The History of the West African Salt Trade

did you know that salt was literally worth its weight in gold in ancient West [Music] Africa hello and welcome to world history encyclopedia my name is Kelly and today's episode is all about the lucrative trade of salt in West African history world history encyclopedia is a nonprofit organization and you can find us on patreon a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return your support helps us create videos twice a week so make sure to check it out at worldhistory toorgle occurring deposits salt became a precious commodity in West Africa and the trade of salt a significant and quite lucrative business salt was such an important commodity that it was often traded for gold dust that came from the southern West African mines and so was quite literally worth its weight in gold the salt was traded by camel Caravans and by boat moving through Trade Centers like kumbi Sal and Timbuktu and then even further south to be traded for Ivory hides copper cereals and iron salt was probably obtained by early hunter gatherers through the animals they killed in Hunts and from Plants but Rose in demand at the onset of Agriculture when a more sedentary lifestyle became the norm and people traded for whatever resources their region lacked salts came into demand for the preservation of dried meats and to add flavor to Foods the main natural source of rock salt was the inhospitable Sahara Desert where the salt was acquired from surface deposits or from shallow mines where it Formed into slabs [Music] although it is unknown when salt first became a trade commodity we do know that the exchange of salt for cereals by Savannah and desert peoples dates back to prehistory largest scale trade of salt most probably dates to the first Millennium CE with camel Caravans crossing the Sahara run by The berbers Who occupied North Africa as middlemen between north and West Africa in time along with the major tradeit of salt luxury items like glasswar and fine cloth as well as the spread of the Islamic religion new ideas on architecture and art and an exchange of cultural practices throughout the West African economies of the second Millennium CE salt dominated in both production and trade with the source of the commodity and the Trade Centers changing hands as Empires Rose and fell for the Ghana Empire that flourished from the 6th to the 13th century CE the the igil salt mines in the Sahara were the most lucrative and famous resource in the 10th Century though the Ghana Empire's Monopoly of the trade was challenged by the sanaj of berbers who controlled numerous mines and the transportation through trade cities following the collapse of the Ghana Empire the Mali Empire gained control of the subsaharan salt trades with some semi-independent River ports like timbuk 2 taking trade opportunity from the Mali King followed by the sonai Empire with its great trading Capital at Gale in the savannah salt was a rarity but in desert mining towns like Taza and toeni salt was so common that they built houses out of rock salt slabs the slabs that were traded and not used as building materials were loaded onto camels two slabs per camel that weighed up to 90 kilos or 200 lb each in their heyday a camel Caravan could include anywhere from 500 to several thousand camels although the use of these camel Caravans really took off between the 9th and 12th century CE the practice of Traders crossing the Western Sahara with a long line of camels Laden with Goods likely dates to the 3r century once the Caravan reached the Trading Post the salt was exchanged for goods that were then taken back across the desert the salt was eventually cut into smaller pieces and carried on the heads of Porters to The Villages of West Africa's interior salt was in high demand as a commodity in the subsaharan region since it was constantly consumed and so the supply never quite met the demand further the salt slabs were bulky and difficult to transport and so the price for salt could be quite Steep and not many could afford it making it even more precious as such a valuable item salt was often traded pound-for-pound for gold dust and some areas small pieces of salt were used as trading currency salt was such a moneys spinner that quite literally whoever had control of the salt trade also had control of the gold trade with both resources serving as the main economic pillars of the various West African empires do you know of another product commonly used today that was once precious let us know in the comments below if you enjoyed enjy this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on any of our new videos published every single week this video was brought to you by world history encyclopedia for more great articles and interactive content head to our website via the link below if you like my sweater you can find this design and a bunch more in our shop at worldhistory do store or you can find a 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