EMPIRES of WEST AFRICA

GHANA

LOCATION

• Ghana is located near the Atlantic Ocean. It is near Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon.Ghana is towards the south of the Sahara Desert. It is also close to the Niger River.

IRON AND POWER

• 1. Iron helped their Army because they could make spears and other weapons.
• 2. It helped them make strong reliable tools that could make their iron weapons and make other tools.

ECONOMY: TAXES & GOLD

• The king decided the amount of tax for everything. They had a tax if you traded any object for money you would have to pay tax. They had tax for just buying objects. The result of this is the king becoming rich with the gold that people payed taxes with.

PRODUCTS TRADED

• People in Ghana traded salt and gold. People in the north were very rich with salt and it really didn't have any value to them but gold was very valuable. People in the south were rich with gold they had so much of it it had hardly any value salt was very valuable there. People came to a certain meeting area to trade these items they usually gave each other the same amount. They would for example 1 pound of salt for 1 pound of gold. One side would wait out of site while the other put the item in the area they would beat a drum for the other side to come get the item and leave. If they were happy with the amount they would leave if they were not they would beat the drum. This system of trade was called silent trade.

SALT IS IMPORTANT 3 REASONS

• 1. Salt preserved food.
• 2. Salt flavored the food.
• 3. Salt replaced fluids in your body.

MAJOR CITIES

• Major cities are Walata, Awdaghust, and Kumbi Saleh. Walata was the earliest political organisation known to us south of the Sahara. Auodaghost was an important oasis town. Kumbi Saleh was the last capital of Ghana and was a great trading empire.

GHANAS DECLINE

• 1. Ghana was under constant attack.
• 2. A group called the Susu broke free of Ghana.
• 3. The constant attacks cut off trade with salt and gold.

MALI 1200-1500

LOCATION

• Mali is located towards the west of the Sahara Desert.
• It is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Is north of some of Africa's forest. It is close to Songhai and Wangara.

SUNDIATA

• Sundiata was a puissant prince and founder of the Mali empire. He won many battles against the Susu army. He established a strong centralized monarchy. He ruled the Mali empire for 25 years.

ECONOMY

• The king taxed any kind of trade. When people mined the gold the king got all of the gold nuggets leaving only gold dust for people.

PRODUCTS TRADED

• Products like salt , iron, copper, cloth, books, and pearls were traded for gold, kola nuts, ivory, leather, rubber, and slaves from the south.

RELIGION AND MANSA MUSAS PILGRIMAGE

• Mansa Musa was Sundiata's grandson and later became king of Mali. Mansa Musa traveled to Mecca on his way he handed out presents, gold, and goods to everyone he stopped in a lot of towns. On the way back to Mali Mansa Musa ran out of gold he borrowed gold from nobles and repayed them with more than they let him get. When Mansa Musa returned everyone knew who he was and how great of a man he was.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE FLOURISH UNDER MANSA MUSA

• 1. Education was free and encouraged.
• 2. He established a university.
• 3. People came from all over the world to study at his famous university.

MAJOR CITIES

• Major cities were Timbuktu,
• Gao, and Kingdom of Kangaba. Timbuktu was a well knowned trading area. Gao is a caravan route from Egypt to ancient Ghana.

THE FALL OF MALI

• 1. People attacked Timbuktu.
• 2. Songhai was expanding over Mali.
• 3. Undermined the government.

SONGHAI:1500-1590

LOCATION

• Songhai is close to the Sahara, Tuareg, Mossi, and Yoruba Kingdoms.
• Also it is on the Atlantic coast and close to Lake Chad.

SUNNI ALLI

• Sunni Alli was the first king of Songhai. He wanted to make the kingdom as big as he could. He sent warriors in small canoes up waterways to take over small villages or towns. The villages were glad to see them because they wanted a strong army to protect them.

ASKIA THE GREAT

• 1. Made the largest country in West Africa's history.
• 2. He expanded trade with Europe and Asia.

MAJOR CITIES

• All of the major cities of Songhai are Timbuktu, Walata, Tekedda, and Kukiya.

SONGHAI FALLS TO MORROCO

• Morroco wanted Songhais gold so they sent an army of 3,000 men to Songhai. The army of Morroco attacked Songhais capital and sense Songhai was weak the army of Morroco destroyed Songhais kingdom.