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