650–1900 · Africa · Trade
Caravan routes exchanged gold, salt, textiles, books and other goods between North and West Africa; enslaved Africans were also transported northward through Saharan networks over many centuries.
Atlas dossier · Medieval WorldFree device narration · synchronized English captions · transcript available
Why it matters
Caravan routes exchanged gold, salt, textiles, books and other goods between North and West Africa; enslaved Africans were also transported northward through Saharan networks over many centuries.
Amazigh and Tuareg caravan communities · West African states · merchants · enslaved women, men and children
The routes enriched states and cities and carried Islam and scholarship, yet also sustained coercive systems whose human costs must be distinguished from voluntary commerce.
Interpretation note
This dossier distinguishes the event’s basic chronology from later arguments about meaning, responsibility and legacy. When comparing religious, national, Indigenous or scholarly interpretations, consult the primary and institutional sources above alongside peer-reviewed historical work.
Elsewhere in the world
622–1258 · Middle EastIslamic expansion and Golden AgeMuslim-ruled societies connected trade and scholarship from Iberia to Central Asia; scholars advanced mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy.
618–1279 · AsiaTang and Song ChinaTang and Song societies joined strong states, immense cities and international commerce with advances in printing, navigation, metallurgy, mathematics and administration.
610–750 · Middle EastRise and early spread of IslamMuhammad’s preaching in Arabia, the Hijra and the formation of a Muslim community were followed by caliphal conquests across the Byzantine and Sasanian worlds, North Africa and Iberia.