Medieval
Trading
Kingdoms
Ghana
The people of ancient Ghana were called the Soninke. They called their land Wagadugu and their leader
“Ghana,” which means warchief. The Muslims that they traded with referred to their
Ghana’s rulers became
wealthy and powerful by
taxing the trade items that
passed through their
Salt came from salt
deposits in the Sahara Desert. It is important because people need salt to survive.
Two methods of harvesting salt from the earth: 1. Scooped up after water had been poured into the salty earth and evaporated,
leaving only the salt.
The Wangarans used silent barter to trade their gold.
Silent barter allowed people to trade, even though they spoke
different languages. It also prevented others from
Trade was important to Ghana, so the king made sure that his trading cities
were safe. The king’s officials made sure that trade was conducted fairly and
The wealth brought by
control of trade allowed Ghana to create a large
army and conquer surrounding
territories. By the year 800, Ghana had become an empire.
Conquered rulers paid tribute to the king of Ghana, but were allowed to rule their people as they saw fit.
Along with trade, Muslims brought their religion. This encouraged the growth of literacy, because converts wanted to study the Quran.
While many people converted to Islam, many did not.
Those who converted kept some of their previous beliefs and traditions, combining their new faith, with their
Ghana’s decline
War and the overuse of natural resources led to the fall of Ghana in the early 1200s.
The Almoravids attacks disrupted trade, and cut off Ghana’s main source of wealth and power.
Animals had overgrazed the grasslands, turning it to desert.
Trees were cut down to fuel furnaces for iron working.
With so many people, animals, and farming, water became too scarce for farming and keeping cattle.
Overgrazing
Too many animals grazing in 1one area leads to
problems, such as the loss of farmland in W. Africa.
1. Animals are allowed to graze in grassy areas.
2. Too many grazing animals → grass
disappears→ soil exposed to wind
Use the following 5 facts about the Empire of Ghana to
create a sentence or short paragraph.
Ghana: a medieval kingdom/empire on the Niger river in West
Africa.
*Wealth and power based on salt and gold trade-- taxed trade items that passed through the empire.
*So wealthy, that it was referred to as the “land of gold.”
*Height 1000 C.E.
Griot interview:
https://www.audible.com/blog/arts-culture/this-man-embodies-a-thousand-years-of-west-african-oral-hi story/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UkQvsqkw3I
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdrPmZwsXiM
With English translation of story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw2U5zGRrwA
More:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQMFN-whbEU
With guitar, not quora https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uaiOuxa2Bw
Clip with students-sing along https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9fJYFHhp_Q
Victor Deme--mom was griotte https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx_xlyvgPOAEn substance, il dit (sous réserve de ma
connaissance de la langue Dioula ou Bambara):
Ne nous méprisons pas les uns les autres (pauvres, misérables, riches....) car du jour au lendemain, nos positions peuvent s'inverser: le riche devenir pauvre et vice versa.
Le mépris n'est pas la voie recommandée par Dieu. Nul ne sait de quoi demain sera fait.
Celui dont tu te moques aujourd'hui pourrait, demain, être ton bienfaiteur, ton sauveur. Au moment où certains rient, d'autres pleurent. Ainsi va la vie.
The Kingdom of Mali
The people of Mali had been conquered by the Ghana
Empire.
When Ghana lost control of the trade routes, it lost its
source of wealth and the ability to enforce its rule.
What can you
learn from the
map on the
right?
Sundiata was Mali’s first
Emperor. He
created the empire of Mali by
conquering Ghana, its trading cities, and the trade
routes.
Mali prospered under Sundiata’s leadership.
Compare the location the modern country of Mali (on left) and the medieval empire of Mali (on right.)
Mansa Musa was another great ruler of Mali.
According to many
sources, he was the
richest man of all time.
Mansa Musa became
Muslim and built
mosques for prayer.
What do you notice about this
Interior
What do
Mansa Musa brought
attention to Mali when he went on the Hajj in 1324. When he returned, he had a mosque built in Timbuktu. Timbuktu became a center of attraction. Scholars,
Mansa Musa
conquered much
more territory. To
govern such a
large area, he
divided the empire
into provinces
(smaller sections)
ruled by
The Decline of Mali
Mali’s power declined in the 1400s.
The rulers that followed Mansa Musa were poor leaders.
Songhai gains power
The Songhai had been under the rule of Mali. When Mali lost power, the
Songhai were able to build an army, take over the trade
routes, and expand even further.
...and a cavalry (soldiers who fought on
The fall of Songhai
Songhai was a powerful and advanced empire with a strong army, but lacked modern weapons.
In 1591, they were invaded by a Moroccan army. The swords and spears of the Songhai soldiers were no match for the guns and canons of the Moroccans.
As a result, Songhai fell.