On Trans-Saharan Trails

Islamic Law, Trade Networks, and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Western Africa
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-0-521-88724-3
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 498 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 865 g

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 Wad Nun 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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lydon, Ghislaine

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islamisches Recht
• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Islamisches Recht
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Geschichte des Islam Geschichte des Islam: Neuzeit
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Internationaler Handel
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Bereichsspezifisches Management Außenhandel
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Making history across the African divide; 2. Trans-Saharan trade in the longue durée; 3. Markets and the movement of caravans: nineteenth-century developments; 4. Guelmim and the Wad Nun traders; 5. The organization of caravan trade; 6. Business practice and legal culture in a paper economy of faith; 7. Trade networks and the limits of cooperative behavior; 8. On trans-Saharan trails.

Über Autor(innen)

Lydon, Ghislaine
Dr Ghislaine Lydon is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. The author of several articles on West Africa, she has done extensive fieldwork in both West and North Africa and archival work in France.