Understanding how the challenging feat was realized of conducting trans-Saharan caravan trade across perilously arid lands not ruled by a unifying state or regulated by a common currency is the principal aim of this book. By focusing on the institutional mechanisms that facilitated long-distance trade, namely, the place of the law, religion, and literacy, on the one hand, and trade network organizing, on the other, I hope to have come closer to this goal. The nineteenth century witnessed an increased volume of caravan traffic now more directly interconnected with European maritime trade. The proliferation of firearms and the increased availability of writing paper in this period were two factors that had a significant impact on the organization of camelback commerce. But aside from these developments, one question remains largely unanswered, namely, how commercial and legal institutions and practices may have been transformed in the course of time.

On the eve of the colonial period where this study ends, dramatic changes in the lives of long-distance traders were about to unfold. Before the end of the nineteenth century, some Wād Nūn merchants were forgoing the arduous Saharan crossings by embarking on European ships to transport goods, including horses, from Al-Ṣawīra to Ndar and back.