Zusammenfassung der Ressource
West Africa
- Mali
- Geography:
- After Ghana ended, No one controlled the trans-Saharan trade
- Expanded to the Atlantic ocean
- Malinke had been active in Ghana's gold trade in 1230
- While Mali was expanding Mansa Musa came to power in 1307
- Control of the Niger River helped Mali grow as an empire
- Agriculture
- Religion:
- There were stories of reign told in epics
- Musa had strong feelings about his religion, Muslim
- Introduced into West Africa
- Islam became a powerful influence
- Achievements:
- Grew wealthier than ever
- Wealth mostly came from the tax of the gold trade
- They kept order of the Saharan Trade
- The Army kept life in Mali relatively peaceful
- Mansa Musa came to power in 1307
- The empire of Mali rose to power in the 1230s and on the same territory
- The king named, Sundiata, rose to power
- He ruled hor 25 years
- Economics:
- The wealth mostly came from the taxation of the gold
trade
- They became a wealthy and sophisticated
empire
- Wealthier than ever
- They achieved of being very wealthy
- Social Structures:
- Grew frustrated with the policies of neighboring people
- Rose up to conquer them
- Introduced to West Africa by Muslim traders in Ghana
- Since Mansa Musa brought attention to Mali and Europe, and built schools,
libraries, and more. He converted many people to Islam
- Songhai
- Geography:
- It existed as a small kingdom for centuries
- Came in contact with Muslim traders
- Near by the Niger River
- Gao, Timbuktu was the capital
- The rulers were Sunni Ali and Askia
Muhammad
- Dealt with the Saharan trade
- Religion:
- Their belief was Islam
- Askia Muhammad was the first muslim ruler
- Traveled through Egypt, gained support from the
Muslim rulers
- Askia Muhammad decided to make
pilgrimage by going to Mecca to show
commitment
- Achievements:
- When they increased the commerce made
them a very wealthy kingdom
- They used their wealth again to make
Timbuktu center of culture
- The kingdom was eventually overthrown by the son
- Later was conquered by Morocco in 1591
- Politics:
- The first thing that Ali did
when he became leader was
that he took Timbuktu from
the Tuareg
- Military success came from army of skilled cavalry
- They conquered new territories
- They also replaced the local leaders with Ali's own followers
- Economics:
- The government directed an official to
rule he western part of the empire
- They were rich too
- Because of being strong and rich enough , they
took control of the former empire in the 1460s
- Grew wealthy trading goods along the Niger River
- Social Structures:
- Led many campaigns against the
gathering of people for building
the empire
- Islam became an influence on the
culture
- They all cropped together along the Niger River
- Ghana
- Geography:
- Sahara Desert
- Ghana was located in the
middle of the salt and
gold trade routes.
- From the North,
there was salt
- From the West, there was
the rich materials of gold,
ivory, and more goods.
- Ghana built their own capital, Kumbi Saleh,
which was right on the edge of the Sahara and
the city briskly became the most significant
southern trading center of the Saharan trade.
- Ghana was a kingdom
- Religion:
- They had houses surrounded
by stone walls, and was a
spiritual capital
- A cluster of primarily nomadic
people called the Berbers formed a
kingdom just south of the Sahara
Desert
- They had sacred
grove of trees used
for religious
ceremonies.
- Ghana was controlled by the Sonike
- Achievements:
- Ghana became rich due to a huge
part of the Saharan trade.
- As Ghana grew more rich, their
kingdom expanded into an empire,
requiring neighboring groups of
people to pay taxes
- In 1076, the Almoravids (Berbers) captured Kumbi Saleh, and
ended the ruling of Ghana and changed them into a lot of I
slams.
- Politics:
- They held the military power, the
king was the supreme judge of the
kingdom
- Got to increase Ghana's wealth and
power even more.
- It was contained more than dozens of mosques
by the Arab and Berber merchants
- The Berbers gained control of the Saharan trade
routes, and launched a war against Ghana
- Kumbi Saleh was the capital of Ghana
- Economics:
- Ghana had to have to give him a percentage of the products they were trading
- Trading gold was a big part and required two be payed
- Trading goods with camels
- In the trading routes there were salt and gold
- Social Structures:
- Most houses were made out of wood and clay
- If you were wealthy then it was wood and stone
- Groups of people lived in a region
- About 30,000 people lived in Kumbi
Saleh