In the 13th century, which trade network was dominated by Muslims after the rise of Islamic caliphates?

• A. Trans Saharan trade
• B. Silk Road
• C. Indian Ocean maritime routes
• D. Atlantic trade routes

Answer: (A)

Islam spread a commercial world that tied distant regions together through Muslim merchants, states, and networks. In the 13th century, the Trans-Saharan caravan trade stands out as the network most clearly dominated by Muslims, because Muslim traders from North Africa and the wider Islamic world organized and sustained long-distance exchanges across the Sahara between West Africa and the Mediterranean world. The spread of Islam into West Africa helped create political centers like Mali and later Songhai, where gold from the interior moved to Maya, Timbuktu, and other hubs that connected with North African and Mediterranean markets. Caravan routes, camels, caravanserais, and a shared Arabic- and Islamic-law-influenced commercial culture enabled goods such as gold, salt, and slaves to move efficiently across vast distances, integrating Sub-Saharan economies into the broader Muslim world. While Muslim merchants were active in other networks as well, this desert corridor most vividly exemplifies how Islamic political authority and religious culture facilitated a dominantly Muslim trading system in that era.