By: Nolan, Ben, and James

*Mali was located on the Niger river, which gave it fertile land for farming The people of Mali controlled the Niger river trade routes, making it rich and powerful *Mali grew under the guidance of Sundiata *Sundiata was the previous son of Mali The previous king of Mali as cruel to the people, and when he grew up, Sundiata had a large army overthrow him *When Sundiata became king, he conquered many lands, including Ghana

*After conquering Ghana, Sundiata took control of Salt and Gold trades Sundiata improved agriculture by making land for farms *He introduced the crop of cotton to Mali, which people used to make clothing and trade to other people *Sundiata had defeated soldiers of battles work in fields so there would be food for his people Using slaves as farmers was a common practice in Africa during that time

*Mali grew into a prosperous kingdom under Sundiata’s guidance Sundiata took power away from local leaders to protect his Authority The local leaders got the title of Mansa, Sundiata took the same name *Mansas had political and religious roles in the society *Sundiata died in 1255 His son took his place as Mansa of Mali