Trade routes played a very important role in the spread of culture and religion throughout the world (Hansen & Curtis, 2012). For instance, in Africa the Tran Saharan trade routes lead to spread of Islam in Africa. Quite often, merchant and traders were not only selling their goods but as they interacted with buyers, Islam and Swahili culture also spread very fast. In addition, there were Islamic Sultanates that controlled trade, decided cases and collected taxes (and Muslims were expected to pay less). These could contributed greatly on the spread of Islam. The Indian Ocean trade routes just like the Trans Saharan trade routes equally contributed not only to the spread of Islam but also Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism.
Hansen & Curtis, (2012) illustrate that Muslim traveller Battuta dictated the account of his travel through the Islamic trade routes from North Africa to North India. Batutta describes the cultures of Kingdom of Mali, Ghana and the state of Great Zimbabwe. He observes that Islam not only dominated and spread very fast but also ruled through the Sultanates of North Africa. ‘Glimpse of the Kingdom of Ghana in 1067 CE’ shows that Ghana was a wealthy and powerful Kingdom with a diverse economic base of gold but the presence of Islam lead to its demise and subsequent gradual rise of Muslim authority.
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Hansen & Curtis, (2012) point out that Battuta evidently left for Mecca and intended to return home but changed his mind and resolved to keep his pilgrimage going. His travel was meant for adventure especially Islamic trade routes. Al-Bakir’s journey through the Kingdom of Ghana also seem to have been an adventure of a geographer and history purposely to learn more about the kingdom. On the other hand, Sidi Ali was sent to fetch back Egyptian ships but could not carry out the mission because he realised the challenge of travelling by water (Paul, 1999). Travelling seem to have influenced the individuals with regard to religion (especially Islam) since they travelled mainly through Islamic states and in the documents they talk positively of Islam and God. In His voyage, Sidi continually acknowledges God’s power and the miracles He did for them.
Though often ignored it is worth noting that religion has a lot of influence on trade and impact on culture. For instance traders of the same religion tend to interact more freely and trust each other. Moreover, as a cultural institution, religion guide human behaviour such as hard work, productivity and thus encourage international trade. It is therefore important to focus our thinking the influence religion has on trade.
References
Hansen, V., & Curtis, K. R. (2012). Voyages in World History, Volume II, Brief . Cengage Learning. http://web.archive.org/web/20010210035839/http://www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/ghana.htm
Paul Halsall/Fordham University, Internet medieval sourcebook, 1999. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/16CSidi1.asp
