the exchange of the West
African products for European manufactures.
ATLANTIC TRADE
Trade between Nigeria and Europe across the Atlantic ocean goes back to the 15th Century.
With the passage of time, the trade expanded to include the Americans and Caribbeans. It was
pioneered by the Portuguese Voyagers in search for a sea route to India. By the 17th century, the
Nigerian experts had become to be dominated by slaves. This was sequel to the in satiable
European and American demand for labour in North and South America and the Caribbean
Islands, mainly for the production of Sugar, Cotton and Tobacco and for the mining of precious
minerals. Thus, the establishment of European plantations in the new world South and North
America led to the increase demand for African Slaves.
Slaves from West Africa and from Nigeria in particular had been sent to Europe. The
European nations started to build large ships and form trading companies to carry African slaves
to the new world. In the New world African slaves produced raw materials which were transported
to Europe and were converted into manufactured goods and sent back to Africa to be exchanged
for more slaves. This is known as the Triangular Slave Trade
HOW SLAVES WERE ACQUIRED
There were many methods of acquiring slaves in Nigeria and these methods varies from
place to place. However, some of these methods include; Kidnapping, Political Prisoners,
Relatives sold to redeem debts, Wars.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TRADE
, The European traders arrived on the coast of Nigeria. The Portuguese made contacts with
the Oba of Benin and proceeded to build ports. It was rare for a slave to be bought directly from
captor in the hinterland and sold to the Europeans at the coast by a single Nigeria Merchant. Slaves
passed from one middleman to the next until they reached the coast. In the Southern Nigeria, the
Aro traders were highly proficient in this exercise. They dominated the hinterland trade through
their various settlement in the area. They established Small settlements along the trade routes but
with larger settlements at strategic places along the routes.
At the coast, the slaves were exchanged for European goods like Umbrella, Shoes,
Perfumes, Clothes, Guns, Knives among other items. The Coastal chiefs or the Nigerian
middlemen sometimes dictated the terms of the trade, that is the goods they were ready to
exchange for their slaves, ivory or cloth. This was particularly true of Benin where the king
insisted on the Europeans buying other goods particularly Ivory and pepper in addition to slaves.
Sometimes European merchants provided presents before transactions could become serious and
meaningful. What is more, Europeans were restricted to the coast while the Africans controlled
the hinterland. The Europeans established trading posts at the coast and paid rent on them.
In addition, during the slave trade era, transactions between the Europeans and Nigerians
were on the basis of equality and mutual respect. Sometimes credit facilities were even provided.
But during the nineteenth century, this situation changed in favour of the Europeans, while the
trade transactions were going on, the slaves were left in a unhygienic and poorly ventilated
environment. Sometimes they spent several days in these barracoons waiting for the arrival of
slave ships.
The final stage was the shipment of slaves to America, a long and tortuous journey across
the middle passage in which people lost their lives. The Survivors were taken mainly to the
Caribbean, Brazil, North America, Mexico and Peru. Here, they were forced to work on
plantations which provided the raw materials (cotton, sugarcane, and tobacco) that fed the
manufacturing industries of Europe.
EFFECT OF THE TRADE
The trade began to provide opportunities for long distance trade. It was usual for slaves to
be purchased in distant regions, and they were then brought down by various middlemen before
finally being taken to the coast. They mechanism of long-distance trade involving preparation and
diplomacy was gradually established in the country Perhaps, equally important was the
establishment of trading contacts with the Europeans. The goods that were brought by the
Europeans were redistributed through the network of markets. In this way, the trade provided
additional goods for the already existing long-distance trade.
A merchant class grew up in Nigeria. Their business was to serve as middlemen. They
became very rich and powerful. They also owned exotic goods. Some communities benefitted
from the trade, for example, the Ijaw profited from the traffic. They increased their salt production
in order to provide currency for exchange with the interior contacts. The attraction of guns and
gun powder also led to greater economic incentives for the people.
As a result of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, new forms of political arrangement emerged.
For example, on the coast, new canoe houses developed. These were compact and well-organized
trading and fighting corporations. This means that the houses had two roles; the first was a
Military one – to provide mento fight in the army of the state. The second role was a commercial
