What was traded on the trans-Saharan trade route

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The Trans-Saharan Trade route is the THIRD major one of the Global Tapestry Period (1200-1450). It is the most overlooked and underrated. HOWEVER, you get so much from this trade route. Diasporic communities? Check. Camels with freaking saddles? Check. Astrolabes and other devices to navigate the stars in the biggest desert on the planet? Check. Ibn Battuta? Obvious check… Dude is everywhere. Mansa Musa and Lion Kings? Check. Defeaters of Mongols? (Mamluks) Check. Spread and syncretism of Islam? Check. It’s got everything. Unfortunately, it will be COMPLETELY overshadowed in the next period with ATLANTIC SYSTEM and the Europeans heading over into the Indian Ocean. So… Enjoy it while it lasts. THIS is the Trans-Atlantic Trade Route.

CLIP #1: MANSA MUSA & ISLAM IN AFRICA (from CRASH COURSE World History)

CLIP #2: WORLD’S TOUGHEST JOB: SALT MINER (These are modern day West African Salt miners and their routes to Timbuktu across the desert via camel caravans) (from NATGEO)

CLIP #3: TRANS-SAHARAN GOLD TRADE

1. The Epic of Sundiata, c. 1250, Griots (Oral tradition), (TIMBUKTU, MALI)2. A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling, (This is the section on his journey to Mali & Timbuktu) 1355 CE, Ibn Battuta (MOROCCO)3. The Book of Lessons (Kitab al-lbar), c. 1375, Ibn Khaldun (MAMLUK SULTANATE)4. Timbuktu Manuscripts, c. 1250 (TIMBUKTU, MALI)5. Tarikh al-Fattash, (West African Chronicle written in Arabic) c. 1650 (TIMBUKTU, MALI)

1. CATALAN ATLAS, c. 1375, (MAJORCA, SPAIN)

2. DRAWING OF TIMBUKTU, c. 1827, RENEE CAILLIE (1st European to visit and return from Timbuktu alive… Notice the Djinguereberer Mosque). (PARIS, FRANCE)

3. HEINRICH BARTH APPROACHING TIMBUKTU ON 7 SEPTEMBER 1853, Martin Bernatz, 1853, (BERLIN, GERMANY)

4. ARAB CARAVAN RESTING BY THE SEA, 1865, JOSEPH BENWELL (KENSINGTON, ENGLAND)