Latest / The Songhai Empire: Africa's Powerful Forgotten Kingdom — Fexingo History / The Songhai Empire's Salt Trade: Gold of the Desert
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- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Songhai's gold — the mines of Bambuk and Bure, how the empire controlled the flow of gold northward across the Sahara. But there's another commodity that was just as valuable, if not more, in the everyday life of the Sahel: salt. Luna: Salt? Like, table salt? Lucas: Exactly. But in the medieval Sahel, salt was literally worth its weight in gold. The region had plenty of gold — it was the world's biggest producer for centuries — but it had almost no natural salt deposits. And you need salt to survive. In the hot climate, people lose salt through sweat constantly. Without it, you get muscle cramps, dehydration, eventually death. So salt was a strategic resource, and whoever controlled the salt mines controlled the economy. Lucas: And this is something we haven't really dug into yet on the show. Songhai's power wasn't just about the Niger River or the cavalry. It was also about the vast salt flats of the Sahara, especially the mines at Taghaza and later Taoudenni. Luna: I've heard of Taghaza. That's the place where the buildings were made of salt blocks, right? Lucas: That's exactly right. The 14th-century traveler Ibn Battuta described Taghaza as a miserable place with nothing but salt — no trees, no water, just salt. The houses and the mosque were all built from salt slabs. And the conditions were brutal. The mines were worked by enslaved laborers, often from the southern Sahel, who were sent there as punishment or sold into the trade. They'd extract the salt in huge slabs, which were then loaded onto camels and carried south. Lucas: The caravans could be enormous. Leo Africanus, who visited the region in the early 1500s, reported caravans of up to 12,000 camels heading from Taghaza to Timbuktu and Gao. Each camel carried two or three slabs of salt, each slab weighing about 90 kilograms. That's a lot of salt. Luna: Twelve thousand camels? That's mind-boggling. Lucas: It really is. And the value was incredible. In Songhai's markets, a slab of salt from Taghaza could be traded for an equal weight in gold. That's a one-to-one exchange. So a 90-kilo slab of salt could get you 90 kilos of gold dust — if you could find a buyer. More commonly, the salt was traded for gold, slaves, textiles, and foodstuffs like millet and rice. Lucas: And it's worth noting — we keep this show free of ads because we think history should be accessible to everyone, no commercial interruptions. If you'd like to support that mission, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep these conversations going. Luna: Yeah, it's a simple way to help keep the show independent. Lucas: Exactly. So, back to salt. The Songhai emperors, especially Askia Muhammad Toure, understood the strategic importance of controlling the salt trade. The mines at Taghaza were technically in the Sahara, but the Berber and Tuareg tribes who controlled the immediate area were often under Songhai's suzerainty. The Askia imposed taxes on the salt caravans, and he also sent military expeditions to protect the trade routes from raiders. Luna: So it was like a monopoly? Lucas: Almost. There were other salt sources, like the mines at Taoudenni, which became more important after Taghaza was largely abandoned in the 16th century due to depletion and the harsh conditions. But Songhai's control was never absolute. The Tuareg often acted as middlemen, and they could be difficult to control. The Tarikh al-Sudan records several campaigns by Askia Muhammad and his successors to keep the Tuareg in line and ensure the salt kept flowing south. Lucas: And the salt trade wasn't just about Songhai. It was the lifeblood of the entire Sahel. The Hausa city-states to the east, like Kano and Katsina, also depended on salt from the Sahara. The Wangara merchants — a specialized trading group — moved salt along with gold, copper, and other goods across West Africa. The dyula traders of the Mali Empire had already established these networks, and Songhai inherited them. Luna: So the salt trade connected the whole region. Lucas: Absolutely. And it had a huge impact on daily life. Salt was used not just for cooking and preserving food, but also as a form of currency. In some markets, you could buy a slave for a few slabs of salt. The Askia even collected taxes in salt — the jangali tax on cattle was sometimes paid in salt bars. So it permeated every level of the economy. Lucas: But the salt trade also made Songhai a target. When the Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur decided to invade Songhai in 1591, one of his motivations was to control the gold and salt trades. The Saadian army, led by Judar Pasha, marched across the Sahara and defeated Songhai at the Battle of Tondibi. After that, the Saadians tried to take over the salt routes, but they found it difficult to maintain control so far from Morocco. Luna: So the salt mines were part of what made the empire worth invading. Lucas: Exactly. And after the fall of the Songhai Empire, the salt trade continued, but it fragmented. The Tuareg and other groups took over the mines at Taoudenni, and the trade shifted. But the memory of Songhai's control over the salt routes lived on in the chronicles. The Tarikh al-Sudan and the Tarikh al-Fattash both mention salt caravans and the revenues they generated for the Askia. Lucas: It's a reminder that empires aren't just built on armies and rivers. They're built on commodities — the things people need to survive. Salt was one of those things, and Songhai's ability to control its flow made it powerful for centuries. Luna: I never thought of salt as such a big deal, but it really was. Lucas: It's easy to overlook because we take it for granted. But in the medieval Sahel, salt was as precious as gold. And the Songhai Empire understood that better than most.