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Empires of Mali and Songhai. Geography of Mali. Along the Niger River. Later Empires. The Big Idea Between 1000 and 1500 three great kingdoms-Mali and Songhai developed in West Africa. Main Ideas
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Geography of Mali Along the Niger River
Later Empires The Big Idea Between 1000 and 1500 three great kingdoms-Mali and Songhai developed in West Africa. Main Ideas • The empire of Mali reached its height under the ruler Mansa Musa, but the empire fell to invaders in the 1400s. • The Songhai built a new Islamic empire in West Africa, conquering many of the lands that were once part of Mali.
Main Idea 1: The empire of Mali reached its height under the ruler Mansa Musa, but the empire fell to invaders in the 1400s. • Mali was located along the upper Niger River. The fertile soil helped Mali grow and control river trade. • Sundiata, Mali’s first strong leader, built up a strong army and won back his country’s independence. • He conquered Ghana and took over the salt and gold trades. • He had new farmlands cleared for crops of beans, onions, and rice. He also introduced cotton as a new crop. • To protect his authority, he took power away from others and adopted the title mansa.
Mansa • Mansas had both political and religious roles in society. • The religious role of the mansa grew out of traditional Malian beliefs. • According to the beliefs, people’s ancestors had made an agreement with the spirits of the land that would ensure the lands provided plenty of food.
Mansa Musa • He was Mali’s most famous leader, and he ruled from 1312 to 1337. • Mali reached the height of its wealth, power, and fame in the 1300s. • He added important trade cities to its empire, including Timbuktu. • Islam was important to Musa, so he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. • He influenced the spread of Islam through a large part of West Africa and had mosques built throughout his empire. • He stressed the importance of education and learning to read the Arabic language. • He sent scholars to study in Morocco. They came back and set up schools in Mali.
Another thing we are familiar with… Declination • Take a guess of what caused Mali to fall..
Go forth my son and rule! Mansa’s son • Maghan – LAME! • Weak ruler. Raiders came from the south east and demolished Mali. He could not stop them
The Fall of Mali Weak rulers such as Maghan could not stop raiders, leading to the empire’s gradual decline. Raiders from the southeast poured into Mali and set fire to Timbuktu’s great schools and mosques. Invaders took almost all the lands of the Mali Empire by 1500.
Main Idea 2:The Songhai built a new Islamic empire in West Africa, conquering many of the lands that were once part of Mali. • Once a part of Mali, Songhai rose up against it and regained its freedom. • Songhai grew in many ways, mostly due to the work of Sunni Ali. • He worked constantly to unify, strengthen, and enlarge the empire. • He participated in both Islam and local religions and brought peace and stability as a result.
Muhammad Ture overthrew Sunni Baru because he did not support Islam. People thought they would lose trade with Muslim lands. Ture took the title of askia, a title of the highest military rank, and eventually became known as Askia the Great. Askia the Great
Education and Government • Askia the Great worked to support education and especially supported learning about medicine. • Thousands of people came to Timbuktu to use the universities, libraries, and mosques. • Djenné also became a city of great learning. • Songhai’s traders were Muslims and spread Islam. • To help maintain order, Askia set up five provinces within Songhai. • He removed local leaders and appointed new governors who were loyal to him. • He created special departments to oversee certain tasks. • He created a standing professional army.
Songhai fell to Morocco. • Because Morocco wanted to control the Saharan salt mines, it invaded Songhai. • The Moroccans brought with them a terrible new weapon, the arquebus, an early form of gun. • The Moroccans’ guns and cannons brought disaster to Songhai. • Changes in trade patterns completed Songhai’s fall. • Overland trade declined as Atlantic ports became more important.
