Economy and Trade of Ghana Empire

The king of Ghana is famous for producing gold. The state stipulates that gold bars over one ounce belong to the king, but Jinsha can be bought and sold freely. The price of gold is controlled by the king. The king's government also controls the trade in the Sahara desert. This trade mainly exchanged the salt of the Sahara desert and the commodities such as copper, dried fruits and shells in the Mediterranean for gold and slaves in West Africa, and the trade tax became an important income of the kingdom. According to Al Bakshi, the king of Ghana levied a tax of 1 gold dinar on the salt carried by each donkey entering the country, and the exit tax was doubled. Gold production and Sahara trade promoted Ghana's prosperity. People who have been to Ghana praise the splendor of the palace costumes. Not only the clothes of kings and ministers are decorated with precious gold ornaments, but also the shields and swords in the hands of guards are inlaid with gold.

Gold is produced in the southern gold-producing areas of Garland, Bambuk and Bure. The king monopolized the mining of gold mines in some form. All the natural gold nuggets dug out of mines in this country belong to the king, and only Jinsha is left to the civilians who collect gold. It is said that the king has a natural gold nugget weighing 15 kg embedded in his throne. After Jinsha was produced, it flowed into commercial ports in the Sahel region through Wangala merchants. Wangala people often travel between gold producing areas and commercial ports such as Kunbi, and have close ties with Arab and Berber merchants, so they accept Islam more.

Ghana's gold may have been exported to the Maghreb in large quantities in the 8th century. Maghreb businessmen went deep into Ghana's gold-producing areas and made a "dumb deal" with the local people: Maghreb businessmen set off from West Gilmassa and went to Ghana, the border city of Sudan. After experiencing unprecedented difficulties, Maghreb people finally came to the border with Jinsha country, so they sounded the drums they carried with them, and their voices could be heard everywhere the locals lived. The merchants were sure that those people heard the drums, so they spread out their goods and displayed them in different categories. Then they left this place about a day's journey. When the Sudanese came here with gold, they put a certain amount of gold next to each kind of goods and then left. Then, the merchants came and put the gold next to their goods, leaving the goods behind. Finally, the merchants left with gongs and drums.