AP WORLD HISTORY
POD #6 – Gold, Salt &
Ivory Trade in Africa
Mansa Musa’s Mali
Class Discussion Notes
Bulliet et.al. –
“The Rise and Fall of the Caliphate, 632-1258”, pp. 239-240
“New Islamic Empires”, pp. 372-376
“Africa, the Atlantic, and Islam”, pp. 523-524
Ghana Empire (Land of Gold)
 Northern traders discovered that they could
trade salt for gold by providing the southern
nomads, who controlled the salt sources but
had little use for gold, with more useful
products, such as copper and manufactured
goods
 One of the first lands outside of original
Muslim territory to embrace a gradual and
peaceful conversion to Islam
 Muslim Berbers attacking out of the desert
cause the collapsed in 1076 C.E.
Islam
 “Muslim Berbers invading out of the desert in 1076 caused
the collapse of Ghana, the empire that preceded Mali in
the western Sudan, but their conquest did little to spread
Islam. To the east, the Muslim attacks that destroyed the
Christian Nubian kingdoms on the Upper Nile in the late
thirteenth century opened that area to Muslim advances.
Instead, Islam’s spread south of the Sahara usually
followed a pattern of gradual and peaceful conversion.
The expansion of commercial contacts in the western
Sudan and on the East African coast greatly promoted the
conversion process. Most Africans found meaning and
benefit in the teachings of Islam. Takrur in the far western
Sudan became the first sub-Saharan African state to
adopt the new faith around 1030.” (Bulliet, p. 372)
Mali Empire “bilad alsudan” (land of the blacks)
 Sundiata established the Mali empire by defeating
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the Takrur under the leadership of King Sumanguru
who claimed to have magical powers
Mali power, influence and wealth depended on
control of a well-developed agricultural base and the
regional and trans-Saharan trade routes
Territorially it was centered around the old Ghana
lands but expanded to include the area surrounding
the upper Niger River providing access to new gold
fields and trade routes
Islam spread and was embraced by the empire’s
political and merchant elite
Control of the gold and copper trades with North
African Muslim traders created massive prosperity
Mansa Musa
 Led the Mali to unprecedented wealth spreading the empire’s
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reputation far and wide
Made a pilgrimage to Mecca, to fulfill his duty as a Muslim in
1324-1325 – it was this pilgrimage that displayed his personal
and empire’s wealth
The Entourage – Senior Wife and 500 of her ladies in waiting
and their slaves, 60,000 porters, 500 Slaves
The Caravan – camels carried a massive amount of supplies
(ESPECIALLY GOLD) – 80 122 ounces (3.8 kilogram) packs of
gold, each of the 500 slaves carried a golden staff
The Impact – so many gifts were dispersed as he passed
through Cairo that the value of gold was dispersed for years
After the pilgrimage he built new mosques and opened Quran
schools in the cities along the Niger River
Ibn Batutta
 Visited Mali from 1352-1354 during the reign
of Masa Suleiman (successor to Mansa
Musa)
 Praised the Mali dedication to the teachings
and practices of Islam
 Reported an empire that provided “complete
and general safety” and encouraged foreign
travelers to visit the region without fear of
being robbed or having their goods
confiscated if they died
Fall of Mali
 The empire began to fall apart 2 centuries
after their rise
 Inability to prevent rebellions among the
diverse groups within the empire (after the
rule of Mansa Suleiman)
 Enemy invaders began to attack interested in
the regions wealth and control of trade
 The cities of the upper Niger survived Mali’s
collapse, but some trade and intellectual life
moved east to the central Sudan
Songhai Empire
 Ruled by an indigenous Muslim dynasty
 Wealth gained from control of the trans-
Saharan trade routes
 A slave general in the western Sudan named
Askia Muhammad seized control of the
empire in 1493