Homework - Chapter 11 Section 3 - African Kingdoms – AGS Textbook
The crusaders first set out to capture the Holy Land in A.D. 1095. About that time, a series of empires developed in West Africa. Arab geographers called this grassland area the Sudan. It is very different from the dry Sahara Desert to the north and the wet tropical rain forest to the south.
How Did Ghana Become Powerful?
Ghana was founded about A.D. 400. Within 400 years, it had become an important center of trade. In fact, Ghana controlled all the important trade routes from the Sudan to North Africa.
Early stories about Ghana call it "the land of gold." Ghana never owned any gold fields, but it controlled the trade in gold. With gold came power.
The gold came from a region near the Senegal River. People there had much gold, but no salt, and they needed salt to live. Arab traders on camel caravans carried their goods to the people near the Senegal River in the south. Then they traded salt for gold. Next, the caravan turned north again to trade with their gold. On both trips, they traveled through Kumbi, the largest city in Ghana. The government of Ghana taxed the caravan each way. Both the Arabs from the north and the forest people from the south paid tribute to the king of Ghana.
How Did Ghana's Army Create Peace?
By A.D. 1070, Ghana was one of the most powerful empires in the world. Taxes from trade filled the king's treasury. With all this money, he could keep as many as 200,000 warriors. (At this same time, William the Conqueror could raise an army of only 15,000 soldiers to invade England.)
Ghana's large army gave it great power. With this power, Ghana created peace in West Africa and made trade safe. Ghana could easily have conquered its weaker neighbors, but it did not. Instead, it took tribute from these neighbors.
What Made Ghana Fall?
The kings of Ghana invited Muslim teachers to begin schools in Kumbi and other cities. The rulers of Ghana did not become Muslims, but many of the people of Ghana did. This helped improve the connection between the two areas and brought money to the empire.
In A.D. 1076, Arabs from North Africa, called Almoravids, invaded Ghana. They began a holy war against the infidels, or non-Muslims, of Ghana and destroyed Kumbi. During this time, people stopped paying tribute to Ghana. In time, Ghana defeated the Almoravids. However, the country was never again as powerful as it had once been.
How Did Mali Become Powerful?
Mali existed as early as A.D. 1000. When Ghana lost its power, Mali was able to form a new empire. It, too, took control of the trade routes.
The man most responsible for Mali's rise to greatness was Sundiata Keita. He took control of the gold fields. His armies swept across Africa, and his empire included large, areas of the Sahara. Keita divided his kingdom into provinces. Then he put one general in charge of each province. Each general was responsible for keeping law and order in his province.
Which Famous Mali King Became a Muslim?
Mansa Musa was king of Mali when it was most powerful. Unlike the rulers of Ghana, Mansa Musa became a Muslim. He brought many Arab scholars to his capital He set up a great center of Islamic learning in Timbuktu. Scholars came from all over the world to study there.
Mansa Musa ran his kingdom well. Arab visitors wrote about the peace and safety of Mali. The visitors saw how the people Timbuktu was a great center of learning and of Mali obeyed the Five Pillars of Islam. In fact, one writer said that Mali parents wanted their children to learn the Koran by heart. If the children did not do this, they were put in chains until they memorized the holy book.
After Mansa Musa died, civil war broke out in Mali. Within 150 years, the great empire fell. Then, the last great empire of this golden age arose-Songhai.
How Did Songhai Become Powerful?
The third and last of the great empires of West Africa was Songhai. Songhai already existed in the 800s. But it did not become powerful until the 1400s. Like Ghana and Mali before it, Songhai grew powerful by controlling the gold and salt trade.
Songhai’s greatest king was Sonni Ali. From 1464 until 1492, he never lost a battle. King Sonni Ali made Songhai the largest empire that West Africa ever had. His army captured the university city of Timbuktu. Ali)s empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean eastward nearly 1,800 miles.
Ali divided Songhai into provinces. Then he chose officials to carry out the laws. He also made sure that all weights and measures were the same in his empire.
Other countries wanted Songhai's riches and attacked it. At first, Songhai's army easily defeated its neighbors. Then, in 1590, the Arab ruler of Morocco in North Africa sent an army to conquer Songhai. The Arab army had only 2,000 soldiers, but it had a new, powerful weapon-the gun. In 1596, Songhai fell. The empire broke apart, and West Africa was never united again.
Homework - Workbook 41 – Chapter 11 Section 3 – AGS textbook
African Kingdom Match-Up
Directions: Match each item in Column A with a detail in Column B. Write the letter of each correct answer on the line.
Column A
______1) Ghana
______2) Sundiata Kieta
______3) infidel
______4) Sonni Ali
______5) caravans
______6) Kumbi
______7) Mali
______8) Mansu Musa
______9) Timbuktu
Column B
a) largest city in Ghana
b) became a Muslim
c) founded in about A.D. 400
d) empire that formed after Ghana lost its power
e) divided Mali into provinces
f) helped transport salt
g) powerful king of Songhai
h) one who does not believe in the religion another
person believes in
i) center of Islamic learning