Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong Cities of Iron & Gold: West Africa Before 1700
Nov 23, 2025
Discover the rise of powerful West African empires built on iron, gold, and salt trade before 1700. Learn how the camel transformed trans-Saharan trade, connecting distant regions. Explore Mansa Musa's extravagant pilgrimage that placed Mali on the medieval map, and how Ibn Battuta's accounts reveal the rich culture of the time. Witness the decline of Ghana due to Almoravid intervention and the subsequent rise of the Songhai Empire. Finally, delve into the early impacts of European traders and the transition to the Atlantic slave trade.
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Geography Shapes West African History
- West Africa is a long, narrow ecological corridor between the Sahara and the Atlantic with distinct climate bands that shaped societies.
- Samuel Biagetti shows how rivers, savannas, forests, and the shifting monsoon determined settlement, trade, and state formation.
Gold For Salt: The Core Exchange
- West Africa had abundant gold and iron but lacked copper and accessible salt, which skewed its trade incentives.
- Biagetti argues that trans-Saharan salt-for-gold exchange became the region's economic lifeblood for centuries.
Iron And Camel Spark Civilization
- Ironworking and the arrival of the camel triggered urbanization and long-distance trade across the Sahara.
- These innovations let West African societies leap to powerful kingdoms built around caravan commerce.