Trans-Saharan Camel Trade
Discover how the camel revolutionized Saharan commerce — enabling vast trade caravans that connected West Africa to the Mediterranean world.
The introduction of the camel to the Sahara transformed what had been a nearly impassable barrier into a highway of commerce. The dromedary camel — capable of carrying 200–300 kilograms, traveling 30–40 kilometers per day, and surviving for days without water — made regular trans-Saharan trade economically viable and created one of the medieval world's most important commercial networks.
Camels were introduced to North Africa from the Arabian Peninsula around the 3rd century CE, but large-scale trans-Saharan trade didn't develop until the 7th and 8th centuries, when the expansion of Islam created a vast demand for West African gold and a cultural-commercial framework that facilitated long-distance exchange. Caravans of hundreds or thousands of camels crossed 1,000 miles of desert between staging posts, carrying gold, salt, textiles, slaves, dates, copper, and books.
The trade routes generated extraordinary wealth for the states that controlled them. The empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai all rose and fell based on their ability to dominate these routes. Cities at key junctions — Sijilmasa, Timbuktu, Djenné, Gao — grew into major commercial and intellectual centers. The camel trade also served as the primary vehicle for the spread of Islam in West Africa, as Muslim merchants established communities along the routes and at the southern termini.