1. Comprised of Soninke clans which belonged to the after A.D. 300
2. They lived in an area called Kumbi, or Kumbi Saleh, which is near the modern day southeastern Mauritania and Mali, close to the Sahara desert; The Senegal and Niger rives were their main sources of water. Since Ghana was in the middle of the Western part of Africa, it made it an excellent spot to control trade (Gold was plentiful in the south, and salt was plentiful to the north) Helped manage trade between north Africans and the Wanagrans. Their land was comprised of two rivers, Senegal and Niger, and their surrounding area was either a Savannah, rain forests, or Sahel, which is a piece of land that acts as a transition zone between the Sahara Desert and the Sudanian Savanna
3. The “salt-gold trade” from the trans-Saharan trade helped the empire to prosper; traders who came to Ghana had to pay tax in order to trade either gold or salt; One gold dinar tax on
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imports of salt, and two on exports of salt; Army- kept borders secure, put down minor revolts and maintained peace and order; military was well paid and well respected. Domestication of camel helped trade. Surplus goods were sent north by camels; common people worked as artists, farmers, and some miners. Traders frequently visited Ghana for trading and it’s protecting with powerful military agains bandits. 4.
Fall of the Ghana Empire was mainly caused by invasion, drought and internal rebellion. Ghana’s rulers were eventually converted to Islam through the influence of trade. Almoravids invaded for religious purposes of trying to convert the leaders to Islam. After several years of fighting, Almoravids finally won, destroying the city of Koumbi Saleh in the process. After the attacks, the Almoravids Badly disrupted the trade and Ghana was unable to regain its power. After the attacks, a drought came and made it hard for farmers to grow crops and harder to live; in the end, and they had to move to find a better environment to farm and live. Internal rebellion. Early 13th century new uprising empire named Mali overthrew the Ghana Empire. Gold mining decreased, which made the total number of trading decrease, which lead to decrease in amount of income. The other kingdoms around the Ghana Empire feared the military power of them, and also were jealous of their wealth; in the end, they tried to compete against them in trading
industry. 5. Politics- The army conquered different lands, but the king let them keep their own government since he knew that controlling such a big land by one ruler will be difficult; as a result, a huge empire was formed. The ruler of the conquered lands and Ghana was the king who served as the commander in chief of the army, controller of all trade, and head administrator of justice. Mayors, civil servants, counselors, and ministers were appointed by the king for assistance with administrative duties, but king was in charge for mostly everything. Ghana’s ruler was the religious leader, chief judge, and a military commander heading a large bureaucracy and commanded the army. 6. Religion- 60% of people in the Ghana Empire are Christian and 15% are Muslim and 25% are traditional African Religions. 7. Ghana expanded their kingdom by providing protection through military to smaller tribes. 8. By the 800s A.D. Ghana became an empire and became extremely rich due to the taxing through the salt-gold trading. As a result, their dogs had gold collars. The Ghana Empire reached its peak when it was ruled under Tunka Manin who increased the amount of trade for salt. He was also the last ruler reigning from 1062 to 1076 A.D. until he was no longer able to hold off the Almoravid’s attack.
In documents one and two they explain and evaluate the trading system and routes of the African empires, kingdoms, and cities. Document one shows the layout of the Aksum trade center and the routes which lead to and from it. Aksum is an empire located right by the Red Sea, its location made it an important international trading center. African trade centers mainly focused on the exchanges of salt and gold. Since the red sea ports are controlled by the rea sea and Aksum was located right by it, its locations made it the center of the trade center. However, in document two it describes the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade. The trans-Saharan gold and salt trade was controlled by the rich and powerful Ghana kingdom. The king had shields
...e, unlike the surrounding nations which were powerful, rich empires, Africa consisted of small tribes and kingdoms. These kingdoms’ greatest exports would consist of gold, salt, and slaves, in exchange for the goods imported from the surrounding empires.
In conclusion, during the 15th and 16th centuries Europeans visited the Atlantic Coast in the African states to observe for gold and silvers. They took advantage of the Africans to get their desires when the Africans acknowledged them to be equal which drove into Africa’s downfall.
Before the arrival of European traders, Africa had successful in maintaining complex civilizations. The cities of Timbuktu and Mali demonstrate this with their qualities. A Moroccan traveler journeyed to Timbuktu and described it as a land of “many doctors, judges, priests and other learned men, that are well maintained at the king’s cost. Various manuscripts and written
There was also a Kingdom called Mali that broke off from the Ghana Empire. At this time they had embraced the religion of Islam and had been under the great rule of Mansa Musa. This empire had the job of protecting the caravans or shipments carrying the goods, so that they can trade. They helped towards the function of trade so that both the importer and exporter gained something. In document 3 it explains how their wealth was great because of their trade. The document also talks about the fact that they had exhibited the characteristics of an advanced divination like sufficient food to feed its people, a strong army equipped with advanced weapons and income derived from taxes. Even though the Mali Empire had wealth there was very little corruption if there was with the ruler. He did not go mad with power but he was generous. In document four it states they there was no person who did not receive a sum of gold from him.
As the world of trade developed over time, goods were not the only things that were traded throughout these routes. With the merchants that traveled the world, were the ideals and religions that had learned from foreign lands, and the major religions of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, spread like wildfire throughout the regions of Eurasia and Africa because of this. The spread of Islam throughout the continent of Africa acted as a major influence both politically and socially. After 1600, Islam began to make its mark on the newly centralized states in Africa and was spread through western land trade, and through merchants on the Swahili coast. The major gold trading center of the Kingdom of Ghana, attracted merchants, and was a center for the Muslim community . By the 10th century, the kings of Ghana had converted to Islam in order to improve the relation between the kings and merchants. The early converts of Central and West Africa did not e...
“Caravans of Gold”, a video by Basil Davison discovers and highlights numerous assets about gold and its prominent role in Africa. Additionally, the video examines some of the past and influential empires and their achievements. Davison discusses the history of Africa before the arrival of Europeans to demonstrate how Africa was already a well-flourished continent. “Caravans of Gold” also discusses many topics such as the Mali Empire, trading systems, and the use of gold which shows the audience of the video of how Africa was. In the long run, the aim of the video is to give the audience of the video an understanding of how the empires in Africa used its resource of gold to flourish.
As a result of the Gold and Salt Trade, Africa acquired an abundance of food and money which evidently brought forth a material wealth economy. Leon E. Clark, a writer from Praeger Press, New York, believed that Ghana was a country similar to his own. The Arab traders in the area wanted gold and the Wangara wanted salt. Both wanted to trade with each other, however, to do so, they “to pass through Ghana to trade” (Document #2). The government would then tax both groups of people for being on the country’s land. Through this taxation, Ghana flourished, allowing them to use gold for purposes other than currency. The Council of Kumase used the gold to create Pomas, another word for staffs. These staffs each had a Poma symbol on top, one of which
The first leg of this trade was merchants from Europe bringing refined goods to Africa to trade for slaves. The merchants traded with chiefs and high authority leaders. The chiefs pretty much could and would trade whomever they
The first West African state of record was Ghana which had been ruled by over forty kings by the year 300 A.D. The early Ghanaians were a peaceful and prosperous people who developed an economy based on agriculture and...
Ghana’s government was a monarchy government with local kings that paid thanks to the Ghana’s king. Moreover, Ghana had a king to rule/control them and they were thanked from local kings. 300 CE. was the beginning of Ghana, this was also when they gained the control of salt and gold! Later on, in 300 CE, they made the discovery of iron. In 610 CE. the Muslims took over Ancient Ghana. Not long after, in 800 CE. Ghana was officially founded, but many stories/documentations say it was founded in 300 CE. Around 200 years later Ghana captured Aoudaghost and was the height of the Ghanaian
The renown first great Kingdom of Africa was Ghana or Shama and means; Warrior king, or King of the warriors/war lord, from the Mandi language “Wagadu.” Since 300 AD Ghana was respected as the land of gold and salt. During the Sahara gold trade in 800A.D. it came to great prominence. Shama warriors (Asafo) protected the gold from invaders and would-be thieves with giant fifty pound Iron Swords. The Soninke were the first true organized army of West Africa and held the center of world trade (even from merchants extending into India and China) and for their time were exposed to all the existing martial arts (The Black Snake hands way or Ouagadou-Buda).
Other Views on the Ashanti Kingdom/Asante Territorial Expansion Ashanti Empire, 1450-1750 The Ashanti kingdom, or Asante, dominated much of the present-day state of Ghana during the period between the late 17th and early 20th centuries. It was ruled by an ethnic group called the Akan, which in turn was composed of up to 38 subgroups, such as the Bekwai, Adansi Juabin, Kokofu, Kumasi, Mampon, Nsuta, Offinsu, and others. In the late 1500s, there were at least small states, which corresponded to the subsections of the Akan people. By 1650, these groups had been reduced to nine, and by 1700, they united.
Nigeria is a developing country in West Africa that was colonized by the British in 1884 at the Berlin conference where Africa was divided by European powers (Graham 2009). The British wanted to expand their empire, which meant taking over other countries that had resources that they wanted, and would allow them to expand their trade market and economy. One of the colonies that British colonized was Colonial Nigeria, which was forced to participate in the slave trade in the past and was controlled by the British through the set up of trading posts and selling manufactured goods. The British split Nigeria into the north and the south regions (Temple 1912). The Southern and Northern Nigeria Protectorates controlled these two regions. The Protectorates
Chief Abeeku and other chiefs like him used the slave trade for political gain and wealth, they deliberately went against their moral values for their own gain along the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast was also known as the Slave coast as it stretched about 300 miles with different transporting stations throughout. Ghana saw the slave trade as a good money. The slaves sold never seemed to be their own people, but people captured throughout time. Ghana was at first known for its Gold, but as the slave trade increased Ghana was known for their transporting of slaves.