Empire of Ghana and the Gold-Salt Trade

Empire of Ghana Ghana emerged as a Kingdom by the 700s. Ghana grew rich through the newly formed trade across the Sahara with Musilm traders.

Gold-Salt Trade Gold and Salt were the two most important trade items in West Africa. Ghana produced a lot of Gold and wanted salt which is essential for large cultures. The explosion in trade made the kings of Ghana extremely wealthy.

Ghana and Islam Islam spread through Trade to West Africa. Although the leaders converted to Islam and employed Muslim advisors, many Africans hung on to their local religions. Ghana went into decline after loosing multiple wars to the Almoravids.

Empire Building: The Empire of Mali

Empire of Mali Mali emerged by 1235 just south of Ghana. With Ghana still week, this allowed Mali to become the dominate kingdom of the region as well as take over the gold-salt trade.

Sundiata Mali’s first great leader. He overthrew a dictator like ruler, expanded the empire, and declared himself Mansa which means emperor. He strengthened the empire through trade, conquest, and increasing the size of the government.

Mansa Musa Came to power 50 years after Sundiata and restored the wealth and prestige of Mali and promoted Islam as the empire’s religion. Brought Muslim ideas of education to West Africa and launched several building projects.

Ibn Battuta A Muslim traveler who traveled for 27 years attempting to write a chronicle and history of all Islamic nations in the world. He was blown away by how advanced Mali was and wrote that in many ways it was more advanced than any place in the world.

Empire of Songhai and the Collapse of West African Empires

Empire of Songhai Mali gradually declined into the 1400s as a result of poor leadership and lower trade profits. Songhai was a small kingdom that use to be ruled by Mali but now began to expand and make an empire for itself.

Sunni Ali Came to power in 1464 and built a professional army that conquered most of West Africa. He also heavily relied on his navy to control the rivers which were the main way of transporting goods to trade.

Collapse of Western Empires Despite being extremely wealthy, West African Empire lacked advanced military technology. In 1591, and army with guns and cannons from Morocco conquered what was left of Songhai and West Africa. European powers began expressing interest and claiming land in Africa.

Other West African Kingdoms The Hausa organized themselves into city-states and relied on trade to prosper. Yoruba was a small but old kingdom that was famous for it’s art and architecture. Benin were a powerful kingdom that often competed with Mali and Songhai but fell victim to the slave trade when the Portuguese arrived.

Trading Empires Assignment Before moving on and studying other parts of Africa, now is a good time during this year to take a closer look at trade and the vital role it played in mankind’s future at the time and continues to do so today. Complete the following with your textbook: #1-4 on pg. 429 #1-2 on 431 #1-2 on 432 #1-2 on 433 #1-2 on 435 Complete 3 out of the 6 DBQ questions on 434-435. *Honors complete all 6.

East and Southern African States and Empires Overview

East Coast Trade Cities Most of the East African population was concentrated in coastal cities who traded by sea. The modern day language of Swahili was created when Arabic from Muslim traders mixed with African Languages.

Portuguese Conquest In 1488, the first Portuguese ships arrived looking for a trade route to India. In order to establish permanent trading ports, the Portuguese attacked using their cannons and conquered several East African cities.

Islamic Influence Islam was introduced through trade and quickly became the preferred religion of the leaders and wealthy merchants. Most common people maintained their traditional religious beliefs.

Enslavement Muslim traders began exporting slaves from East Africa along with luxury goods. Although this trade went on for a long time, it was relatively small when compared to West Africa. Often times East African armies would capture other Africans to sell in the trade.

Great Zimbabwe A city-state in Southern Africa where most East African cities got their gold and ivory to trade. After reaching its’ height of power, Great Zimbabwe was mysteriously abandoned by 1450. One theory is that food supplies could not support the large population.

Mutapa Empire According to oral tradition, a man names Mutota founded a new trading city to the north when Great Zimbabwe collapsed. The kingdom he established came to dominate Southern Africa into the 1500s. Although they survived an attempt by the Portuguese to conquer them, Mutapa fell when the Portuguese instigated a Civil War.

African Art Analysis Thursday Workers Only See Handout

Modern Africa Jigsaw In groups of 4 you will read a little bit about the situation of Africa in the Modern World. Pages 1012-1016 and 1040-1045 1. Divide the reading into 4 parts, one for each person. 2. Read your part only and take notes summarizing the key points. 3. You will then meet with people who read the same part but are in other groups and you will share and refine what you wrote. 4. Finally you will come back to your original group and present your part of the reading to your group members as they take notes.

Suggested Split 1. Achieving Independence, Ghana Leads the Way, Fighting for Freedom 2. Civil War in Congo and Angola 3. Colonial Rule Limits Democracy, Civil War in Nigeria, Nigeria’s Nation Building 4. South Africa Under Apartheid, Struggle for Democracy *If you have a group of 3 then one person does #1 and #2, if 5 then the 5th person does Fighting for Freedom.