Ghana and Mali

1. Vegetation zones: Desert, Savannah, Rain Forest 2. Main trade products: Salt, Agriculture, Gold 3. Empires: Ghana and Mali 4. Time Frame:

1. Iron technology !!! s Trading gold and salt: a wealthy taxing opportunity

 King = “Master of Gold”  Ghana means “warrior King”  Absolute power, strong military (iron!!)  Controls gold/salt trade  Also trades food and slaves  Food was also a tax to the city  Polytheistic (many gods)  Ghana tolerated Islam and Muslims

1. Muslim Almoravids take over Believed they should conquer land and spread Islam 3. Many rulers converted to Islam Soninke regain control 5. New problems: some states now Muslim, others became independent 6. New kingdom much smaller Mandinke tribe / King of Mali defeat Ghana

1. 900’s, Arab merchants traded goods and ideas 2. Soninke rulers did not convert at first 3. “Brotherhood of all believers” very appealing to average person 4. Selective about ideas adopted from Islam

 Sumanguru (Ghana) and Sundiata (Mali) were magicians  Sumanguru bellowed and heads of eight spirits magically appeared above his head, but Sundiata’s magic was still more powerful.  Sundiata shot an arrow that grazed Sumanguru and drained all his magic from him.  A great black bird flew over, showing defeat for Ghana and Sumanguru fled away

 Capital city Niani on Niger River  Improved Farming Army expanded borders  Controlled Ghana’s gold mines, new gold mines found  Restarted gold/salt trade and expanded it  3x the size of Ghana  Most powerful kingdom in Africa

 Greatest ruler, from 1307  Devout Muslim, allowed religious freedom  Hajj to Mecca – 3500 mi in 1324  50,000 people, 500 slaves carrying golden staffs, 90 camels – each w/100 lbs gold, hundreds more w/supplies  Mali put on international maps after that

 Attracted trade and scholars from Arabia  New land acquired peacefully and through conquest  Controlled as states (bureaucracy)

 After Mansa Musa (King Moses) died in 1332, later kings less powerful  Attacked from north and south  Some states rebelled  Constant attack weakened Mali  1404 neighboring country Songhai took over