ABSTRACT
Trading centres and trade routes connecting parts of the Sudan to the outside world via the western, eastern and northern borders, and later viaSuakin, existed for many centuries prior to the advent of the British (Amin 1970; Elhassan 1985). Although there was localised exchange of basic goods between settled farmers and pastoralists, the external trade mainly served the elite of these communities. Intensified commoditisation of the means of production and consumption is of recent origin and has affected different communities in different ways. Its spread commenced at the beginning of this century. British rule opened the way for systematic and wider linkages between the Sudan and the world market through the intensification of moneycommodity relations.
