Slave traders on the darb al-arba’in route monopolized pre-1820 knowledge of Sudan

Evidence

Muhammad al-Tunisï traveled to the sultanate of Därfür, for example, the most concrete knowledge of the Sudan was owned by merchants, most notably the slave traders who regularly traveled the famous darb al-arba`ïn trail.These traders communicated recent events that had occurred throughout the vast regions of the Sudan once they arrived at the wikalat al-jällaba (slave market) in Cairo, which is how Muhammad al-Tunisï was able to discover important facts about his own father in Darfur. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 133

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines darb al-arba’in and wikalat al-jallaba (slave market) as the institutional channels of Sudan knowledge.