The Exchange of Goods in Ghana (4) - Ghana
0 General Document comments
0 Sentence and Paragraph comments
0 Image and Video comments
4. The Exchange of Goods in Ghana
When trade caravans entered Ghana, they brought their goods to the great marketplace in the capital city of Kumbi. From there, they headed to the southern forests to trade with the Wangarans.
Once they entered in Ghana, it started spreading and it became a popular market center
Kumbi had the busiest market in West Africa. Many local craftspeople sold their goods there. Ironsmiths sold weapons and tools, while goldsmiths and coppersmiths sold jewelry. Weavers sold cloth, and leatherworkers sold leather goods. There were blue blouses from Spain and robes from Morocco, in North Africa. People could also purchase cattle, sheep, honey, wheat, raisins, dried fruit, ivory, pearls, and slaves. All goods, including slaves, were paid for with gold dust.
Kumbi had one of the largest slave markets in West Africa. Raiders captured the slaves along the southern border of Ghana. Many were bought at Kumbi by Arab merchants, who took them across the Sahara and sold them to North Africans or Europeans.
Trade with the Wangarans occurred along a river in the southern forests. Traders conducted their business using a system of silent barter, or trade. The caravans arrived bringing wool, silk, cotton, dates, figs, grains, leather, and salt. They distributed their goods along the river. The traders beat on a drum to announce that they were making an offer to trade and then walked several miles away from the location.
When the Wangarans heard the drum, they traveled to the site by boat. They put some gold dust next to the goods, beat a drum, and left. Later, the traders returned. If the amount of gold dust was acceptable, they took it and left. If not, they retreated again and waited for the Wangarans to return and leave more gold dust. The groups bargained back and forth in this way without ever meeting in person.
This system of silent barter had two advantages. First, it enabled people who spoke different languages to trade. Second, it allowed the Wangarans to protect the secret location of their gold mines.
General Document Comments 0
icons on the left to see existing comments.
0 archived comments