Pre ClassIn the space provided on your notes

paper, answer the following questions:• Why might powerful kingdoms emerge

in West Africa?• How did trade affect the peoples of East

Africa?• How does trade encourage cultural

diffusion in Africa?

Trading States and Kingdoms

The Salt-Gold Trade

• Trade across the Sahara based on scarcity

• N. Africa- salt• W. Africa – gold• Towns expanded to

cities, and strong trading kingdoms in W. Africa

The Empire of Ghana

• Ruler = “king of gold”; “ghana = war chief

• Soninke – founders; controlled salt-gold trade, armed with iron tipped weapons

• Welcomed Berbers (merchants from Northern edge of Sahara) who brought back gold to N. Africa

• Became wealthy from TAXING and TRADE

The end of an empire

Invasion and Fall of Ghana• 1076 – Berbers from the

North captured Ghana, then split into smaller states

• Mandingo farmers took advantage of weakness and est. empire of Mali

Mansa Musa

Mansa Musa, cntd.1. Increased empire’s

wealth by capturing salt mines)

2. Est. a SECURE empire3. Adopted ISLAM – hajj to

Mecca made Mali famous and increased contact between the Middle East, N. Africa and West Africa

Timbuktu• Crossroads of trade between

Arabia, N. Africa and W. Africa

• Salt, gold, and kola nuts passed through

• Capital of the Mali Empire • MM built the Grand Mosque which attracted

Muslim scholars• Intellectual and spiritual

center of Africa

Rise of Songhai• Sunni Ali captured Gao

(gaw) and Timbuktu• Askia Muhammad

followed Islam – make Timbuktu center of learning

• Moroccan soldiers overpowered Songhai warriors’ spears and arrows with guns and cannons

Benin

• Forest kingdom near the Equator

• Delta of the Niger River

• Oral traditions preserved history

• Benin City – center of industry– Woven goods, brass,

wood, ivory, bronze

Trading Cities of East Africa• East African coast – good

harbors produced small villages which grew into busy city-states

• Askum, Kilwa, Mombasa, Sofala – busy marketplaces

• Goods from the interior brought to the coast for trade – slaves, gold, ivory, animals skins

• Monsoon winds carried goods to and from India

RESULT OF TRADE

• Islam took root and cultural diffusion occurred (ie. Swahili - mixing African language with Arab words

Zimbabwe “stone dwelling”

10th century walls – 36 ft. high/20 ft. thick – Europeans didn’t believe Africans did this!

Ibn Battuta

Where did Ibn Battuta travel? How did his travels differ from those of Marco Polo?