Trans-Saharan Africa in World History

Nonfiction, History, Africa, Egypt, Middle East
Cover of the book Trans-Saharan Africa in World History by Ralph A. Austen, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ralph A. Austen ISBN: 9780199798834
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: April 19, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Ralph A. Austen
ISBN: 9780199798834
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: April 19, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press
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

Cover of the book Choreomania by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Reinventing Depression by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book The Face of Mammon by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Why Should Jews Survive? : Looking Past The Holocaust Toward A Jewish Future by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Taliban Narratives by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Perception and Its Modalities by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Form-Focused Instruction and Teacher Education - Oxford Applied Linguistics by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Calculated Surprises by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book From Maimonides to Microsoft by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book The Reception of Vatican II by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Salafi-Jihadism by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Marital Rape by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book The Murders in the Rue Morgue Level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library by Ralph A. Austen
Cover of the book Derecho procesal civil 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