Factors, Routes, Participants, Commodities & Impacts of Long Distance Trade in Africa
LONG DISTANCE TRADE
Long distance trade refers to a trade that involved two or more regions and in which traders moved long distances to buy and sell trade items. Long distance trade emerged during the 15th century to 19th century; In several areas of africa long-distance trade is believed to have started in the 15th and 19th century but in North and West africa the Trans-Saharan trade is said to have started as early as 3rd and 4th centuries but it grew much in the 8th century A.D.
In east Africa traders walked from the interior to the coastal areas along the Indian ocean and from the coast to the interior, this was essentially a regional trade but it involved some elements of inter – continental trade since some trades came from the trans- Saharan long-distance trade in that it lacked transportation animals like donkeys, camels so they depended on human labour. Prominent societies which engaged in long distance trade in eastern Africa include: -
1. Buganda, Nyamwezi, Kamba and the Yao societies, Bisa, Chewa, Ovimbundu and Imbangala.
Traders from those societies were agents of traditional rulers such as Kabaka Mutesa of Buganda, Ntemi Mirambo of the Nyamwezi, Mataka of the Yao and the clan head of the Kamba societies.
2. Arabs and Swahili societies
Traders from these societies mainly stayed at Kilwa, Zanzibar, Bagamoyo and Mombasa. They supplied imported goods to the interior. The Arab societies produced famous individual traders who sold and supplied goods and slaves. Among them was Mohamed Bin Ahmed el Mujerb, popularly known as Tippu Tip, Msiri in Zambia, Abdullah Bin Nasibu in Tabora and many others.
3. French and Portuguese traders:
The French bought slaves at the coast and took them to Mauritius and reunion islands to work in their sugar plantations whereas Portuguese merchants took slaves from brazil to work in different plantations.
COMMODITIES THAT WERE TRADED DURING THE LONG-DISTANCE TRADE
Long distance trade involved a variety of trade items.
1. In the early period of the trade: tobacco, hoes and animal skin were exchanged for salt, clothes and beads at Kilwa.
2. In 18th and 19th centuries Slaves and Ivory became the most demanded trade items. These items were taken from the interior to the east African coast to be exchanged for guns and beads and also porcelain. Some slaves remained in Zanzibar to work in cloves and coconut plantations, others were taken to Arabia to work as domestic servants. Others ended up in the Indian ocean islands and brazil in south Americans.
3. Other trade items were such as Copper from Katanga, beeswax, rhinoceros’ horns
Methods of capturing slaves.
Slaves being one of the most demanded items of the East African Long-distance trade, slave dealers designed ways of obtaining slaves among them being:
1. Selling of criminals
2. Raiding and ambushing weaker societies
3. Kidnapping
4. Selling prisoners of war
5. Through the use of tricks (treachery)
6. Through way lay and ambush.
TRIBES INVOLVED IN EAST AFRICAN LONG-DISTANCE TRADE.
1. The Kamba
The Kamba occupied and dominated the northern route of the East African Long-distance Trade. They were led by a famous trader called Chief Kivoi.
2. The Nyamwezi.
They dominated the central route of the East African long-distance trade. They were moving all the way from the present-day administrative region of Tabora, to as far as Zaire where they came to be known as the YEKKE and they were going there in search of copper.
They were led by famous kings like Chief Mirambo who was succeeded by Isike Mwanakiyungi.
3. The Yao. The yao dominated the Southern Route of the East African Long-distance trade. They had no iron technology therefore they had first to go to Kilwa and obtain beads and cloth which later they had to exchange these items with iron hoes from the Kisii who were the traditional Ironsmiths. The Yao were led by Chiefs such as Mpanda, Mataka, Machemba and Mtalika.
ROUTES OF THE LONG-DISTANCE TRADE IN EAST AFRICA
Caravan routes were paths through which traders along with their caravan of slaves passed on their way to the coast or into the interior of Africa. During the long-distance trade of East Africathe following main caravan routes existed.
1. Northern route: the northern route started from Mombasa and another one from Malindi of the Kenyan coast and become one route. The route went through Taita and Kamba lands up to the slopes of Mount Kenya and towards Mt. Elgon. The same route started at Pangani and Tanga and went through
2. The central route: It ran from Bagamoyo and Saadani through the Zaramo and Gogo lands to Tabora the Nyamwezi were the famous traders of this route.
3. The southern route from Kilwa inland through the Yao land Makua and Makonde to the northern and southern tips of lake Nyasa.
Effects (implications) of long distances trade in east Africa
Political effects:
1. The rise and development of some chiefdoms and kingdoms, especially those which had main trading people such as the Nyamwezi, the Yao, Buganda and Kamba.
2. Decline or fall of weaker societies was the negative effect because those societies were frequently ruined by slave traders.
3. The rise of towns such as Khotakhota, Karonga, Ujiji, Klema, Kazembe, Tabora and Kilwa.
4. Growth of Kiswahili language among the dwellers who were influenced by the Arabs and Swahili traders.
5. Exploitation of African resources for example Ivory, animal hides, beeswax, timber, minerals and slaves
6. The rise of a class of a rich merchant, example of these merchants were such as Chief Mirambo, Msiri, Mtarika, Nyungu ya Mawe, Tippu Tip, Mataka, Machemba, Kivoi and the like.
7. Spread of Islam in the interior of East Africa, E.g in Tabora, Ujiji, Kalema and the like.
8. Insecurity emerged in the weaker societies where slave traders captured people as slaves and took them to the coast.
9. The number of people decreased in areas where slaves were captured
10. Hunger and famine emerged in many societies
Generally, the long-distance trade was a regional trade which was based on unequal exchange. Valuable east African goods such as ivory and copper were exchanged for many consumables and less important good but it brought some development to the east African societies but the most notorious aspects of this is slave trade was a situation in which Africans were turned slaves to benefit eh Arabs the French and the Portugue
