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An essay on the kingdom of mali
Introduction to the West Africa up to the 19th century
Compare and contrast the rise of the Mali empire
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Last but not least, like all great nations, they come and they fall, and Mali did fall just like all the other nations. According to Document F: Mansa Musa, in 2014, by UC Davis History-Social Science Project Lesson Plan on Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World-Mali, it states, “After Mansa Musa, the empire of Mali began to decline. In 1464, a new empire, Songhai, took over ruling the rich goldfields and cities of West Africa.” Ghana fell to Mali, and Mali fell to the Songhai empire. This is an effect of being a site of cultural exchange. When people found out how rich Mali was, that just made people want to conquer it so they had all the riches for themselves. In the end, Mali did fall, and this is an effect of being a famous site of cultural
Contrary to his own experiences with the French Jesuit missionaries’ educational methods, Malidoma invokes his audience in the first part of his story through an innocence in tone and a profoundness in concept. This statement also parallels the plight of African indigenous culture in the presence of the white man. To be more specific, Malidoma explained that the Western world seemed to attack the traditions of Africa or several countries, which the white man did not understand. Although they feared much of the white man’s culture, Africans tended to accept the non-threatening aspects of other cultures as different and even tried to incorporate ideas into their own lives. Malidoma himself went even further in this approach by being educated in both societies. In his life, he has tried to understand the motives and values of both cultures, point out the differences, and even draw out some parallels in the two. Malidoma recognizes the equality of importance of both cultures. Of Water and Spirit seems to be his way of trying to instill this same recognition to other...
The Mali Empire started in 1312, the Mali Empire had vanquished various different people groups from Senegal, Guinea, Niger, and abroad. Its apogee was accomplished by Mansa Musa in 1312. The Mali Empire was additionally ready to prepare more than 100000 warriors, each outfitted with bows, tomahawks and different weapons utilized by their particular districts. The Mali Empire managed more than 40-50 million individuals, The Empire of Mali began from a little nation known as Kangaba. Its kin where known as the Mandingo, after the separation of Ghana the Sosso, who had caused the separation, were still in control. Obviously Sundiata, a beneficiary to the Mandingo position of royalty raised an armed force and crushed the Sosso in the clash of Kirina. A short time later, Sundiata built up the realm of Mali. He changed over to Islam for help of the Muslim people groups. At the point when Mansa Musa came into control, in the mid 1300s, the realm achieved its stature. Mansa Musa went through Cairo on his journey to Mecca. It is said that he gave away so much gold that it dropped in an incentive in Cairo for a long time. The Mali Empire was a confederation of three states and led more than 400 refers to, town and towns of different
The majestic and beautiful continent of Africa has a disappearing past and culture because of European Imperialism. All of the countries in Europe, except Switzerland, divvied up countries of Africa for their own benefit in 1884 and 1885. People like King Leopold of Belgium used natives in Africa for labor after the trans-Atlantic slave trade was outlawed. The culture that was spread during this time of imperialism, the national pride gained by taking over another’s land, and most importantly, the resources gained during this period, are the most influential reasons that Europe decided that this was a good decision. Cultural spread occurred which is a reason for this European imperialism.
Africa’s key to becoming a civilized nation was because the government functioned, people could cooperate efficiently, and substantial amounts of data from travellers show how civilized Africa was. In Document 4, it states,“They are seldom unjust, and have a greater abhorrence [hatred] of injustice than any other people. Their sultan shows no mercy to anyone who is guilty of the least act of it. There is complete security in their country. Neither traveler nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear from robbers.” This is what each separate civilization at the time was able to achieve by themselves. Like any other country, there were conquests, inventions and military expenditures that further benefitted the progress that they made in becoming
The Mali Kingdom used to be one of the biggest empires in West African History. Its height when so far it went from the Atlantic Coast to the Sahara Desert. The Mali Empire was an empire in West Africa from 1230 to 1670. The Kingdom Of Mali was first founded when Sundiata Keita defeated Ghana and captured its capital in 1240. Keita was called upon to free the Mali people from the rule of the king of the Sosso Empire. Later after Keita defeated Ghana, Mali was then established in the mid-1200s by Keita. The Kingdom Of Mali later extended to the famous trading city of Timbuktu. Mali had built its wealth and power on the Gold and Salt Trade.
Bryant H. McGill once said “Education should prepare our minds to use its own powers of reason and conception rather than filling it with the accumulated misconceptions of the past” (McGill ). There are misconceptions all around us; people look at certain things in a particular manner but what each person sees comes from their background. I have recently come to the realization that there are many misconceptions held about the African continent; my current class has helped me see these misconceptions and understand why they are incorrect and how I formed them. With the help of our Western society, I developed beliefs that Africa was a continent full of poverty, civil unrest, and in desperate need of help. Much of the media coverage in Africa showed droughts, famine, the need for clean drinking water; everything that was exposed to the American population about Africa through these channels carried a negative connotation. I was never taught or informed about the complex culture and fascinating traditions that make up such a diverse continent. The ancient kingdoms of West Africa were complex, developed civilizations that had rich culture, traditions, values, norms and skills that exceeded those of societies of the rest of the world such as European ones. In this paper, I will first further explain some of the common misconceptions that I had about African in general and about their ancient kingdoms.
Imagine that you are king of a very wealthy empire. Imagine that you can trade a pound of salt for a pound of gold. Well, if that sounds interesting to you then Mali might be the perfect kingdom for you! Mali was influenced by other parts of the world for many reasons. Mali became a cite of cultural exchange because of them becoming friendly to others by trading, telling legends/ cultural stories, and spreading other important tales through oral tradition. Mali became a powerful learning center. Mali also became powerful because the king was known as Mansa Musa. Because of that, Mali expanded and became one of the most mighty empires there ever was.
The dispute over Western Sahara dates back to 1975 and is Africa’s longest-running territorial dispute. Western Sahara had been a Spanish colony since 1884. Although Spain surrendered the territory in 1975, Western Sahara failed to gain national independence. Instead, Mauritania and Morocco filled the void, and Mauritania ceded its claim to Morocco in 1976. The nationalists in the region responded by forming the Polisario in 1973. Supported by the Algerian government, which has a longstanding rivalry with Morocco, the Polisario waged a guerilla war against Moroccan occupiers and to this day, the conflict between the Polisario and Morocco has not been resolved. In April 1991, the United Nations established MINURSO, the United Nations Mission for a Referendum in Western Sahara. It’s brief was to implement a peace plan outlined in a 1990 Security Council resolution and broker a ceasefire. While the ceasefire held, the mission was never fully deployed and the negotiations have been at a standstill since 2004 after UN special envoy James Baker resigned. The Polisario believes that the status of Western Sahara should be determined by its people, but Morocco claims the territory as its own.
Finally, the Mali Empire succeeded in gaining and maintaining power through the influence of culture. One important way culture affects the power in the empire is, how Mansa Musa went on the pilgrimage. The pilgrimage is a very important piece in the culture, so when Mansa Musa decided to take the long trip, many were amazed and honored the empire even more (Sheet 3, Source 4). Seeing how culture was respected in the Mali empire, many people were inclined to visit the empire. Not only that, but the people already in the Mali Empire continued to support the empire, for they were able to live with their own culture without rules. Not only did Mansa Musa take the pilgrimage, he also gave numerous gifts of gold to people such as merchants along
The Great Sundiata founded this grand empire which became known for its wealthy rulers one of which being Mansa Musa. The Mali Empire covered a large territory of western Africa and had numerous villages within it, and has a major impact on the cultural norms of western Africa and its cultural values extended along the Niger River. The kings of Mali converted to Islam while the citizens of the empire remained their traditional religion. Sundiata was a wise leader in that he befriended all the most powerful people in Western Africa. The driving force behind the success of the Mali Empire was its extensive trade. The empire was able to have three gold mines within its territorial borders. Like made use of taxation the same way the Ghana Empire did and placed a tax on all good that entered into its borders. In the 14th century the Mali Empire was a source of nearly half of the gold in the entire world. Gold was one of the staples in their economy, but only the king could possess any. Citizens were only allowed to have gold dust. Salt was also a major trading commodity for the Mali Empire. Salt was valuable because in the southern part of Africa it was necessary for their diet. So merchants were able to take large quantities of salt to these areas and exchange other good for salt because in their reason salt almost had equivalent value to gold. Mansa Musa is the most famous ruler of the Mali Empire, he made the empire renowned worldwide. In 1324 Mansa Musa went on a famous pilgrimage in which he brought along 70,000 people, twelve tons of gold, and eighty camels. This major pilgrimage left the empire broke and in chaos and it eventually
After an empire has fallen, cultural elements are what keep the memories and practices of the empire thriving. In the epic Sundiata, translated by D. T. Niane, many cultural elements are outlined that are specific to old Mali. Throughout Sundiata’s travels many elements of Malian culture are thoroughly exemplified. During the thirteenth century Mali was starting to accept new ways of life and incorporate other cultural elements from around the world. Elements such as griots, music, and hospitality are trademarks of the Malian Empire and are what keep the history of Mali alive and separates Mali from other empires.
As colonization went on, the Africans were exploited economically and were completely stripped of their resources. Despite all of the riches they had hidden in their land, they turned into one of the poorest groups of people and European nations obtained all of the wealth. Due to the colonization by the Europeans, “African’s remain the poorest people in the world amidst their own riches in their own African Continent” and they are still used by the imperialist nations to this day (Pheko). Africa was a country rich in culture, but the Europeans only saw it as rich in resources. European colonialism in Africa has had many consequences on the stability of Africa’s
Mali is a landlocked country in North West Africa. It is bordered with Algeria to the South, Niger to the East, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire to the south and Senegal and Mauritania to the west. Modern day Mali is nowhere close to what it was at its peak in the 1300s. It was a flourishing empire, and one of the three empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade. It covered twice the size of modern day France, meaning around 1,500,000 kilometres square. However during the Scramble of Africa, France seized control of Mali making it a part of French Sudan. After the independence from the French, French Sudan became the Federation of Mali. However Senegal left, leaving Sudan occupying Mali. After a coup in 1991, Mali became an independent country. Now however, Mali is 1,240,000 Kilometres Square with a Gross Domestic Product of just 631 dollars per capita, compared to 43,185 dollars per capita in the United Arab Emirates. Mali has a population of around 14 million people. The southern part of Mali is more populated because it features the Niger and Senegal rivers. Mali’s prominent natural resource is gold. Actually it is the third largest producer of gold in all of Africa, but however the country is still poor. One of the arising problems in Mali, is humanitarian rights. The Tuareg rebellion, and a political upheaval generated by a March military coup led to a deterioration in respect to the human rights in Mali. After the occupation of the North, the respect to the human rights in Mali fell drastically forcing about 400,000 northern residents being displaced. Several armed groups, took control of territories in the North, and abused civilians. This abuse includes sexual abuse, looting and pillaging houses, and setting executions, rec...
Nowadays, the Mali Empire is part of Mali, Senegal, Niger, Ghana, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Guinea and many other countries in North-West Africa.
Centered along the Malian-Mauritanian frontier the empire of Ghana, one of Africa’s first empires, was prospering. As Ghana continued to reign over western Africa another empire was beginning to emerge. Under the leadership of Sundjata Keita the Malinke Empire, otherwise known as the empire of Mali, was being formed around the upper area of the Niger River. When the empire of Ghana was overtaken by Muslim Almoravids during the 11th century, the Malinke Empire was more than ready to take it’s place.