1. West African Empires

2. Empire of Ghana

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

4. Originally the people of Ghana, the Soninke, were farmers

5. 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

6. 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

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

8. 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

9. 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

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

11. 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

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

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

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

15. 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

16. 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

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

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

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

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

21. Empire of Mali

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

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

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

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

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

27. 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

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

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

30. 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

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

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

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

34. Empire of the Songhai

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

44. 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

45. Historical and Artistic Traditions

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

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

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

49. 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

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

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

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

53. 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

54. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

61. 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

62. Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires