Chapter 7, section 2

The expansion of trade led to migration
and the growth of new kingdoms

First great trading state in West Africa.
Upper Niger River valley
 Most were farmers who lived under a local
ruler.
 Villages formed the kingdom of Ghana.


King

Governed w/o laws; had a regular army of
thousands.

Economy and Trade

Prospered from gold and iron.
 Skilled blacksmiths were highly valued.

Abundance of Gold!
 Muslim merchants brought metal goods, textiles,
horses, and SALT.

Silent Trade


Berbers, nomadic people were crucial to trade
across the Sahara.


Merchants place their wares and cloth on the ground
and then depart, and so the people of the Sudan
coming bearing gold which they leave beside the
merchandise then depart.
“fleets of the desert”
Weakened by Wars.

Mali became the greatest the trade
society in West Africa.

Established by Sundiata Keita.
 Defeated the Ghanians in 1240

Timbuktu

Famous trading city.
 Gold and salt trade.

Local rulers

Both religious and administrative leaders.
 Responsible for sending taxes to the kings of
Mali.

Mansa Musa



One of the richest and most powerful kings.
Doubled the size of the kingdom.
Strong central government
 Kingdom divided into provinces (w/a governor)

Devout Muslim
 Went on pilgrimage to Mecca with thousands of
servants and soldiers!
 Lavished his hosts with gold!
 He put so much gold into circulation, he caused its
value to Fall!

Mansa Musa

Great pilgrimage did two things:
 Showed all that he was a great ruler,
 He was inspired to make Timbuktu a center of
Islamic learning and culture.
 Mosques, libraries, brought scholars back


Timbuktu was seen as one of the
intellectual capitals of the Muslim world.
By 1359, civil war divided Mali.


Along the Niger River
Kossi



Converted to Islam and established the Dia
Dynasty.
Benefitted from Muslim trade routes.
Sunni Ali
Sunni Dynasty, 1464
 Took Timbuktu and Jenne (this gave him
control of the trading empire).


Muhammad Ture


Height of Songhai power.
Overthrew the son of Sunni Ali and seized
power in 1493.
 New dynasty= Askia [means “usurper”]
 Maintained order with navy and soldiers on
horseback.

Slow decline, then quickened by 16th
century.

Sultan of Morocco occupied Songhai.

Migration of Bantus


Farming people belonging to Bantu family of
languages.
From Niger River region
East Africa.

Communities based on Subsistence
farming


Spread knowledge of iron-smelting
techniques across Africa.


Division of labor for men and women.
Knowledge of high-yield crops too.
Descendants established city of Great
Zimbawbe.

Dominated the trade route to the coast.

The East African coast became an
important part of the trade network
along the Indian Ocean.

Muslims from the Arabian peninsula and the
Persian Gulf began to settle at ports along
the coast.
Mogadishu
Mombasa
Kilwa




Mixed African-Arabian culture.
Intermarriage was common among the
ruling groups.
Muslim religion and Arabic architectural
styles became part of society.
Swahili = “coast” in Arabic.

Mixed language– Bantu + Arabic
words/phrases.
 National language of Kenya and Tanzania