EMPIRES OF WEST AFRICA

GHANA

LOCATION

• Bordered by Cote D'Ivoire in the west
• Burkina Faso borders the north
• Togo borders the east
• The Gulf of Guinea borders the south.
• Ghana is located on the coast of West Africa

IRON AND POWER

• Ghana used Iron for weapons in battle.
• Iron was also used to make tools in Ghana.

ECONOMY: TAXES AND GOLD

• Ghana gained much wealth from taxes.
• They earned so much miney by taxing people on the amount they traded, and just for passing through.

PRODUCTS TRADED

• Ghana traded two major products.
• Salt and Gold were the most common traded products.
• Ghana traded little to nothing else other than salt and gold.

SALT IS IMPORTANT

• Here are three ways salt was important in Ancient Africa.
• Money ( Traded salt for gold )
• Restores body liquid ( people needed body liquid because most of it left them through perspiration. )
• Made bland food tasty ( We all know that if our food is bland, we will most likely put salt on it. )

MAJOR CITIES

• Here are some major cities in Ghana:
• Accra
• Kumasi
• Tamale
• Tema
• Sekondi

GHANA'S DECLINE

• Here are three causes of Ghana's decline:
• Attacks from other groups
• A huge drought swept through
• The people of Ghana were cut off from the Salt & Gold trade.

MALI

LOCATION

• Most of Mali lies in the Sahara
• Mali is bordered by:
• Guinea
• Senegal
• Mauritania
• Algeira
• Niger
• Burkina Faso
• Côte d'Ivoire

SUNDIATA

• Sundiata was an Emperor of Mali
• He created a stong military, intoduced cotton, opened trade routes, allowed people to worship whoever they pleased, and let slaves work for their freedom.

ECONOMY

• Mali made money by selling harvest from their crops as shown below:
• Peanuts, Maize, Cotton, Gold, Salt, and Limestone
• Some things were not harvests, though, like gold, salt, and limestone

PRODUCTS TRADED

• Mali traded gold, salt, and cotton cloth

RELIGION AND MANSA MUSA'S PILGRIMAGE

• Religion: Islam
• Mansa Musa was an Emperor of Mali. His pilgrimage is famous because he gave out large amounts of gold, encouraged people to convert to Islam, and showed the beauty and riches of Mali.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE FLOURISH UNDER MANSA MUSA

• Mansa Musa brought an Arabic library with him.
• He came with religious scholars for Mali.
• His Hajj made him very famous, as well as Mali.

MAJOR CITIES

• Gao (center for the Trans-Saharan trade)
• Kayes (Important stop on Mali's traveling paths)
• Timbuktu (center of learning)
• Kidal (Strategic location for planning in Africa)

THE FALL OF MALI

• Mansa Musa dies.
• There are arguments about the next ruler.
• As usual, attacks from other people.

SONGHAI

LOCATION

• Near the Niger River
• Expands from all directions until the Atlantic Ocean

SUNNI ALI

• Ruler of Songhai
• His achievements were mostly building his military and making it stronger countless times.
• He did found the Songhai Empire.

ASKIA THE GREAT

• Askia was another great ruler
• He formed the Askia dynasty
• He made Timbuktu even GREATER!!!!

MAJOR CITIES

• Gao ( Home to the tomb of Askia the Great )
• Timbuktu ( Important Trading/learning center )
• Djenne ( Popular place for learning )

SONGHAI FALLS TO MORROCO

• Songhai's Leader Died
• A war weakened them
• Morroco took over cities one by one
• Songhai was weakened and destroyed