Trans-Saharan routes early

Map

Map data from: http://www.naturalearthdata.com/ 1:50m data Projection: Equirectangular - Lat/Long - plate carrée

Map limits:

• N: 38N
• S: 3N
• E: 12E
• W: 18W

Software:

• Grass GIS 6.4.1
• Inkscape 0.48.1

Scaled x30 in Inkscape to give 30 pixels per degree.

Routes

The routes shown are based those given by Mauny 1961. Mauny gives maps for three periods: 8th-10th centuries on page 429, 11th-13th on page 430 and after the 14th century on page 434. The position of the goldfields is based on Mauny 1961 page 295.

Levtzion has published a map of the trade routes both in Levtzion 1973 and in Levtzion & Hopkins 1981. The map shows Tahert (modern Tiaret in Algeria) to the south of Tlemcen. In fact Tahert should be to the East and slightly to the North of Tlemcen. The map also shows Tamentit on the Draa River. In fact Tamentit is one of the oases of Tuat – and instead the town of Tamdoult (Tamdult) lay near Akka to the north of the Draa.

A map showing trade routes (10th to 16th centuries) is given in Cuoq 1975 on page 11. This map repeats the error made by Levtzion 1973 in placing Tahert to the south of Tlemcen.

Toponyms

Assumptions:

• the capital of Ghana was at Koumbi Saleh
• Takedda was at Azelik
• Aoudaghost was at Tegdaoust

The Malian capital has not been included - there is no consensus on the location.

Orthography:

• Aoudaghost - Awdaghost - Awdaghust
• Araouane - Araouane - Arawan
• Ouadane - Ouadane - Wadan
• Oualata - Oualata - Walata
• Ouargla - Wargla - Wargala
• Sijilmasa - Sidjilmassa - Sijilmasa

References

• Cuoq, Joseph M., translator and editor (1975) (french) Recueil des sources arabes concernant l'Afrique occidentale du VIIIe au XVIe siècle (Bilād al-Sūdān), Paris: Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, S. 11 . Reprinted in 1985 with corrections and additional texts, ISBN 2222017181.
• Levtzion, Nehemia (1973) Ancient Ghana and Mali, London: Methuen, S. 138−139 ISBN: 0841904316. . Reprinted 1980.
• (2000) Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa, Marcus Weiner, S. xxii ISBN: 1-55876-241-8. . First published in 1981 by Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521224225.
• Mauny, Raymond (1961) (french) Tableau géographique de l'ouest africain au moyen age, d’après les sources écrites, la tradition et l'archéologie, Institut français d'Afrique Noire, S. 426−432 .

Further reading

• Devisse, J. (1988) el Fasi, M. (Hrsg.) General History of Africa Volume 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, University of California Press, S. 367−435 ISBN: 0520039149. . Includes a map of the Sahara showing isohytes and schematic diagrams of the trade routes with the number of stages specified by Ibn Hawkal, al-Bakri and al-Idrisi.