Until the sixteenth century, caravans routinely plied the sands of the Sahara, moving goods, especially gold, from distant West Africa to centers of trade in North Africa and Egypt. Towns in West Africa became cosmopolitan stopping points, and as merchants, rulers, and caravan leaders converted to Islam for both spiritual and financial reasons, Islam flourished alongside the caravan business.

In the thirteenth century, Sundiata Keita gained dominance over the Malinke and Soninke people, establishing the Malian Empire. Mali’s control of the Bure goldfields enabled it to prosper, and cities such as Timbuktu and Djenné became centers of Islamic scholarship.

Swahili — a language that combines the grammar of African Bantu languages with a Bantu and Arabic vocabulary and is spoken in East Africa. Slave Coast — a section of African coast along the Bight of Benin, centered on the port city of Whydah and a major source of African people sold into slavery. dhow — a ship made of coconut-wood planks sewn together with coconut fiber and equipped with lateen sails. lateen sail — a triangular-shaped sail that allows a boat to sail both with and into the wind.