Around the year 1000, sub-Saharan Africans adopted agriculture, but they did not form centralized governments like those in Europe or Asia, instead of forming tribes led by a chief. Villages near each other came and formed confederations, where the chiefs met to solve the region’s problems through councils. Later on in the period, 1200-1450 marked the entry of West Africa into the “Global” world. In this period.trade flourishes in Africa with sub-Saharan Africa beginning to trade with the rest of the world through the trans-Saharan trade networks. In this post, we will explore West African states in the period 1200-1450.
Ghana, Songhai, and Mali
The period saw the rise of trading empires that become massively rich through the trans-Saharan trade. The area they ruled over was filled with gold, which was traded for salt and other goods. You might be saying that trading salt for gold doesn’t sound fair. However, you would be wrong as salt may be common in the world, but it is very essential for things like food preservation. The trading made these states extremely wealthy, with Timbuktu being recognized as one of the richest places in the world at that time. During the time of Ghana, they traded with Muslims and was ruled by a king.
Ghana(400-1200s)
-Located between Sahara’s and rain forests
-Advanced technology like Iron weapons
-Traded with Muslims, introducing Islam to the region
Mali Empire(1230-1670)
-Founded after the decline of Ghana by Sundiata, a Muslim, who established an Islamic Kingdom(these Muslims came from the trading Ghana did, showing the effects of trans-Saharan trade on the region.
-Timbuktu-major city that becomes a center of Islamic learning.
Songhai Empire(1456-1591)
-Took over as West Africa’s major kingdom after Mali
-Continued trans-Saharan trade
-Eventually fell due to infighting
Mansa Musa
You might be wondering, what makes this guy so special that he deserves a section to himself? He was rich, he made gold useless king of rich. He is literally considered the richest person in history, so now how did he become so gosh darn rich?
Who was he?
-He was the 10th king of the Mali empire.
-Devout Muslim, which led to
The Hajj
-Made a pilgrimage to Mecca on 1342
-He brought a 100 camels and thousands of people along with him for the journey
-As he went to do his pilgrimage, he gave gold to people for free.He gave so much gold that even after he was gone there was inflation in the places he crossed by years and years after his pilgrimage.
After Hajj
-He established religious schools, built mosques, and encouraged Islamic studied.
AP History Review 