Glossary · Term
Caravan trade
Caravan trade is long-distance overland commerce carried by groups of merchants with pack animals, typically camels, travelling together for safety. It linked the trans-Saharan routes of the Ghana, Mali and Kanem-Bornu empires and the Silk Road networks of the Timurid and Seljuk empires. Control and taxation of caravan routes was a major source of wealth for many states, including the Mamluk Sultanate and the Wadai Empire.
Mentioned in 23 profiles
Garamantian EmpireImpactGhana EmpireFoundationGupta EmpireGovernanceKanem-Bornu EmpireSocioeconomyKhazar KhaganateSocioeconomyKhwarazmian EmpireMilitaryLuba EmpireDeclineMali EmpireSocioeconomyOyo EmpireSocioeconomyPortuguese EmpireFoundationSeljuk EmpireSocioeconomySikh EmpireSocioeconomyTimurid EmpireSocioeconomyWadai EmpireFoundation, MilitaryZand EmpireSocioeconomyGolden HordeSocioeconomyKingdom of SabaSocioeconomyShirvanshah StateSocioeconomyAq QoyunluSocioeconomyLan NaSocioeconomyAjuran SultanateGovernanceSultanate of ZanzibarImpactKingdom of KanoImpact
Mentioned in 31 state histories
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Caravan trade. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/caravan-trade
- MLA
- “Caravan trade.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/caravan-trade. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Caravan trade.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/caravan-trade.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Caravan trade’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/caravan-trade (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻