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Dbq Africa Before The 15th And 16th Centuries

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Africa Before European Domination DBQ

Before the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Europeans arrived, Africans developed several advanced civilizations. For instance during the early 300s, kingdoms, empires, and cities in East Africa arose and declined. More specifically, in West Africa, 3 empires: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai took control of the gold and salt trade. Cities on the east coast gained power and wealth through trade as well. Many advanced civilizations, such as Aksum, Ghana, Mali, and Timbuktu formed, and expanded in Africa between 300 and the 14th century.
According to Document 1, the Kingdom of Aksum peaked its existence in Eastern Africa during 325 and 360, and became an important international trade route. Unlike many other kingdoms, …show more content…

According to Document 4, Mansa Musa, the emperor of the Mali empire, expanded the Mali empire to twice the size of the Ghana empire. On his hajj to Mecca, Mansa Musa stopped in Cairo, Egypt, and impressed many Egyptians. One specific Egyptian official was blown away by his generosity. “This man Mansa Musa, spread upon Cairo the flood of his generosity: there was no person, officer of the court, or holder of any office of the sultanate who did not receive a sum of gold from him.” This quote explains that people of Mali were considered to be very generous because they were willing to give away their gold, sometimes in trade for nothing. It is said that on Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca, he brought along 60,000 people, and camels loaded with gold. With this entourage and massive display of wealth, Mansa Musa made quite the impression on the foreigners. On this journey, Mansa Musa gave away a significant amount of gold, however he also brought back a lot of new ideas that would improve his empire. Unfortunately, soon after Mansa Musa’s improvements, he passed away from natural causes, and his rule ended. Shortly after, the Mali Empire began to grow weak, and in the 1400s, the empire began to lose control of its borders. Then, the Songhai Empire rose to power in the 1500s, and the Mali Empire officially came to an end in 1610 with the death of the last Mansa, Mahmud IV. After the …show more content…

It was located where the Niger River flows northward into the southern edge of the Sahara desert. As a result of its unique geographical location, Timbuktu was a convenient meeting point for the Songhai, Wangara, Fulani, Tuareg and Arabs. It was also considered to be a “melting pot” and center for knowledge and commerce. In fact, Timbuktu was the first city to have its own university with three main renown departments and 180 Quranic schools. According to Document 5, “Here are many doctors, judges, priest, and other learned men that are well maintained at the King’s costs. Various manuscripts and written books are brought here… and sold for more money than other merchandise.” This quote shows that Timbuktu was the home of many advanced careers, and was an extremely resourceful place, which attracted many scholars and merchants. It was the most developed, and prestigious city of the era, and was considered to have been the golden age of Africa due to all of its accomplishments. Timbuktu was the city of knowledge, the city of trade, and the city of

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The Mali Empire became a site of cultural exchange because of their immense wealth. According to an article “ Mali and the world Document C: Section from the Catalan Atlas” by Abraham Cresques created in 1375, it stated, “This king is the richest and most noble lord of all of this region due to the abundance of gold

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During the post-classic period, Africa was home to some of the most influential civilizations of the time. The Mali Empire and the Empire of Great Zimbabwe were two such civilizations that rose to power through the actions of their powerful rulers. The Mali Empire emerged in West Africa in the 13th century under the leadership of Sundiata Keita, a legendary figure who founded the empire in 1235 AD. This mighty empire was known for its vast territories and powerful rulers who used various strategies to expand their influence.

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But all of this was at a cost for the people of Mali. Taxes. Mali taxed a decent piece on the people they protected, which definitely contributed to the vast treasury of Mali and helped them become the large and powerful civilization that they

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The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou Empire, was a West African empire that existed from the 6th to the 13th century CE. The empire was founded by the Soninke people and became a major center of trade and commerce in West Africa. One of the reasons why the Ghana Empire was significant is because of its role in the trans-Saharan trade. The empire controlled the trade routes that connected West Africa with North Africa and Europe. They traded gold, ivory, and salt.

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Before the arrival of the Europeans, African accomplished many achievements across all of their cities, empires and, kingdoms that defined their nation. Their achievements can be split into three groups, economics, politics, and culture. Before the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the African people developed great kingdoms in which they established a great way of life for themselves. The African empires, kingdoms and cities had a vast amount of achievements before the arrival of the Europeans, they had a great economy due to their plentiful trading, as well as a vivid culture lead by the generosity of their government. Africa 's thriving economy was mostly due to the consistent trading across the world.

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The Ancient Mali civilization started as a small province in the kingdom of Ghana, in western Africa, south of the Saharan desert. The Mali kingdom was very well located because the Niger river flowed through their empire which allowed them to have an abundance of fish that made up a big part of their diet. Over time, ancient Mali grew and spread over nearly 2,000 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean to the city of Gao.

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The social contributions of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai came to be when Mansa Musa went to go make his pilgrimage to Mecca. When he went there he brought back many great Islamic minds, this included architects. The architects brought their skill and ways to the architecture to timbuktu. They built mosques and specific buildings to bring islam to the city. The mosques served as schools too.

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