Mixed Color Antique Glass Nila Bead Strand, Dark Blue with Some Green, Mali - Rita Okrent Collection (AT0648)

Antique blue Nila bead strand with some green mixed in, found in Timbuktu. Circa approximately 1200-1600 AD.

Approximate 24" of beads. Bead sizes range from 3-5mm.

Nila beads are small monochrome Islamic glass beads than can be found in colors ranging mostly from blue, green and white to yellow that are widespread in West Africa. They are also referred to as Indo-Pacific or Trade Winds beads, in reference to the winds that, for centuries, were used by the merchant ships bringing them from India. Large quantities have been found in sites along the river banks of the Niger river in Mali. Beads were often found buried in large quantities in clay pots, used as a form of currency. The word Nila came from the Sanskrit term for indigo.

As research and technology evolves, there is a greater ability to verify glass bead making by local manufacture in West Africa.
Some useful reference articles:
https://theconversation.com/how-we-found-the-earliest-glass-production-south-of-the-sahara-and-what-it-means-142059

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317775780_Ancient_History_of_Technology_in_West_Africa_The_Indigenous_GlassGlass_Bead_Industry_and_the_Society_in_Early_Ile-Ife_Southwest_Nigeria

African Trade Item 0648