1. Three Sudanic States Ghana Mali Songhai

3. Ghana Empire

4. Ghana Empire
It is believed to be the first of many empires that would rise in that part of Africa.
It first began in the eighth century, when a dramatic shift in the economy of the Sahel area south of the Sahara allowed more centralized states to form.

5. Ghana: Land of Gold
The introduction of the camel, which preceded Arabs and Islam by several centuries, brought about a gradual revolution in trade, and for the first time, the extensive gold, ivory, and salt resources of the region could be sent north and east to population centers in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe in exchange for manufactured goods.

6. Ghana Gold and salt trade
The kingdom of Ghana grew richer through the taxes they collected from all the traders that came through their territory trading in gold, silver and ivory.

7. Decline of Ghana The Almoravid Muslim Empire
Ghana's preeminence faded toward the end of the eleventh century, when its power was broken by a long struggle with the Almoravids led by Abdullah ibn Yasin.
The Almoravid Muslim Empire

8. Mali Empire

9. Mali
The Mali Empire was a medieval West African state of the Mandinka from c to c
The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I.
The Mali Empire had many profound cultural influences on West Africa allowing the spread of its language, laws and customs along the Niger River.

10. Sundiata
Mali emerged against the back-drop of a declining of Ghana under the dynamic leadership of Sundiata of the Keita clan.
But the region he took over had a past rich in trade and powerful rulers.

11. Mansa Musa
In the 13th year of his reign (1324), he set out on his famous pilgrimage to Mecca.
It was this pilgrimage that awakened the world to the stupendous wealth of Mali.
Traveling from his capital of Niani on the Upper Niger River to Cairo, Mansa Musa was accompanied by a caravan consisting of 60,000 men.
He also brought with him 80 camels loaded with 300 pounds of gold each which he pent along the way.
He so flooded the Egyptian economy with gold, that it caused inflation.

12. Mali was an Islamic Empire
Islamic Mosque at Djenne

13. Islamic University in Mali
The Muslim city of Timbuktu was a center of learning and scholarship.

14. City of Gao
Gao would become the capital of Songhai Empire

15. Songhai Empire

16. Songhai
The Songhai Empire was a pre-colonial African state centered in eastern Mali.
From the early 15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest African empires in history.
This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai.
Its capital was the city of Gao, where a small Songhai state had existed since the 11th century.
Its base of power was on the bend of the Niger River.

17. Sunni Ali
When Sunni Ali came to power, Songhai was a small kingdom in the western Sudan.
But during his twenty-eight-year reign, it grew into the largest, most powerful empire in West Africa. Painting by: Leo Dillon.

18. Muhammed Ture/Askia the Great
Under Askia the Great's rule, education in the Songhai Empire, especially Timbuktu, flourished.
He built a university in Timbuktu for students.
Djenn‘e also became a center of learning.

19. Decline of Sonhai Ahmad al-Mansur (1549-1603)
But in 1591 Morocco invaded Songhai.
Although the invaders were not very numerous, perhaps 4,000 men, they were armed with firearms, not yet seen in West Africa, and thus possessed an enormous advantage over their more traditionally equipped foes.
Ahmad al-Mansur ( )