West Africa / Silk Road

By Matt_Blake_Brady
  • 130 BCE

    Silk Road

    Silk Road
    This is the date the Silk Road officially opened. This event catalyzed commerce between regions of the ancient world.
  • 200

    Nubia

    Nubia
    Nubia's international trade, based on the Red Sea routes, is losing out to the rising power of Aksum. However, Nubia reached a peak of prosperity under King Netekamani.
  • 500

    Ghana

    Ghana was the first trade empire in West Africa, starting around 500 CE. Ghana was populated by the Soninke clans who acted as the mediator between the Arab and Amazigh (Berber) salt traders to the north and the producers of gold and ivory to the south.
  • 527

    Emperor Julian

    Emperor Julian
    Around this time, Emperor Julian started his reign of the Byzantine Empire. With this, the Byzantine silk trade started. This allowed the Byzantine empire to start a lucrative trade empire.
  • 542

    Bubonic Plague

    Bubonic Plague
    In 542, the bubonic plague as thought to have been brought into Constantinople through the Silk Road, which absolutely decimated the Silk Road. With this came the fall of the silk trade, and also the loss of a very wealthy trade center.
  • Jan 1, 750

    Golden Age

    Golden Age
    Around this time, trade along the Silk Road was at its peak. This meant that all trade centers were at one of their most thriving periods of time.
  • Jan 1, 800

    Trans-Saharan Trade

    Trans-Saharan Trade
    In 800 CE, Trans-Saharan trade expanded, allowing for a more diverse reach of trade in the West African Empire.
  • Mar 8, 800

    Ethiopia

    By the mid-8th century, Ethiopia is in its decline. The once flourishing trade was being heavily pressured by the rising tide of Islamic commerce. The seas and coasts have become a hostile environment to this Christian people. It is also possible that over-grazing and soil erosion were reducing the prosperity of the central core of the kingdom.
  • Jan 1, 1215

    Ethiopia

    Ethiopia
    With economic revival in Egypt has come expansion for Ethiopia’s trade. The country is one of the major sources of frankincense and myrrh, two spices much in demand in the Muslim world, and it also exports slaves to the north.

  • Ming Dynasty

    Ming Dynasty
    With the end of the Mongol Empire and the start of the Ming, the Silk Road was not as safe as it once was so trade eventually declined. China was often fighting with the west instead of trading with them, and Chinese merchants had a harder time getting silver, steel, sugar, wool carpets, glass, spices, and medicines than they had before. More Chinese traders began to sail around to India by the ocean, and the emperors turned their attention to Southeast Asia instead of Central Asia.