The Muslim World and Africa (730 B.C.–A.D. 1500)
Lesson 6 Kingdoms of West Africa
The Muslim World and Africa (730 B.C.–A.D. 1500)
Lesson 6 Kingdoms of West Africa
Learning Objectives
• Analyze how the gold and salt trade in
Africa facilitated the spread of ideas and
trade.
• Describe how the rulers of Ghana, Mali,
and Songhai built strong kingdoms.
• Summarize how other West African
societies developed.
The Muslim World and Africa (730 B.C.–A.D. 1500)
Lesson 6 Kingdoms of West Africa
Key Terms
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surplus
commodity
Ghana
Sundiata
Mali
Mansa Musa
Songhai
Trade Grows Across the Sahara
As the Sahara dried out in Neolithic times, people
were forced to migrate. Some moved into the
savanna, the grasslands area that offered land for
farming and pasturing herds. There, farmers grew
beans, melons, and a variety of grains. Men
cleared the land and prepared fields for planting.
Women weeded, transplanted seeds, and threshed
or ground grains.
Trade Grows Across the Sahara
• Trading Patterns Emerge
• Trading Gold for Salt
Trade Grows Across the Sahara
Analyze Maps The people of early Africa developed a system of trade routes that connected much of
the continent. Why do you think most of these trade routes bordered oceans and rivers?
Trade Grows Across the Sahara
As Neolithic people began farming, many still relied on hunting for their food.
Ghana
Between about 800 and 1600,
several powerful kingdoms won
control of the prosperous Sahara
trade. The first of these kingdoms
was Ghana, located on the broad
“V” made by the Niger and Senegal
rivers.
Ghana
• Gold Wealth of Ghana
• The King and His Court
• Islam’s Influence
• Ghana Declines – Mali takes it’s
place
Ghana
In the 1400s, a system of using standardized weights in the form of brass figures, such as this one
from Ghana, to weigh the gold dust currency was developed in West Africa.
Mali
Amid the turmoil of Ghana’s collapse, the
Mandinka people on the upper Niger suffered a
bitter defeat by a rival leader. Their king and all but
one of his sons were executed. According to
tradition, the survivor was a sickly boy named
Sundiata, regarded by his father’s enemies as too
weak to be a threat. By 1235, however, Sundiata
had become a great king and crushed his enemies,
seizing control of the lucrative gold trade routes,
and founding the empire of Mali.
Mali
• Mansa Musa: Mali’s Greatest
Ruler
• Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage
• Growth of Timbuktu
Mali
Draw Conclusions In this 1325 world map, Mali ruler Mansa Musa is offering gold to a trader. What
does this image say about Mansa Musa and the Mali empire?
Mali
Analyze Data Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 was a sight to behold as he traveled in grand
style. Based on the numbers, what percentage of those who traveled with him were enslaved?
Songhai
In the 1400s, disputes over succession
weakened Mali. Subject peoples broke
away, and the empire shriveled. By the
1460s, the wealthy trading city of Gao
(gow) had become the capital of the
emerging West African kingdom of
Songhai (SAWNG hy).
Songhai
• An Empire Expands
• Invaders from the North
Songhai
The Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu underscored the importance of education and of Islam in that city.
Songhai
Founded in the 5th century, Timbuktu was a great cultural, religious, and economic center. The city
reached the height of its power in the 1400s and 1500s.
Small Societies and Kingdoms of West Africa
In the period from 500 to 1500, other kingdoms and
societies flourished in various part of West Africa. The
kingdom of Benin (beh NEEN) developed in the rain forest,
while the fertile northern lands of modern-day Nigeria
were home to the Hausa (HOW suh) people. They were
both successful farmers and traders.
Small Societies and Kingdoms of West Africa
• Benin: A Forest Kingdom
• Walled City-States of the Hausa
Small Societies and Kingdoms of West Africa
Artists working in Benin sculpted many figures in bronze, including this warrior.
Quiz: Trade Grows Across the Sahara
Salt played a key role in the development of West Africa because
A.
B.
C.
D.
it caused fierce rivalry among neighboring kingdoms.
it encouraged trade and brought new religion to the region.
it allowed outsiders to dictate what African culture should be.
it began the process of European colonization in the region.
Quiz: Ghana
Which statement best describes the overall impact of Muslim merchants on the city of
Kumbi Saleh?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Muslim merchants controlled the city’s government.
Muslim merchants were a small part of the city’s society.
Muslim merchants displaced local residents in many neighborhoods of the city.
Muslim merchants and traders made the city a bustling center for commerce.
Quiz: Mali
Mansa Musa was the greatest ruler of Mali. During his reign he
A. ensured peace and prosperity by waging preemptive wars against his enemies.
B. expanded the kingdom’s borders and forged ties with other Muslim lands.
C. ensured peace and prosperity when he unified the kingdom by making his subjects
convert to Islam.
D. expanded Mali’s borders to the Atlantic Ocean and unified the kingdom by making his
subjects convert to Islam.