Trans-Saharan Africa In World History


Cover of the book Trans-Saharan Africa In World History by Ralph A. Austen, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ralph A. Austen ISBN: 9780195157314
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: April 19, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA Language: English
Author: Ralph A. Austen
ISBN: 9780195157314
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: April 19, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
During the heyday of camel caravan traffic--from the eighth century CE arrival of Islam in North Africa to the early twentieth-century building of European colonial railroads that linked the Sudan with the Atlantic--the Sahara was one of the world's great commercial highways, bringing gold, slaves, and other commodities northward and sending both manufactured goods and Mediterranean culture southward into the Sudan. Historian Ralph A. Austen here tells the remarkable story of an African world that grew out of more than one thousand years of trans-Saharan trading. Perhaps the most enduring impact of this trade and the common cultural reference point of trans-Saharan Africa was Islam. Austen traces this faith in its various forms--as a legal system for regulating trade, an inspiration for reformist movements, and a vehicle of literacy and cosmopolitan knowledge. He also analyzes the impact of European overseas expansion, which marginalized trans-Saharan commerce in global terms but stimulated its local growth. Indeed, trans-Saharan culture not only adapted to colonial changes, but often thrived upon them, remaining a potent force into the twenty-first century.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
During the heyday of camel caravan traffic--from the eighth century CE arrival of Islam in North Africa to the early twentieth-century building of European colonial railroads that linked the Sudan with the Atlantic--the Sahara was one of the world's great commercial highways, bringing gold, slaves, and other commodities northward and sending both manufactured goods and Mediterranean culture southward into the Sudan. Historian Ralph A. Austen here tells the remarkable story of an African world that grew out of more than one thousand years of trans-Saharan trading. Perhaps the most enduring impact of this trade and the common cultural reference point of trans-Saharan Africa was Islam. Austen traces this faith in its various forms--as a legal system for regulating trade, an inspiration for reformist movements, and a vehicle of literacy and cosmopolitan knowledge. He also analyzes the impact of European overseas expansion, which marginalized trans-Saharan commerce in global terms but stimulated its local growth. Indeed, trans-Saharan culture not only adapted to colonial changes, but often thrived upon them, remaining a potent force into the twenty-first century.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book Paul Revere's Ride by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Pink Ribbon Blues: How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women's Health by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book George Washington's Mount Vernon : At Home in Revolutionary America by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Wartime : Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Growing in Love and Wisdom:Tibetan Buddhist Sources for Christian Meditation by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book After Thermopylae: The Oath of Plataea and the End of the Graeco-Persian Wars by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book The Works of Alain Locke by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Hi-De-Ho : The Life Of Cab Calloway by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Dividing the Spoils:The War for Alexander the Great's Empire by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Qur'an and Woman:Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Hard Times by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book The Art of Digital Audio Recording : A Practical Guide for Home and Studio by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla by Ralph A. Austen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy