West African Empires

Empire of Ghana

Ghana Controls Trade Ghana gained control of the trade routes in West Africa This resulted in them becoming a powerful state

Originally the people of Ghana, the Soninke, were farmers

When nomads threatened to take their water and pastures, groups of Soninke families banded together They grew in strength, learned how to use iron tools and iron weapons and defeated threats to their way of life

Because Ghana lay between the Sahara Desert and the forests this left them in the best position to trade the two most valuable resources in the area, gold and salt

Trade was done through a silent barter system near riverbanks Trade partners never saw each other so violence wouldn’t occur

Ghana Builds an Empire All trade passed through Ghana because trade was safe Ghana’s army protected traders on their journey to keep routes free from bandits

Ghana’s wealth was due to taxes they placed on traders Traders had to pay a tax on each item they brought with them They also had to pay a tax on each item they left with

Ghana also collected taxes from neighboring tribes they conquered All of this tax money was used to build Ghana’s army

Expansion of the Empire As Ghana grew in wealth so did the size of its army Ghana routinely conquered other areas of West Africa to control more centers of trade

The kings of Ghana knew the size of the empire wouldn’t allow them to control their empire without help

Ghana allowed conquered tribes to retain their kings These conquered kings acted as governors that answered to the king

The height of Ghana’s empire was reached under king Tunka Manin

Ghana’s Decline Ghana thrived until its collapse at the end of the 1200s There were three main reasons for Ghana’s collapse Invasion Overgrazing Internal Rebellion

Invasion A Muslim group called the Almoravids attacked Ghana trying to convert it to Islam The war lasted 14 years, but in the end the Almoravids won The Almoravids cut off all trade routes to Ghana

Overgrazing The Almoravids brought animals with them These animals ate all of Ghana’s grasslands

Desert winds blew away the remaining soil and farmers had to move to create new farms

Internal Rebellion One of the countries that Ghana had conquered rose up in rebellion The entire empire was taken over by the rebels

Ghana couldn’t keep control, were attacked by a neighbor and the empire fell apart

Empire of Mali

Sundiata Makes Mali an Empire Like Ghana, Mali lay along the Niger River Mali allowed its people to control trade along the river

Sundiata was Mali’s first strong leader He was known to be a warrior and a magician

His father was the king of Mali The kingdom was conquered by another king that treated the people badly

When Sundiata came of age he built an army and won back Mali’s independence After this he started conquering nearby kingdoms, including Ghana

To keep order in his king Sundiata took power away from local leaders (mansa) Mansas used to be political and religious leaders of society

By becoming the religious leader of Mali, Sundiata gained even more power Later rulers kept the title of mansa, but most of these rulers were Muslim

Mansa Musa Mali’s most famous ruler was Mansa Musa Under Mansa Musa, Mali reached the height of its wealth, power and fame

Just as he supported the Muslim faith, he supported education He established school to study the Qur’an in Timbuktu

He wanted his people to read the Qur’an He stressed the importance of everyone learning how to read and write the Arabic language Arabic became the language of the government and for trade

The Fall of Mali Mali depended on strong leaders to survive When Mansa Musa died his son, Maghan became king

Maghan was a weak ruler and raiders couldn’t be stopped

They burned down the schools and mosques of Timbuktu and Mali never recovered The empire gradually declined because it was too large

Empire of the Songhai

The Songhai Build an Empire As the Mali empire was reaching its height, the Songhai started building their empire They gained their wealth through trade just as Ghana and Mali did

Songhai Rise Up against Mail The Songhai were Muslim, and traded with Berbers across the Sahara The Berbers preferred to trade with the Songhai due to their shared religion

Sunni Ali became the ruler of Songhai in 1464 He was responsible for reunifying, strengthening and enlarging the empire He encouraged his people to work together to build peace between religions

Askia the Great Ali was followed by his son Sunni Banu, who was not Muslim

The people feared that the empire and trade would suffer so they rebelled The leader of the rebellion was a general named Muhammad Ture

After the rebellion, Ture gave himself the title askia, and became known as Askia the Great a). Askia – a high ranking military leader

Like Mansa Musa he supported education He built universities, school, libraries and mosques in Timbuktu

Djenne Djenne also became a center of learning, especially for medicine

Askia removed local leaders and appointed new governors loyal to him to control the empire

Songhai Falls to Morocco Askias after Askia the Great were weak and caused the downfall of the Songhai empire Morocco invaded Songhai, attacking with an early form of guns called Arquebus Songhai’s swords, spears and bows were no match for Moroccan guns and cannons Songhai never recovered from the attack

Historical and Artistic Traditions

Storytellers Maintain Oral History Major civilizations didn’t have a written language

Despite this, the common people of Mali and Ghana new their history History was passed down from generation to generation orally

Griots Griots were West African storytellers that were highly respected by their community

People of West Africa were interested in the deeds of their ancestors Griots stories were entertaining as well as informative Some griots acted out the past like a play

Griots also recited proverbs to teach lessons to people Proverb – Short saying of wisdom or truth

In order to recite stories and proverbs griots had to memorize hundreds of names and events

Some stories were long poems called epics Two of the most famous epics are Dausi and Sundiata

Dausi Dausi tells the history of Ghana It tells the story through Bida, a seven-headed snake god Bida demanded a yearly sacrifice of a young woman to keep Ghana safe A warrior killed Bida, and as he died he cursed Ghana It was the curse that caused Ghana to fall

Visitors Write Histories The people of West Africa have no written history of their own Visitors from other parts of the world wrote about their travels

Al-masudi One traveler, al-Masudi described the: Geography Customs History Scientific achievements of the area

Abu ubayd al-bakri Later another traveler, Abu Ubayd al-Bakri did the same

Ibn Battutah and leo africanus The most famous of the writers were Ibn Battutah and Leo Africanus

West african values West Africans commonly created: Sculptures Masks Music and dancing

Sculptures Sculptures were the best known forms of art Sculptures were general of their ancestors and used for religious rituals

Masks and clothing Masks were created after the likeness of animals People wore these masks during rituals as they danced around fires

Music and Dance Singing and dancing were forms of entertainment They also served to honor their history Dances and music were performed for weddings and funerals

Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires