Ghana, Mali, and Songhai

Draw

Circle Ghana on this map.

The Kingdom of Ghana, also known as Wagadu or Wagadugu, was the earliest known empire of western Sudan and was founded by a king of the Soninke people. Europeans and Arabs mistakenly named it Ghana, which means “ruler”. The first historical records of this nation are from the end of the 8th century, but it probably came into being long before that. Oral records maintain that it emerged by the 7th century and had over 144 kings. Modern day Ghana has no historical connection to the medieval kingdom.

About Ghana

The rulership of Ghana was matrilineal, which means that the sister of the king gave birth to the new ruler. The bloodline of the royal family was continued through its women. The king did not rule his state alone, but was helped by a People's Council whose members came from all levels of society. This type of social organization shows that Ghana's political system was well developed because it included citizens and didn't rely on the guidance of a single person.

Kings

​Economy and Industry

​This kingdom had a very advanced system of administration and taxation because traders had to travel through its lands to carry goods like gold and salt to and from North Africa to the southern parts of West Africa. The state's economy was dynamic and helped to expand the kingdom into an empire.

It also had large armies and defeated smaller states around it who had to pay tribute and taxes to its rulers. Although Ghana received great riches from its subordinates, it did not rely on them for its economic growth. Instead it developed agriculture, iron smelting, stonemasonry, carpentry, pottery, cloth manufacturing and goldsmithing. The products they produced were traded along the Trans-Saharan trade routes from western Africa to Egypt and the Middle East in the north. They usually exchanged their goods for gold, salt, copper and sold war captives as slaves.

Even though there are written records of Ghana, like in the “Book of Routes and Kingdoms” by 11th century geographer Abu Ubayd al-Bakri, the kingdom is still a mystery. North Africans call it the “Land of Gold” because gold was plentiful in the area, but the locations of its gold mines were kept secret to maintain control over them.

Religion and Decline

The people of Ghana mostly held traditional animist beliefs. Although the people of Ghana had good relations with Muslim traders, allowed Muslims to live in its cities, and even encouraged Muslim advisers to help the royal court with its administration, the kingdom never converted to Islam. The Muslim religion had been the main faith in northern Africa since the 8th century and Ghana’s northern neighbors were dedicated believers. These Muslims called themselves the Almoravids and in 1076, in the 11th century, they declared a holy war, or “jihad”, against Ghana under the leadership of Abdullah ibn Yasin.

The kingdom of Ghana was destroyed and many of its people converted to Islam. After this the once powerful state lost its military and commercial power. From 1180 to 1230 the southern parts of what used to be Ghana was controlled by the Sosa people, who were anti-Muslim, but the empire of Ghana had come to an end.

Multiple Select

What were other names used for the kingdom of Ghana? (check two)

• Wagadu

• Abu Ubayd al-Bakri

• Abdullah ibn Yasin

• Wagadugu

Multiple Choice

How did the rulership of Ghana work?

• The king ruled alone as an absolute monarch, meaning he made all decisions without help.

• It was a republic, so the people all voted for the best leader to represent them.

• It was matrilineal, meaning that the sister of the king gave birth to the new ruler.

• All of the above

Multiple Choice

What religion did most people in Ghana follow before the Almoravids declared a holy war on Ghana?

• Islam

• Christianity

• Animism

• Judaism

Multiple Choice

After falling to the Almoravids, what religion did most people in Ghana convert to?

• Islam

• Christianity

• Animism

• Judaism

Draw

Circle Mali on this map.

he Kingdom of Mali existed between 1200 and 1500 and was one of the richest empires in Africa. It grew from a small state called Kangaba and was established by the Madingo, or Madinka, people. It became the greatest Muslim state in the western Sudan. The Madingo people were farmers and middle-men in the gold trade and had been conquered by the Kingdom of Ghana. When the small nation was again attacked, 11 of the king's 12 sons were killed, with only Sundiata Keita, a cripple, spared and exiled.

At the end of the 11th century the Soso people established a state in the southern parts of the former Kingdom of Ghana. Their rulership lasted for a short time and set the stage for the birth of the Kingdom of Mali, a legacy that is still passed on in oral traditions today.

About Mali

Sundiata Keita began ruling Mali in 1230 and called himself Mari Djata, or Lion Prince. He commanded a mighty army and expanded his country by defeating neighboring kingdoms. Eventually he divided his empire into provinces that were ruled by governors. He died in 1255.

The kings of the Mali empire were called “mansa” which means “lord”, a title that had been adopted by Sudiata. The most famous of all, after Sundiata, was his grandson, Mansa Musa I. Musa, who was in power from 1312, to 1337 was not the first Muslim ruler of Mali, but he became famous as a result of his hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city of Islam, in 1324 and 1325. His lavish display of riches and generosity drew the attention of the whole Islamic world and Europe.

Mansa Musa brought 500 slaves and 500 golden staffs as well as gold to trade along the way. The enormous amount of gold he brought had serious economic results for the lands he passed through, especially Egypt, because the price of the precious metal dropped. His travels put Mali on the map and soon the kingdom became legendary. Mansa Musa's image holding nuggets of gold was even used to indicate the area on maps of Africa.

During this time Mali covered the area from the Atlantic Ocean to the salt plains in the north and the gold mines in the south. Timbuktu, in Mali, also became a centre of learning, religion and trade and many important scholars visited the country, like Ibn Battuta, the greatest of all Arab travelers and writers.

Kings

​Economy and Industry

The people of Mali farmed and traded and became rich from taking over control of the salt and gold trade that had been ruled by Ghana. The natural environment was ideal for planting cotton, peanuts, grains and other crops, which fed the people. The inhabitants of Mali were Muslim, and because slavery was not forbidden by Islam they also became wealthy through selling slaves. Mali was immensely rich in gold and traded with North Africans, the Middle East and Europe.

Decline

When Ibn Buttata visited Mali in the 14th century, shortly after Mansa Musa's death, he was surprised and impressed by how strictly order was enforced in the kingdom and he even visited the king. After the death of its king Mali lacked a ruler that could lead such a large and powerful kingdom.

The former ruler's grandsons fought over his throne and far-off provinces of the empire began breaking away while enemies attacked it in its weakened state. In 1534 the ruler Mansa Suleyman asked Portuguese colonizers at the coast for help, but they refused. Mali shrank to the original size of Kangaba by 1645. Mali finally collapsed with the rise of the Kingdom of Songhai, but no empire ever had the power and wealth the Kingdom of Mali had once held.

Multiple Select

How did the Kingdom of Mali develop? (CHECK THREE)

• It grew from a small state called Kangaba.

• It was established by the Madingo, or Madinka, people.

• Muhammad Toure brought trade to Mali, encouraging its growth.

• It became the greatest Muslim state in western Sudan.

Multiple Select

How do we know so much about Mali's history? (CHECK TWO)

• Paintings left behind by Mansa Musa.

• Oral tradition

• Islamic scholars

• Muhammad Toure's journals that he left behind.

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the most famous ruler of Mali?

• Muhammad Toure

• Wagadu

• Ibn Buttata

• Mansa Musa

Draw

Circle Songhai on this map.

The Kingdom of Songhai, or Songhay, developed from a community of fishermen who lived along the Niger River and were skilled canoeists. During the 9th century they became part of the state of Songhai and began trading with Muslim traders in Gao, which than became part of the kingdom.

The Kingdom of Songhai grew from the ashes of the Kingdom of Mali and was the last kingdom in the western Sudan. During its domination of the area Mali had defeated the small kingdom of Gao in 1325. The city of Gao, the capital of the kingdom, had been occupied by the Songhai before Mansa Musa from Mali had arrived, and as Mali began to decline after Musa's death during the 14th century, Songhai began to rise, around 1464.

The leader that inspired this rise was Sonni Ali, or Ali, Ber, who conquered most of the remaining Mali empire, including the city of Timbuktu. During the next 100 years the Songhai empire reached its peak as Islam as a religion and Islamic learning was actively promoted by the king. By the end of the 15th century Songhai had replaced Mali, but was defeated by a large Moroccan force at the end of the 16th century. This ended 700 years of domination of the western Sudan by centralized and powerful black kingdoms.

About Songhai

Great Songhai leaders like Sonni Ali Ber, who was killed in a Muslim rebellion, and his successor Askia Muhammad Toure, who ruled from 1492 to 1528, built this empire into the most powerful in West Africa. It was larger than both Mali and Ghana and introduced organized government to the area. Sonni Ali aggressively built Gao into the Kingdom of Songhai by using his cavalry and very mobile fleet of ships. He conquered Timbuktu and the harbor of Jenne, or Djenne, both important Malian cities.

Sonni Ali was replaced by Askia Muhammad Toure, who established a new ruling dynasty, the Askia. He continued Sonni Ali's campaign to expand the kingdom by taking control of important oases in the Sahara Desert and finally defeating Mali. He followed this with further campaigns to conquer more neighboring kingdoms. He centralized his government by introducing a large bureaucratic force to oversee and administer his kingdom.

Muhammad Toure was innovative and improved trading by standardizing weights, measures and currency, blending the different Songhai cultures into one national culture. He was also a devout Muslim and replaced Songhai administrators with Arab Muslims to spread Islam through his empire. Muslim judges called qadis, ran his legal system on Muslim principles. Most of the people living in cities embraced Islam. In rural areas where 97% of the Songhai people lived, traditional African religions dominated.

Kings

​Economy and Industry

Like the kingdoms of Ghana and Mali before it Songhai became rich through trade. There was a privileged class of craftsmen and slaves were mostly used as farm workers. Trade thrived under Muhammad Toure with kola nuts, gold, and enslaved people as exports. These were exchanged for textiles, horses, salt, and luxury goods.

Leo Africanus, a Spanish Moroccan traveler and writer, visited Gao and noted that there was a very wealthy ruling class: “The houses there are very poor, except for those of the king and his courtiers. The merchants are exceedingly rich and large numbers of Negroes continually come here to buy cloth brought from Barbarie (Morocco) and Europe.”

Decline

Songhai declined as a result of internal political struggles, but its mineral wealth also drew the attention of invaders. The Songhai empire had become too large to control while changes in the environment caused droughts and disease. Even though its army was 35 000 men strong, some of the inhabitants started to rebel against the king. This made the empire vulnerable and Morocco, which was one of its territories, revolted to gain control of its own gold mines and the sub-Saharan gold trade. After the Moroccan army attacked in 1591 the Songhai empire collapsed. In 1612 the Songhai cities fell to anarchy and the greatest empire in African history disappeared.

Multiple Choice

How did the Kingdom of Songhai arise?

• It grew from a small state called Kangaba.

• It developed from a community of fishermen who lived along the Niger River.

• It was established by the Madingo, or Madinka, people.

• It became the greatest Muslim state in western Sudan.

Multiple Choice

What innovations did Muhammad Toure bring about relating to trade?

• He standardized weights, measures, and currency.

• He created a writing system with the same dialects and symbols.

• He created the plow to make farming in the Sahara Desert easier.

• He created the wheel to allow for more pyramids to be built in a faster time.

Multiple Choice

Why were the innovations did Muhammad Toure made so important?

• He killed anyone who opposed him, setting up a powerful dictatorship.

• The bloodline of the royal women continued through its women.

• He blended all of Songhai's cultures into one national culture.

• It became the greatest Muslim state in western Sudan.

Multiple Select

What were the major goods traded by the merchants of Songhai? (CHECK THREE)

• Cotton

• Kola nuts

• Gold

• Enslaved people

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