Waves of Change: the arrival of Islam

• • in the north of the Sahara, powerful Islamic empires and Muslim merchants united a vast amount of Afro-Eurasia
• • As West Africans converted to Islam, this system expanded into the trans-Saharan trade
• • after the arab conquest of the 7th century, the Berbers converted to Islam
• • islam was the most important factor
  • provided common language
  • provided value system
  • made communication easier
  • written arabic improved record-keeping in West Africw
  • arabic legal codes and written contracts increased trust between merchants