On Trans-Saharan Trails : Islamic Law, Trade Networks, and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Western Africa

This study is the first of its kind to examine the history and organization of trans-Saharan trade in western Africa using original source material. It documents the internal dynamics of a trade network system based on a case study of 'Berber' traders from the Wād Nūn region, who specialized in outfitting camel caravans in the nineteenth century. Through an examination of contracts, correspondence, fatwas and interviews with retired caravaners, Professor Lydon shows how traders used their literacy skills in Arabic and how they had recourse to experts of Islamic law to regulate their long-distance transactions. The book also examines the strategies devised by women to participate in caravan trade. By embracing a continental approach, this study bridges the divide between West African and North African studies. The work will be of interest to historians of Africa, the Middle East, and the world and to scholars of long-distance trade, Muslim societies and Islamic law. Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Saharan specifics and dates......Page 15 Translations and foreign words......Page 16 Abbreviations......Page 17 Glossary......Page 19 Maps......Page 25 1 "Making History" Across the African Divide......Page 31 Saharan History and Its Misperception......Page 34 Saharans: Betwixt and Between......Page 35 Saharan Sun and Sand......Page 37 Caravans of Gold......Page 39 Southwestern Social Order......Page 40 Frenchmen in the Sahara......Page 42 Writing African History......Page 44 Studying Islamic Africa......Page 46 The Centrality of Orality......Page 51 Oral Chronologies......Page 53 The Memory of Strangers......Page 55 Recollections of Retired Caravaners......Page 58 African Written Sources......Page 61 Pilgrimage Travelogues......Page 62 Legal Documents......Page 63 Commercial Records......Page 64 White Slave......Page 66 European and African Explorers......Page 69 Orientalizing the Sahara......Page 71 African Interpreters......Page 73 On Trans-Saharan Trails: Method and Layout......Page 75 2 Trans-Saharan Trade in the Longue Dure......Page 79 The Effects of Desertification......Page 81 Early Chariot Crossings?......Page 82 Ecology and the Camel......Page 84 Expansion of Caravan Trade......Page 86 The Spread of Islam......Page 87 Beginnings of Arabic Sources......Page 89 Tenth-Century Caravanning......Page 91 First Trading Communities......Page 93 The Omnipresent Wangara......Page 94 Jewish Caravaners......Page 95 Influential Ibadi Merchants......Page 100 Golden Trade of the Moors......Page 101 Of Routes and Realms......Page 103 Remnants of a Capsized Caravan......Page 104 Caravans of Cowries, Copper, and Tanned Leather......Page 105 Other Caravan Cargoes......Page 106 Jenne and Timbuktu: Cross-Cultural Markets......Page 109 Wadan and Shinqiti: Cities of the Adrar......Page 111 The Oasis of Tishit......Page 113 Walata: Commercial Crossroads......Page 114 Portuguese Ports of Trade......Page 116 Anti-Jewish Repression......Page 117 The Moroccan Factor......Page 118 Early Modern Saharan Trade......Page 120 Late-Seventeenth-Century Trends......Page 121 Jihad in the "Age of Gum"......Page 123 Morocco&rsquos Saharan Policy......Page 125 Timbuktu, Sufis, and the Kunta......Page 126 European Commercial Imperialism......Page 128 Reflections on the Book and Paper Trade......Page 129 Conclusion......Page 134 3 Markets and the Movement of Caravans:Nineteenth-Century Developments......Page 137 Caravans in the Age of Jihad......Page 142 The Caliphate of Masina......Page 143 Masina and the Caravaners of Tishit......Page 145 Shaykh Umar Tal's Holy War......Page 146 The Umarians and the Desert-Side Economy......Page 147 Samori's Revolutionary War......Page 151 Trans-Saharan Slave Trade......Page 152 Demand and Supply......Page 154 Late-Century Developments......Page 156 Counting the Slaves?......Page 158 Old and New Merchandise......Page 160 Caravans of Salt......Page 162 Trans-Saharan Horse Trade......Page 163 Gum Arabic Exports......Page 165 A Taste for Green Tea......Page 166 Guns and Powder......Page 167 Boom in the Ostrich Feather Trade......Page 171 Other African Trade Goods......Page 173 Moroccan Commerce......Page 176 Merchants of Fez......Page 177 Trade in Al-Sawira......Page 178 Jewish Cross-Cultural Brokers......Page 179 Aby Serour and the Jews of Timbuktu......Page 180 The Rise and Fall of Markets......Page 182 New Town of 'Aghrayjit......Page 184 New Caravan Hub of Tinduf......Page 185 From Jiga to Nyamina......Page 186 Conclusion......Page 187 4 Guelmam and the Wad Nun Traders......Page 190 The Market of Guelmin......Page 192 Relations with Morocco......Page 193 Commercial Capital......Page 194 Bayruk's Diplomacy and Dealings in "White Slaves"......Page 196 Spanish and Scottish Ports of Trade......Page 198 The House of Illigh......Page 200 The Tikna: Distant Relatives of the Almoravids......Page 201 Africans,......Page 202 A Nation Divided by God and by the Camel......Page 204 Legends of the Tikna......Page 206 Early Evidence of the Tikna Diaspora......Page 207 The Bayruk Family......Page 209 The Jews of Guelmin......Page 212 The Awlad Bu Al-Siba......Page 216 Sharifian Claims......Page 218 Early West African Settlers......Page 220 Official Cross-Cultural Brokers......Page 221 Mulay Ahmad al-Shaygar and the Kunta War......Page 223 The Wad Nun Network......Page 226 Importers of Green Tea......Page 227 Parallel Itineraries......Page 229 Wad Nun Women in the Diaspora......Page 231 Conclusion......Page 235 5 The Organization of Caravan Trade......Page 236 Ships of the Desert......Page 238 Camel Qualities......Page 239 Sustenance and Shelter......Page 240 Grazing and Tending Herds......Page 241 Branding and Camel Insignia......Page 243 Caravans Big and Small......Page 244 The Akabar International Caravans......Page 245 Interregional Rafga and Caravans of Salt......Page 247 The Blessed Caravan Season......Page 249 Caravan Workers......Page 252 Caravan Leaders......Page 253 Professional Guides......Page 255 Skilled Caravaners......Page 257 Servile Caravan Workers......Page 258 Messengers and Market Entries......Page 260 Lodging and Landlord Services......Page 261 Family Labor and Women Caravaners......Page 262 Saharan Women and Trade......Page 263 Manufacturing Caravan Equipment......Page 266 Immobile Partners Holding the Fort......Page 267 Caravan Shareholders and Entrepreneurial Widows......Page 268 Female Caravaners: The Case of the Masna......Page 269 The Paper Economy of Caravanning......Page 271 Lists, Letters, and Ledgers......Page 272 Currencies on Trans-Saharan Trails......Page 278 The Salt Bar: Currency and Condiment......Page 279 The Standard Gold Mithqal......Page 280 The Baysa, or Cotton Currency......Page 281 The Ubiquitous Cowry Shell......Page 283 Silver Coins and Foreign Currency......Page 285 The Age of Paper Money......Page 286 The Multiple Mudds......Page 287 Other Weights and Measures......Page 289 Fractions of Slaves and Livestock......Page 290 Setting Market Rules......Page 292 The Getna Date Festival and the Amuggar Fairs......Page 293 Perilous Crossings......Page 295 The Threat of Thirst......Page 296 The Political Economy of Raiding......Page 297 Tolls, Taxes, and Protection Payments......Page 298 Desert Spies and Vigilantes......Page 300 Clan Alliances......Page 301 Conclusion......Page 302 6 Business Practice and Legal Culture in a Paper Economy of Faith......Page 304 Islam's Commercial Tradition......Page 309 Islamic Law and Practice......Page 310 The Maliki Doctrine in Africa......Page 311 Social Justice and Honesty in Trade......Page 314 Trade or Usury?......Page 315 Faith and Written Contracts......Page 317 Islamic Partnerships......Page 320 Function of Documents in Islam......Page 323 Qadi as Regional Rulers......Page 326 The Business of Justice......Page 327 Sanctions, Enforcement, and Community Pressure......Page 329 Overview of Saharan Jurisprudence......Page 331 Influential Muftis......Page 332 Return Policies and the Law on Defects......Page 334 The Revocation of Sales......Page 335 Illegal Sale of Seized Goods......Page 336 Other Transactions......Page 337 Rules of Cross-Cultural Exchange......Page 338 A Question of Race......Page 339 Trade with Christians and Jews......Page 340 Cross-Cultural Barter......Page 341 Debating Currencies and Equivalencies......Page 342 The Tricky Business of Usury......Page 345 Forward Purchases and Multiple Currency Loans......Page 347 Money Transfer Tools......Page 348 Contracting Saharan Caravans......Page 349 Mufawada Saharam Contracts......Page 350 Sharika Partnerships......Page 352 Saharan Agency and Commission Contracts......Page 353 Agency Contracts (Wakala)......Page 354 Trade without Commission (Ibda)......Page 356 ‘Aqadim Labor Contracts......Page 358 Other Contractual Agreements......Page 359 Debt Contracts ('Aqd al-Qard)......Page 360 Lease Contracts......Page 361 Debt Swapping and Storage Contracts......Page 364 Social Contracts: Sayings about Business Behavior......Page 366 Conclusion......Page 367 7 Trade Networks and the Limits of Cooperative Behavior......Page 370 The Literature on Trade Networks......Page 372 The Question of Membership......Page 374 Network Structure and Hierarchy......Page 376 Women, Slaves, and Laborers......Page 378 The Question of Reputation......Page 379 Religious and Legal Institutions......Page 380 Literacy and the Question of Trust......Page 383 Wad Nun Trade Network Inheritance Case Study......Page 386 Death on the Trail......Page 388 Trader One: Baghlil's Passing......Page 394 Trader Two: Al-Hajj 'Aly......Page 395 Trader Three: 'Aly b. Hammad......Page 396 Trader Four: 'Aly Fal b. Arwili......Page 400 The Limits of Collaboration......Page 401 Trade Network Misbehavior......Page 404 A Legal Dispute......Page 405 Islamic Institutional Constraints......Page 407 Conclusion......Page 413 8 On Trans-Saharan Trails......Page 417 Orality and Trade Network History......Page 419 On Contracting Trust......Page 421 Islamic Law and the Organization of Trade......Page 423 The Vital Role of Credit......Page 424 Networks of Trade Networks......Page 425 Long-Distance Trade and Cultural Diffusion......Page 426 Bridging the African Divide......Page 429 Appendix 1......Page 431 Appendix 2......Page 435 ‘Ayun al- 'Atrus......Page 439 Nouakchott......Page 440 Shinqıti......Page 441 Tıshıt......Page 442 Louga......Page 443 Nioro......Page 444 Asrır......Page 445 Documentation and Research Centers......Page 446 Tıshıt......Page 447 4. UNPUBLISHED THESES......Page 448 5 . PRIMARY SOURCES IN ARABIC......Page 449 6. PRIMARY MATERIAL IN ENGLISH AND ROMANCE LANGUAGES......Page 451 7. SECONDARY LITERATURE......Page 457 Index......Page 481 This study is the first of its kind to examine the history and organization of trans-Saharan trade in western Africa using original source material. It documents the internal dynamics of a trade network system based on a case-study of the Wad Nun traders, who specialized in outfitting camel caravans in the nineteenth century. Through an examination of contracts, correspondence, fatwas, and interviews with retired caravaners, Lydon shows how traders used their literacy skills in Arabic and how they had recourse to experts of Islamic law to regulate their long-distance transactions. The book also examines the methods employed by women participating in caravan trade. By embracing a continental approach, this study bridges the divide between West African and North African studies. The work will be of interest to historians of African, Middle Eastern, and world history and to scholars of long-distance trade, Muslim societies, and Islamic law.