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Kingdoms Of West Africa Dbq Analysis

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In the mid 1300s, West African kingdoms started gaining more reigns and power. The main three kingdoms of West Africa were Ghana, Mali, and the Songhai empire. The vast expanse of the Sahara desert impacted the change from complexity to prosperity. The kingdoms of West Africa became so prosperous from their consistent incline of gain. Western African kingdoms gained their trade with the help of Mansa Musa, geographical and cultural aspects, and access to natural resources. Part of the reason the kingdoms in West Africa became so prosperous was because of its trading routes plus the help of Mansa Musa. Mansa Musa is shown seated on his throne in a map of Africa from the Catalan Atlas of 1375 (Doc B). As the overlooker of the Trans Saharan trade route, Mansa Musa holds up the gold as he sits in his royal throne to exhibit how much …show more content…

After the muslims conquered West Africa is when we first heard about the empires from the Arabic language sourcers (Doc F). This is important to the prosperity in kingdoms of West Africa because the spread of the West African culture created an increase in their status leading to a beneficial expansion in their culture. This, thanks to the help of the West African kingdom spread from the muslims and arabic language sources. Also, The continents of Africa, Asia, India, and the Mediterranean brought in more of an exchange interest, which helped expand the geography in West African kingdoms (Doc D). This supports the geographical aspects of the prosperity increase because with the help of other resources around the world, the kingdoms of West Africa became more known for their goods which affected their surroundings leading to geographical enhancements. Culture and Geography across Western Africa contributed to the consistent incline of gain between the kingdoms, therefore making it more

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The Trans-Saharan trade network was a vital factor in the affluence of Western African civilizations. In Document A, is a map of Ibn Battuta’s journey through various trade routes spreading through multiple continents during the fourteenth century. Small pictographs are drawn on the map to display the aspects of each culture that Ibn Battuta visited (Doc A). The map illustrates the extent of the Trans-Saharan Trade Network and how it connected West Africa with other regions across the globe.

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According to Document A: The Ghana Empire by UC Davis History-Social Science Project Lesson Plan on Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World-Mali created in 2014, it states: “The kings of Ghana taxed the gold-salt trade and kept an army to protect people from the desert nomads, but they probably did not actually rule over the people of the smaller chiefdoms in the confederation.” This shows that Mali was rich thanks to the taxes they got out of the salt trade. According to a Document B: Berber Peoples by UC Davis History-Social Science Project Lesson Plan on Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World-Mali created in 2014, it states… “Their trade of gold for salt was very profitable for everyone involved.” This shows that they didn’t just own to salt trade, they traded themselves with the plentiful gold they had. This provides that Mali was rich because of a lot of different reasons.

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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.

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The great empire of Mali was located in west Africa. Mali was a large empire that reigned from 1235-1600 AD. Mali contributed to the ever growing trade routes throughout Africa. Famously Mali traded their abundant amount of salt for gold.

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This led to an arranged system in which they could keep order and keep the civilizations thriving. This was an achievement because African kingdoms were able to understand the need for an organized system that would keep order and control the civilization in which they were in charge of. Without this source of power that kept their empire organized, a missing place of leadership would take over their civilization and result in chaos. Another source of order in the kingdoms came from the common religion of Islam within certain countries. Islam unified the people within the community which allowed for leaders to have an easier control over their ‘subjects’.

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Religious authority along with political organization contributed to these empires’ success and development more than military power. Military power proved an empire’s power over its periphery and that they had the possibility of taking over other empires through a mighty

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These stateless societies had a legitimate, informal government but, had no official bureaucratic system. During the early Post-Classical era, Ghana played an important part in West African society because even though they had limited connections to outside kingdoms, they still traded with neighboring societies. Gold and salt were two of the major commodities that helped grow these small stateless societies into large and prospering empires. With trade increasing throughout the Saharan, the amount of gold and salt that was able to reach this region was able to increase, which allowed for both the resources and the incentive to build a larger empire. Between the years 700-1450 CE, elaborate court life, degrees of admission and military forces were created as a result of the increased trade through the Saharan.

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Some people lived in larger, centralized states, while other lived in simple village communities. Islam was one of the most widespread religions in Africa before missionaries came to convert them to Christianity. This might have been a more positive influence if the Europeans hadn’t viewed the Africans as a people in need of refinement and guidance instead of understanding and respecting their culture. However, one benefit of Europe’s growing control of Africa was that the transatlantic slavery slowly came to an end, but in East Africa, slavery continued to run rampant. Although the end of much of the slavery did rid Africa of much exploitation, it continued in other ways including the harvest of copper, ivory, and other resources taken from the Congo, civilians forced into hard labor for little compensation, and little to no control of the government was given to native

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Both Europe and West Africa followed a system of centralized rule. In West Africa the kingdoms of Mali, Songhai, and Kongo had centralized governments capable of collecting taxes, regulating commerce, and mobilizing armies. For instance, the kingdom of Kongo consisted of smaller kingdoms that were ruled by the Manikongo. In Europe, absolute monarchs held power over provinces. In North America, on the other hand, chiefdoms became more prevalent during the Mississippi tradition.

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Mali and Ghana Essay Ghana and Mali were one of Africa’s greatest ancient civilizations. The Ghana kingdom was founded around the year 750, and developed between the Senegal and Niger River, while the Mali kingdom came about in 1240 after taking over Ghana. Rich in trade and supplies, their empires flourished under their rulers. The Ghana and Mali empire had a series of key similarities and differences throughout their years as a civilization, such as education, their culture, and their resource for trade.

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So Europe invaded Africa, took possession of Africa, and divided Africa into colonies of Europe. The period of invasion, lasting some twenty years, was more or less completed by 1900. There followed a longer period, between sixty and ninety years, of direct European rule, called colonial rule. This was a time of profound upheaval for all of Africa’s peoples. It brought irreversible changes” (4).

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The Early African Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were established sufficiently and later met their demise. The Early African Kingdoms were able to progress in economy and political structure by the actions of their leaders, location, religious influences, and geographical features. Religion influenced the African economy, political structure, and cultural practices. All Early African Kingdoms took advantage of the gold and salt trade and used it to hike in power. Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa, Sunni Ali, and Askia the Great abetted their kingdoms, economy, and society.

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In History of Africa, Shillington focuses on many aspects of African culture and factors that made Africa to be the continent that it is today. Chapter 5 primarily focuses on the Northern region of Africa and how empires took over and spread their ideology technology, and culture all through out the region. Even today some remnants of the Roman and Greek empire live on to this day (Shillington, 69.) Despite many people getting the impression that Northern Africa is only influenced by Arabic and Islam, these empires and their conquests are best understood through topics like intricate trading routes, farming, and the spread of religion. Shillington provides an in depth analysis of how many of these conquests affected Northern Africa centuries ago and today.

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The African kingdoms Ghana, Mali, Songhai The African nations of Ghana, Mali, Songhai, shared so many characteristics between each other. For one primary comparison is, all three ancient empires relied on the trans-Saharan trading routes and their lush amount of gold, copper and other natural resources. They established many political ties with many Arab countries and nearby African societies. These three nations shared abundantly cultural similarities from just the rise of Islam.

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