Kingdoms of Africa

Kingdoms of Africa Created by: Mr. Clutter, Villegas Middle School • Fall 2007 With Revisions and Additions by Dana Teen Lomax Del Mar Middle School • Fall 2018

According to History Alive!: The Medieval World and Beyond, “In the north, West Africa begins in the sands of the Sahara Desert. To the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the east by the mountains of present-day Cameroon. This region includes the vegetation zones of desert, semidesert, savanna, and forest” (138).

Early Trade in West Africa Several major rivers served as trading routes in West Africa. The Niger is the region’s longest river. It became a kind of trading Highway. … Some traders also crossed the desert from North Africa, but most early trade was between West African settlements” (Frey139).

Early Communities and Villages • By about 4000 B.C.E. some people farmed south of the Sahara Desert • Farming Communities were mostly made up of extended families, i.e. close relatives (15-20 members who worked together to provide what was needed) • Over time, family communities joined together (100-200 members who worked together for protection and to help each other out) • Gradually some West African villages developed into town and cities with thousands of residents

The Age of Iron in West Africa • By the 6th century B.C.E., a people called the Nok were making iron tools and weapons • Blacksmiths in West Africa began making more advanced tools to grow crops more efficiently, and the abundance of food allowed other trades to develop • Extra goods (surplus) and a variety of skilled work (pottery, weaving, metalworking) meant more to trade with other towns • Settlements began to grow and expand • Artwork from the Metropolitan Museum of Art • Blacksmiths were considered magical and supernatural in places like Jenne-jeno (which exited for more than 1,600 years… Remember that before it was rediscovered, historians did not think cities existed in West Africa until outsiders arrived to help build them. Jenne-jeno proved them wrong!)

Mali Songhai Ghana Africa was the home of thee great ancient civilizations: Ghana, Mali and Songhai.

GHANA

Ghana developed in West Africa between the Niger (NI-jhur) and the Gambia Rivers. It was an important kingdom there from about 300 C.E. to the 1100’s. The rivers helped Ghana to grow rich because they were used to transport goods and develop trade. Ghana also collected taxes from traders who passed through the kingdom. The people called their nation Wagadu; we know it as Ghana -- that was the word for war chief.

Arab scholars described Ghana as a fabled “land of gold.” Ghana’s king headed a powerful army and had great wealth through the control of gold trade. The kings tightly controlled the supply of gold. According to Frey, one Arab historian described the scene at an ancient King’s court like this: "The King . . .[wears]. . . necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his forearms and he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in a turban of fine cotton. He [meets people] in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials…and on his right, are the sons of the (lesser) kings of his country, wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold.At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree. Round their necks they wear collars of gold and silver, studded with a number of balls of the same metals.” (History Alive! 146-147) (Interestingly, royal inheritance was matrilineal, i.e. traced through women’s bloodlines rather than men’s.)

Trade: The Source of Ghana’s Wealth • Ghana was located between two areas that wanted to trade—North Africa and the southern forests of West Africa. • Ghana’s location allowed it to control trans-Saharan trade, collecting taxes from traders who had to pass through Ghana. These taxes helped make Ghana rich. In 1352, a Muslim historian and traveler named Ibn “Best Life Ever” Battuta crossed the Sahara with a trade caravan. Battuta’s account shows what the traders’ journeys were like.

The Gold-Salt Trade • Gold has long been considered a symbol of wealth • People all over the world minted gold coins and used gold for trading currency • In an area known as Wangara, gold was plentiful • The Wangarans kept the location of the gold secret • Captured Wangaran miners would rather give up their lives than tell the secret. To this day, no one knows for certain exactly where the Wangaran mines were located.

Gold-Salt Trade (continued) • To West Africans, salt was more precious than gold. • They did not need gold but needed salt; West Africans had no local salt source. SALT: • Vital to the diet in hot climates • Kept food from spoiling • Tastes good In Taghaza, salt was produced through evaporation and mined. Traders paid takes to Ghana on all goods they carried through the empire – gold, salt, copper, and general merchandise. Ghana became rich and could pay armies to protect the trade routes. Do you remember the Wangaran’s silent form of barter and trade? If not, please see page 152!

Ghana became a rich and powerful nation, especially when the camel began to be used as a source of transport. Ghana relied on trade and trade was made faster and bigger with the use of the camel.

Islamic Mosque in Ghana blankbluesky.com/ travel/ghana/ After 700 C.E., the religion of Islam began to spread over northern Africa. Followers of this religion are called Muslims. Muslim warriors (the Almoravids) came into Ghana in the 11th century and fought with the non-Islamic people there. This weakened the great civilization of Ghana. Local warriors then decided to break away from the power of Ghana and form their own local kingdoms. This ended many of the trade networks. Years of war and the loss of natural resources eventually weakened the civilization of Ancient Ghana and led to its downfall in the 13th century.

Mali

A powerful king named Sundiata ruled this area from around 1230-1255 AD. He led the people in conquering and expanding his kingdom to be as great as Ghana had been. Perhaps the greatest king of Mali was Mansa Musa (1312-1337). He developed the gold and salt trade of Mali and his kingdom became very powerful and rich.

Mansa Musa was a Muslim, meaning he followed the religion of Islam. He built many beautiful mosques or Islamic temples in western Africa.

In 1324 C.E., Mansa Musa made a hajj to Mecca, which is a holy city in Saudi Arabia, with 60,000 servants and followers and 80 camels carrying more than 30,000 pounds of gold to be distributed among the poor. Of the 12,000 servants 500 carried a staff of pure gold. This showed his power and wealth to the other people he visited. A writer from Cairo described Musa’s caravan as “a lavish display of power, wealth, and unprecedented by its size and pageantry. Because of Musa’s hajj, Mali gained acceptance as an important empire. By 1375, Mali appeared on a European map of West Africa.

When Mansa Musa died, there were no kings as powerful as he was to follow. The great kingdom of Mali weakened. Eventually a group of people known as Berbers came into the area and other people came up from the south to claim territory that was once part of the kingdom. Although Mali fell, another advanced African kingdom took its place, the kingdom of Songhai. The Berbers still live in North Africa. This picture, taken in 1893, shows a Berber group.

Songhai

This map was created in 1375. The same trade routes were used by the merchants of the Songhai kingdom. What kinds of pictures do you see on the map and why do you think the mapmaker put them there?

The picture above is one artist’s idea of what the great Songhai leader, Sunni Ali, might have looked like. Sunni Ali saw that the kingdom of Mali was weakening, and he led his soldiers to conquer the area. He began the kingdom of Songhai. He also set up a complex government to rule all the lands he had conquered.

Silk, Ceramics, Beads, Islam from Europe and Asia All three kingdoms of West Africa relied on trade for their strength and wealth. Salt Timbuktu Gao Jenne Gold, Ivory, Wood, Slaves Coming into West Africa Coming from Africa and going to Europe and Asia

This is a photo of a mosque, or place of worship for Muslims, in western Africa. Many mosques were built of local materials. Sunni Ali died in 1492 C.E. His son took over the rule of Songhai, but he did not accept Islam as a religion. Islam was accepted as a religion by many people in northern Africa. One of Sunni Ali’s generals, named Muhammad Ture, overthrew the new king and made himself king of Songhai. Ture was a follower of Islam (a Muslim), and so he made Islam the religion of his kingdom. As Arabic spread, so did the Arabic language which was used for worship as well as trade. Islamic art and architecture spread to West Africa as well.

Songhai remained a rich and strong kingdom under Muhammad Ture’s rule. It had a complex government centered in the city of Gao, and great centers of learning. But later rulers were not as powerful. In the late 1500s, Morocco invaded Songhai to take its rich trade routes. Moroccans had a new weapon, the gun, and the army of Songhai did not. This led to the fall of Songhai.

Africa produced many great civilizations. During the time of the Middle Ages of Europe, the African kingdoms of Mali, Ghana and Songhai were places of advanced learning and great wealth. Strong leaders and vast natural resources helped these cultures rule large areas of northern and Western Africa for hundreds of years.

The Cultural Legacy of West Africa The cultural achievements of West Africans are still influential today: • Oral traditions Griots: the record-keepers of the people Folktales Proverbs • Music Call and Response Musical Instruments Drumming Dance • Visual Arts Sculpture Masks Textiles Everyday Objects Call and Response Song in Kenya

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Kingdoms of Africa