Thread by @IAmSuyiDavies

One of the coolest things I learned during research for #TheNamelessRepublic was how West and North Africa weren't always so separated by the Sahara. In fact, pre-colonial trade with Europe and Asia happened because North Africa could connect them to West Africa. [1]

The Sahara Desert, to start, wasn't always so large/expansive. It used to be more grassland & savanna, and less arduous to cross from North to West Africa for trade. But climate change (!) caused desertification, and now the two regions barely communicate/trade today. [2]

Trade used to happen like this: North African Berbers (esp after the rise of Muslim states) traded with Asia & Europe, then took goods into the Sahara. West Africans met with them in market-centres like Sijilmasa and traded goods for both theirs and foreign stuff. [3]

Some examples of fruitful trade relationships:
- *Morocco x groups along the Senegal River
- *Algeria x the middle Niger (e.g. Jenne, Timbuktu)
- *Tunisia x Kanem-Bornu (e.g. Fezzan)
- *Libya/Egypt x Darfur, along the Nile
* = nations that currently occupy these former lands [4]

Goods from West Africa included gold, ivory & domestic servants as slaves (this probably set the precedent for the poor treatment of darker-skinned Africans in North Africa to this day). North Africans traded copper, salt & luxury items: horses, textiles, metalware, books. [5]

This trade bloomed upon the introduction of Asian camels into North Africa. But trade was perilous still, cos the Sahara ain't no joke. Flies, bitter water where water was available, rocky terrain, etc. But it was still less desert than today, with even grass for pasture! [6]

Salt was the biggest commodity the West Africans needed, so there were salt-producing centres along the trade route. And North Africa didn't have as much food and produce as West Africa's rainforests, so they asked for stuff like kolanuts and felled timber. [7]

Even the trading settlements along the routes began to produce/work their own saleable items, like leather, metals and ivory. The trading caravans stopped over and bought from them. These trading settlements were the foundations for many cities, some of which still exist. [8]

The trans-Saharan trade declined with the introduction of, drumroll please, 🥁 brrr...Europeans!

Europeans circumvented North Africa by sailing directly to the West African coasts, negating the need for West Africans to trade with the North. Add desertification, and tada! [9]

All of this, you'll find snatches of show up in the forthcoming #TheNamelessRepublic trilogy, inspiring the fantasy continent of Oon in which the trilogy is set.

More on this, if you sign up to my newsletter! 👇🏾😁 [10] suyi.substack.com