Western Sub-Saharan Africa

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Recommended: The influence of islam and christianity on african religion

The religion of Islam was introduced to many regions in the time period of 600 CE. Eventually the religion of Islam came to Western sub- Saharan Africa effecting the region greatly. Between 600 and 1450 C.E. ,Western sub-Saharan Africa changed from being a small regional kingdom having relatively local trade with Northern Africa to becoming an expanding empire with extensive trade because of access to Islamic trade routes as a result the introduction of Islam. The presence of the trans- Saharan trade and the existence of the advance form of government, however, stayed the same.
Prior to the introduction of Islam, Western sub-Saharan Africa was a society that had relatively local trade and a complex government. During the time of 600 C.E., trans-Saharan trade had existed between Western sub- Saharan Africa and Northern Africa. This trade was gold for salt, Western sub-Saharan Africa had many gold mines but no salt to preserve their food. They had no salt because the this area was a savanna, which is a dry desert land and the people had no salt since it wasn’t a natural resource. In order to add taste to their food and preserve the food they had they traded the gold they mined for salt with Northern Africa. As a result, trans-Saharan trade began and Western sub-Saharan Africa would trade their gold for salt. Based on various sources it is believed that gold was given for the weight of the salt. Preceding the introduction of Islam, unlike other regions of Africa, Western Sub-Saharan Africa wasn't a “stateless society”. At 600 CE there was a regional kingdom called Ghana. Ghana needed a complex government and order to regulate and control trade. The kingdom had taxed caravans passing through the kingdom and used that money to supp...

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...ent. Because, trade was taxed the empire was able to pay for an army using the tax money and expand their territory. Despite the changes the introduction of Islam brought the idea of Trans-Saharan-Trade still had existed and the necessity of an advanced form of government, not stateless societies remained the same. This was due to the fact that the introduction of Islam brought more trade to the region, which also created a need for an advanced form of government.
The introduction of Islam has brought many positive changes to the region of Western Sub-Saharan Africa. The introduction of Islam had affected Trans-Saharan Trade by making it more popular. The increase in trade had led to an advanced form of government. Even though many changes were brought to western sub Saharan Africa trans Saharan Trade and a need for an advanced form of government still existed.

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