READING: AFRICA’S TRADING EMPIRES HIGHLIGHT QUESTIONS AND ANSWER QUESTIONS ON BACK 1. Describe the geographic features of Africa. 2. Name of the first great trading states. 3. What made Ghana the center of enormous trading empire? 4. What did Muslim merchants trade with Ghana? What was the most important trading product? 5. Who were the Berbers? 6. What made Africa a prosperous continent and what did this create? SHORT ANSWER ON THE BACK: IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD YOU GO, HOW LONG WOULD YOU WANT TO VISIT, AND WHY?

Medieval Trade Systems Learning Goal 2: Analyze how the Silk Route and the African gold-salt trade facilitated the spread of ideas and explain how the slave trade in Eastern Africa developed. (TEKS/SE’s 4D, 4J, 4I)

Analyze how the Silk Road and the African gold-salt trade facilitate the spread of ideas and trade?

Silk Road Trade

The Silk Road Goods - Silk, precious stones, porcelain, paper and food were transported along the Silk Route along with ideas about military technologies. Religions - Buddhism, Christianity and Islam spread along the route.

Silk Road trade had declined and was revived by the Mongols who offered protection along the routes. Cities like Samarkand became economic centers along the route travelled by missionaries, merchants and others, such as Marco Polo.

African gold-salt trade (trans-Saharan) Salt from the Sahara was brought by Islamic traders to the western sub-Saharan trade kingdoms of Ghana and Mali and traded for gold which was in abundance in Ghana and Mali. This trans-Saharan trade brought goods to sub- Saharan Africa along with Islam Facsimilie of a map drawn in Spain and dated to 1375, showing the king of Mali holding a gold nugget.

African gold-salt trade (trans-Saharan) The shaded portion indicates the empire of Mali in the fourteenth century, and the dashed lines trace the main trans- Saharan routes of the period.

EMPIRE OF GHANA (Pages 413–415) How did the kingdom of Ghana arise? Traders crossed the Sahara Desert of North Africa as early as A.D The desert was harsh. This limited trade. Then the Berbers began using camels. Trade increased. By the 700s, the rulers of the kingdom of Ghana were growing rich. They taxed the goods that traders carried through their land. The two most important trade goods were gold and salt. Gold was taken from mines and streams in the western and southern parts of West Africa. It was traded for salt from the Sahara region. Arab traders also brought cloth and manufactured goods. These came from cities on the Mediterranean Sea.

EMPIRE OF GHANA (Pages 413–415) How did the kingdom of Ghana arise? The king of Ghana was powerful. Only the king could own gold nuggets. He was the religious, military, and political leader. By the year 800, Ghana had become an empire. It controlled the people of nearby lands. Over time, Muslim merchants and traders brought their religion to Ghana. By the 1000s, the kings converted to Islam. Many common people in the empire, though, kept their traditional beliefs. Later, Ghana fell to the Almoravids of North Africa. Ghana never regained its former power. 1. What goods were traded in Ghana?__________________

Post-Classical Slave trade During the Post-Classical period the slave trade was most prominent along the eastern coast of Africa, where slaves were exported to the Arab heartlands.

Post-Classical Slave trade Some slaves were also traded along the trans-Saharan trade routes. Islamic teaching forbid the enslaving of fellow Muslims, so Arab traders needed to find a source for slaves that were not in the Islamic territories, hence Africa became a source for slaves.

Political, Economic, and Social Impact of Islam on Africa Islam spread to North Africa in the 7 th century and over the next hundred years spread through the Sahara and to sub- Saharan Africa via trade routes. Islam spread to Africa overland across the Sahara and to the east coast of Africa via the Indian Ocean trade complex.

Political, Economic, and Social Impact of Islam on Africa Trade across the Sahara was centered around a gold and salt trade and trade from the east coast of Africa centered around the trade of slaves. In north Africa the most significant converts to Islam were the nomadic Berbers.

Political, Economic, and Social Impact of Islam on Africa In sub-Saharan Africa, by the 1300’s and 1400’s Islamic states emerged. The biggest and most powerful was the state of Mali founded by Sundiata. Mali’s most famous Muslim ruler was Mansa Musa ( ), who was famous throughout the region for his great pilgrimage to Mecca.

Political, Economic, and Social Impact of Islam on Africa Most converts to Islam in sub- Saharan Africa were merchants or ruling elites, who gained political and economic advantage by conversion.