Transcript West Africa: Islamic Faith is a way of life… Essential

West Africa:
Ghana, Mali, and Songhai…
Essential Question:
How did the geography of
the West African empires
affect their development?
West African Civilizations
Geography
 Africa is the second largest continent on Earth.
 Africa is kind of shaped like a soup bowl. Low in the
middle with mountains around the edge. In the
northwest are the Atlas Mountains.
 In eastern Africa, mountains are next to deep rifts.
 Rifts are long, deep valleys formed by the movement of
the Earth’s crust.
Geography
 The Sahara Desert in North Africa is the world’s largest desert.
 sub-Saharan Africa (Africa south of the Sahara desert) is crossed
by rivers (Congo, Zambezi, Niger)
Geography
 Niger River started as place for great West African civilizations
(4 main regions):
 northern band -southern part of the Sahara (sand and gravelworld’s largest desert-over 120’F - rain rare)
 Sahel (divides desert from wetter areas-some animals)
 Savannah (grassland with scattered trees - animals common)
 Rain forests (near equator - heavy rains - lots of plants and animals)
Sahel
Savannah
Rain Forest
Geography - Resources
 Traditional crops
 Dates
 Kola nuts – traditionally used in
medicine
 Salt
 Needed addition to their diet
 Came from the Sahara
 Gold
 Used for jewelry and coins
 Came from the southern forests
Geography Cont’d.
-Niger River started as place for great West African
civilizations (4 main regions):
1.northern band-southern part of the Sahara (sand and gravel-world’s
largest desert-over 120’F-rain rare)
2.Sahel (divides desert from wetter areas-some animals)
3. savannah (grassland with scattered trees-animals common)
4. rain forests (near equator-heavy rains-lots of plants and animals)
Trade & Economy ***PGS. 120-121***
 3-5-2
-people traded rarely because horses could not cross Sahara often, but AD 200s,
Romans started to use camels and could cross Sahara in two months
-dangers of trade: thieves, weather, supplies run out
-traded salt (from the northern mines) for gold (south) *PG. 133*
-traders called berbers
-also traded cloth, copper, silver, and slaves
-Timbuktu *PG. 139* and Djenne’ were two major
trade cities
Trade & Economy cont’d.
-caravans: people who travel and trade together and relied on
Silent Barter (Ghana):
-people traded without contact
-salt traders would go to riverbank and leave slabs of salt
-salt traders would beat a drum and then retreat
-gold traders would come from the river and leave an amount
of gold they thought was appropriate
-gold traders would beat drum and then retreat
-salt traders would return and, if they thought the
amount of gold was fair, the deal was done…if not, then they
would barter
Empire of Ghana
West African Empires
Empire of Ghana
 Politics and Government
 Farmers banded together around 300 AD to protect against
nomadic warriors
 Learned how to work with iron, made weapons. This was
superior to other armies who only had wood, bone and
stone weapons.
Politics & Government: GHANA
 3-6-1
-traded gold, iron and salt (none of which were natural to Ghana, but they
controlled the trade)
-armies of Ghana began to take over trade from
merchants and gained wealth
-other signs of wealth: sheep, cattle, honey,
leather, golden-thread tassels
-by 800, Ghana very powerful
Empire of Ghana
 Ghana’s own mines gave them wealth in gold
 Some of their gold was traded
 Ghana’s kings also kept huge amounts of gold
for themselves
 All of the gold produced in Ghana was
technically the property of the king.
 NO ONE besides the king could own a gold
nugget. Common people could only own gold
dust which they used as money.
Politics & Government : GHANA Cont’d.
-traders came through Ghana and leaders started to…charge
taxes…on goods sold AND goods bought…also taxed people they
conquered…king would allow conquered kings to continue ruling
their own lands…as governors…
-mid 1000s Ghana was wealthy, but by 1200s it
collapsed…why???
1. invasion (Almoravids wanted Ghana to convert to
Islam)
2. overgrazing (Almoravids brought lots of animals and
land was overgrazed and then useless)
3. internal rebellion (conquered lands rebelled)
Empire of Mali
Empire of Mali
 Located along the upper Niger River


Fertile soil
Location allowed it to control trade on the
river
 First powerful leader was Sundiata
(soohn-JAHT-ah)



He conquered Ghana
Took over the salt and gold trades
Improved agriculture

Crops – beans, onions, rice. He introduced
cotton to Mali
 Sundiata consolidated power – he took
power away from local leaders and took
the title mansa for himself.

Mansas were political and religious leaders
– most of the later mansas were Muslim
Empire of Mali
Empire of Mali
 Mansa Musa was Mali’s most famous ruler
 He was a Muslim king
 Mali reached its height in the 1300’s
 Because of Mansa Musa’s influence, Islam spread throughout West Africa


spread Islam and his own wealth—hajj to Mecca and gave gold to Egyptians
One story says he arrived in Cairo, Egypt with 100 camels each carrying 300
pounds of gold and 60,000 men!
 He ruled for about 25 years
 His army captured Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenne’
Empire of Mali
 Mansa Musa supported education
 Schools were set up for studying the Qur’an
 Timbuktu became famous for its schools
 He stressed the importance learning to read and write the
Arabic language
 Arabic became the main language
 The Fall of Mali
 When Mansa Musa died his son Maghan took over the throne.
He was a weak ruler



Raiders attacked and set fire to Timbuktu’s schools and mosques.
The empire was too big to control and invaders continued to
weaken it.
The kingdom fell by 1500!
Politics & Government: Songhai ***PG. 143***
 3-6-3
-rivals of Mali
-lived along the Niger River
-grew wealthy from trade
-Sunni Ali (powerful leader in 1464-conquered lands-helped
Mali fight off invaders and then kept it for himself- This
led to the Soghai Empire. He promoted unity-was Muslim but
participated in local religions as well)
-died 1492
-his son took over, but was not a Muslim so people rebelled
(led by Muhammad Ture)…
Politics & Government: Songhai Cont’d.
-Muhammad Ture becomes Askia the Great *PG. 145*
-Islam
-education
-governors loyal to him
-created army (huge and powerful)
-lost power to son in 1528…went blind and exiled
to island…finally other son brought him back
-Morocco wanted Songhai’s salt mines in 1591
-invaded with arquebus (early form of gun)
and cannons
-slowly, African trade declined (people
traded by sea)
Religion
 Some religious practices were common from village to
village
 A traditional belief in the importance of family
 Many believed that the spirits of their ancestors stayed
nearby.
 Animism
 The belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and other
natural objects have spirits.
 Shows the West African dependence on the natural world for
survival.
Society and Culture
 Families
 Typically an extended family
 Included the father, mother, children, and
close relatives all living in one household.
 Loyalty to your extended family was
expected.
 Groups
 Sometimes people formed other types of
groups
 Age-sets = men or women of the same
age would form special bonds and help
each other
Society and Culture
 Villages worked together – everyone had specific duties
 Men hunted and farmed
 Crops were millet and sorghum
 Raised goats and sheep
 Women farmed, collected firewood, ground the grain,
carried water and cared for the children.
 The elders (older people) taught the family’s traditions
and values to the younger generations through songs,
dances, and stories.
 Children began working as soon as they were able.
Society and Culture
 Oral History
 None of the major early civilizations of
West Africa developed a written language.
 They passed along information through
oral histories – spoken records of past
events
 Storytellers were entrusted to remember
and pass along West Africa’s history
 Griots were West African storytellers
 Highly respected in their community
 Their stories were entertaining and
informative. They told of past events and
of deeds of ancestors
 They also recited proverbs – short sayings
of wisdom or truth.
 Proverbs were used to teach moral
lessons.
 Travelers through West Africa wrote about
the traditions and history of West Africa.
Society and Culture
 Art
 Sculpture
 Made statues and carvings out of
wood, brass, clay, ivory, stone and
other materials
 Most of the statues were made for
religious rituals
 Mask and cloth making
 Carved elaborate masks made of
wood and painted them. They
would be worn during rituals
 Kente cloth – a hand-woven
brightly colored fabric
Society and Culture
 Music and Dance
 Used to celebrate specific events or ceremonies
 Call and Response
Science and Technology
 Sometime around 500 BC West Africans
discovered how to make iron
 They learned that by heating the iron again they
could shape it into useful things.
 Tools
 The Nok – early people living in what is now Nigeria
– made:
 Gardening tools
 Arrows
 Spears
 Iron tools allowed West Africans to live in places they
couldn't live before. They used the blades to cut down
trees and clear land for farming.