and hello ladies and gentlemen and today welcome back to another ap world history modern amsco reading where today we are reading chapter 2.4 trans-saharan trade routes and anyways though ladies and gentlemen that translates to let's run in into the video quote from timbuk2 i sailed down the nile on a small boat hollowed out of a single piece of wood i went on to gaga which is a large city on the nile the buying and selling of its inhabitants is done with cowrie shells and the same is the case at motley i stayed there about a month and then set out in the direction of takada by land with a large caravan of merchants from gohanimus end quote abin batuta 1304-1353 essential question what were the causes and effects of trans saharan trade and how did the growth of empires influence trade and communication while the east african coast had been fairly well populated for many centuries before the arrival of islam few societies had inhabited the sahara desert because its arid climate made it nearly impossible to farm though nomadic communities did contact some trade across the sahara the volume of trade increased with the arrival of muslim merchants in the seventh and eighth centuries when empires such as mali took over the area in the early 1200s commerce expanded dramatically as illustrated in the command triggies of ivan batuta a muslim scholar and explorer of the 14th century merchants use and traders use caravans to facilitate commerce africans traded gold ivory hides and slaves for arabs and berber salt cloth paper and horses trans-saharan trade the sahara desert is immense occupating 3.6 million square miles about the same size as china of that vast expanse of sand and rock only about 800 square miles are oasis people places where human settlement is possible because water from deep underground is brought to the surface making land fertile in some oasis the water comes from underground naturally in others humans have dug wells to access the water camels saddles and trade muslim merchants from southwest asia traveled across the sahara on camels native to the islamic heartlands arabia camels began to appear in north africa in the 3rd century bce accustomed to the harsh strike climate of the arabian desert camels adapted well to living in the sub-hera desert compared to horses camels can consume a large quantity of water at one time over 50 gallons in three minutes and not need more water for a long time they began to replace horses and donkeys after 300 ce as use of the camel spread people developed as many as 15 types of camel saddles for different purposes south arabians developed a saddle in which the writer sits in the back of the hump which makes writing easier because the writer can hold on to the hair of the hump northern arabians developed a and developed a saddle for sitting on top of the hump putting them high in the air which gave them greater visibility in battles being near the head gave that rider the best possible control over the camel however the saddle that had the greatest impact on trade was one the somalis in eastern africa developed they were semi-nomadic and needed to carry their possessions with them so they designed a saddle for carrying loads up to 600 pounds without the developments of this type of saddle camels could not have been used to carry heavy loads of goods in trade and as we can see here by this table comparing pack animals let's examine it animal camel location northern africa and sub-saharan west africa benefits able to travel long distances can eat thorny plants and drink salty water found in deserts has long eyelashes that protect against desert winds only animal that can cross deserts does not spook easily can carry up to 600 pounds drawbacks requires high level of salt to stay healthy can be very aggressive and even vengeful cannot be controlled with a bit cannot be boarded in a stall animal ox location eurasia and the america's benefits has high level of stamina can pull heaviest loads unlikely to stray or be stolen can survive on local grazing and tolerates various climates and diets drawbacks move slowly compared to other pack animals requires more water and food than any other pack animal animal horse location worldwide benefits can run at high speeds can be controlled with a bit can be used in battle and can adapt to most climates and terrains drawbacks requires grain to keep fit spooks easily can be stolen easily strays easily less sure footed than other pack animals cannot tolerate high heat blah animal llama location america's benefits america it maintains traction in mountains has calm disposition requires little water adapts well to cold and mountainous climates drawbacks cannot pull heavy loads can carry less than other pack animals cannot tolerate high heat and now back to the reading the caravans that crossed the sahara often had thousands of camels laden not only with goods to trade but also with enough provisions including fresh water to last until the travelers could reach the next oasis the people leading the caravans generally walked the entire way the map on page 44 shows some of the main trade routes across the sahara also please note that page 44 is in one of the previous chapters or in other words unit one if you would like you can check on that pay age or that uh that reading in one of my previous videos in unit one which i already covered there were seven north south trade routes into two east-west trade routes these put the people in sub-saharan africa in touch with an expanding number of cultures and trading partners by the end of the 8th century ce the trans-saharan trade had become famous throughout europe and asia gold was the most precious commodity traded west african merchants acquired the medal from the waters of the senegal rivel knit river neared modern day senegal and maritanai foreign traders came to west africa seeking not only gold but also ivory and slaves in exchange they bought salts textiles and horses for more than 700 years trans-saharan trade brought considerable wealth to the societies of west africa particularly the kingdoms of kahana and malay they also brought islam which spread into sub-saharan africa as a result west african empire expansion and before we talk about that let's look at this image which is a satellite image of the expansive sahara as shown above the title i just read back to the reading west african empire expansion by the 12th century wars with neighboring societies had permanently weakened the gehanian state see topic 1.5 or one of my previous videos in subject one which i had previously covered in its place arose several new trading societies the most powerful of which was mali north african traders had introduced islam to modeling in the 9th century mali's riches the government of mali profited from the gold trade but also taxed nearly all other trade entering west africa in that way it became even more prosperous than gahanna had been most of mali's residents were farmers who cultivated sorghum and rice however the great cities of muslim of timbuktu and nagao accumulated the most wealth and developed into centers of muslim life in the region timbuktu in particular became a world-renowned center of islamic learning by the 1500s books created and sold in timbuktu brought prices higher than most other goods expanding roles of states the growth in trade and wealth gave the rise to the need to administer and maintain it for example rulers needed to establish a currency whose value is widely understood in modeling the currency was colorized shells cotton cloth gold glass beads and salt rulers also needed to protect both the trade routes and the areas where their currencies were made or harvested or their other trade resources were produced sometimes empires expanded their reach to take over resource-rich areas they did so with military forces while provisioned with horses and iron weapons brought with the tax revenue with each expansion more people were drawn into the enemy's empire's economy and trading networks bringing more people in the touch with distant cultures molly's founding ruler sandiata became the subject of legend his father had ruled over a small society in west africa in what it today is gina when his father died rival groups invaded killing most of the royal family in capturing the throne they did not bother to kill sundiata because the young prince was crippled and was not considered a threat in spite of his injury he learned to fight and became so feared as a warrior that his enemies forced him into exile his time in exile only strengthened him and his allies in 1235 sundiata the lion prince returned to the kingdom of his birth defeated his enemies and reclaimed the throne for himself sundiata's story made him beloved within his kingdom but he was also an astute incapable ruler most scholars believe he was a muslim and used his connections with others of his faith to establish trade relations with north african and arab merchants sandhya cultivated a thriving gold trade in bali under steady leadership mali's wealth grew tremendously mansa musa in the fourth in the 14th century sundayata's grand nephew monsan musa brought some fame to the region however mata musa was better known for his religious leadership than for his political or economic acumen a devoted muslim mata musa became a pilgrimage in 1324 to mecca islam's holiest city his journey however was unlike that of any ordinary pilgrim molly's prosperity allowed him to take an extraordinary extravagant caravan to arabia consisting of a hundred camels thousands of slaves and soldiers and gold church distribute to all the people who hosted him along his journey his pilgrimage displayed mali's wealth to the outside world matsumusa's visit to mecca deepened his devotion to islam upon his return he established religious schools in timbuktu built mosques in muslim trading cities and sponsored those who wanted to continue their religious studies elsewhere though most west africans continue to hold on to their traditional beliefs monsta moves his reign deep in the support for islam in modeli however in fewer than a hundred years after matsumusa's death the mali kingdom was declining by the late 1400s the songhai kingdom had taken in this place as the powerhouse in west africa following processes like those mali had gone through songhai became larger and richer than mali in spite of mali's fall matsumus's efforts to strengthen the islam in west africa succeeded the religion had a prominent place in the region today as we can see here there's a chart empires in western eurasia and africa in the 13th century let's begin mali location west africa major city timbuktu peakiers 1200s to 1400s key figures sandiata founder who built a strong trade network montemussa political and religious leader legacy connected west and north africa through trade spread islam in west africa location okay adonis location spain major city peak years 711 to 1492 key figures been rushed islamic legal scholar and philosopher jewish scholar of ethnics legacy creative vibrant tolerant society preserved classical greek learning byzantine empire location middle east major city constantinople peak years 330-1453 key figures justinian ruler responsible for the body of civil law parasaellus shifted focus to the east legacy foster trade between asia europe and africa carried on roman like a sea kiev and russ location russia major city kiev peak years nine hundreds to twelve hundreds key figures vladimir the first converted to christianity in 9889 yaroslav the first codified the legal system legacy developed first large civilization in russia spread christianity eastward key terms by theme government sub-saharan mali zambiada monsa musa sanghai kingdom culture islam timbuktu mecca economics trade trans-saharan trade environment africa sahara desert oasis environment southwest asia arabian desert technology pack animals camel saddle and ladies and gentlemen that's gonna do it for today's episode of ap world history readings in osley again one part i really liked and this was sundiata because honestly it's a really interesting tale you know hearing about a guy who was spared yet came back and took revenge on the people who spared him but also killed his family and stole his birthright the thing that he was technically entitled to gaining as a form of his leadership because ultimately it seems that during this upon the father's death that he was going to be the next heir the one to rule afterwards but it is truly interesting seeing that that kind of story because honestly again it's such an interesting story that honestly i would not mind seeing maybe some form of adaptation of it honestly you know and maybe even i might try digging deeper into it myself but that's just my thoughts anyways i hope you enjoyed the video and if you did please hit the like button and remember to subscribe as well you can always unsubscribe if it becomes an inconvenience or you can also hit the and you can also hit the notification bell to stay up to date and when i post more content and remember ladies and gentlemen to have you have a amazing day an amazing night as well if you have that i really don't know your time zones after all this is a video recording after all and i really hope that you all stay safe stay happy and stay entertained as we have episode 2.5 coming right up in 10 to 5 seconds