Chapter 5

​Chapter 5: Mali

By Ms. Cormier

• ​Mali is a country in West Africa. If you look at a map of Africa, you’ll see it is kind of shaped like a butterfly’s wing.

Mali

• North: The Sahara Desert is here. It’s hot, dry, and sandy, with very little water or plants.

• Middle: This part has grasslands and savannas where farming and herding animals are more possible.

• South: This area has more rainfall and fertile soil. People grow crops here like cotton, rice, and millet.

The Niger River is one of the most important features in Mali.

• It flows through the southern and central parts of Mali.

• People use it for drinking water, farming, fishing, and transportation.

• Many towns, like Timbuktu, were built near the Niger River because it made trade easier.

Mali

The climate in Mali is mostly hot all year round, but the amount of rain changes depending on where you are:

• Desert areas get almost no rain.

• Southern areas get much more rain during the wet season.

Mali

• The Mali Empire Explained

Multiple Choice

Which major river was most important to the people of the Mali Empire for farming, travel, and trade?

• Nile River

• Niger River

• Amazon River

• Mississippi River

Multiple Choice

The Mali Empire was mostly located in which region of Africa?

• Southern Africa

• East Africa

• West Africa

• North Africa

Multiple Choice

Why did many cities in the Mali Empire grow near rivers and not in the desert?

• Rivers made it easier to get gold from mountains

• People liked fishing more than farming

• Deserts have more rain than river areas

• Rivers provided water for farming, transportation, and trade

Political Structures of Mali

• What Are Political Structures?

  • Political structures are the way a country, empire, or community organizes its leadership and makes decisions about how people should live and work together.

Think of it like the rules and teams that run the “game” of a country.

Political Structures of Mali

• Leaders – Mansa (King), Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa

• Rules and Laws – Taxes on all imports and Exports (Trade), Rules were based on tradition, Islam, and decisions from the emperor’s court

• Decision‑Making Groups – Governors and local chiefs ran smaller parts of the empire.

• Roles and Jobs – The ruling class, warriors, traders, and the clergy, and the working class (including blacksmiths, and also griots, or storytellers).

Multiple Choice

What is a political structure?

• How people build houses and roads

• The way schools decide their schedules

• How leaders and laws are organized in a country or community

• A plan for planting crops

Multiple Choice

In the Mali Empire, the Mansa was the top leader. Which job is most similar in the United States today?

• Teacher

• Governor

• Mayor

• President

Multiple Choice

Why are political structures important for a community or country?

• They help organize leadership and make fair rules

• They help decide what food people should eat

• They make buildings taller and stronger

• They keep weather from changing

Economic Structures of Mali

• Economic structures

  • show how people earn a living,

  • how resources are used,

  • and how goods and services move from one person to another.

Economic Structures of Mali

• Economic structures

  • Agricultural resources and trade through the Trans-Saharan Trade Caravan Routes

  • Trade with Arab Traders was influential to Mali.

  • Caravans used the Sahara to transport goods from the west, east, and north of Africa.

Multiple Choice

What is an economic structure?

• How a country organizes its leaders and laws

• How people make, share, and trade goods and services

• The way cities are built and connected

• How a country’s climate changes over time

Multiple Choice

Which resources were most important to the Mali Empire’s economic structure?

• Salt and gold

• Oil and timber

• Wheat and coal

• Fish and silver

Multiple Choice

Why did the Niger River help the Mali Empire’s economy?

• It created more deserts for trade routes

• It connected Mali directly to the Atlantic Ocean

• It provided electricity to cities

• It made it easier to travel, farm, and transport goods

Cultural Structures of Mali

• Cultural structures

  • the shared beliefs, traditions, customs, arts, and ways of life that shape how people in a society live, interact, and celebrate their identity

  • They describe how a community’s culture is organized and passed from one generation to the next.

Cultural Structures of Mali

• Cultural structures

  • Beliefs and Religion

    • In the Mali Empire, Islam was practiced by many, influencing laws, education, and architecture.

    • Arab traders brought the Islamic religion with them through Islamic books

    • Mansa Musa took an influential pilgrimage to Mecca

Cultural Structures of Mali

• Cultural structures

  • Language and Communication

    • Mansa Musa encouraged the learning of the Arabic language in Libraries and Mosques to ensure Muslims in the kingdom could read the Qur'an

Cultural Structures of Mali

• Cultural structures

  • Arts and Architecture

    • Mosques and Libraries were built under the rule of Mansa Musa

    • Griots were respected storytellers

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a cultural structure in the Mali Empire?

• The design of the Great Mosque of Djenné

• The routes caravans used to cross the Sahara

• The amount of gold mined in Mali

• The laws about paying taxes on trade

Multiple Choice

Griots were important in the Mali Empire because they…

• Built roads across the Sahara

• Led camel caravans to trade routes

• Collected gold dust for taxes

• Told stories and kept history alive through oral tradition

Multiple Choice

The spread of Islam in the Mali Empire influenced its cultural structures by…

• Changing how goods were traded along the Niger River

• Inspiring the building of mosques and the use of Arabic for learning

• Increasing the number of salt mines in Mali

• Creating new tax laws for markets

​

• Forms the western and southern boarders of West Africa

• In between the US and Africa.

​

Atlantic Ocean

​

• Largest River in West Africa

• Important natural resource and trade route

​

Niger River

​

• Historically important trade and cultural centers in West Africa

• Founded due to location along the Niger River

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Djenne & Timbuktu

​

• Along the western edge of Africa

• Connected to many rivers

• Connected to the Atlantic Ocean

​

Gulf of Guinea

​

• Almost the size of the US

• Largest desert in the world

• Essential to trade in Africa

• Home to the Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade Route

​

Sahara

Draw

Color the area where the Gulf of Guinea is blue.

Draw

Draw a W on the west side of Africa.

Draw

Color the area where the Sahara is orange.

• Connected West Africa with the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia

• Trade connections between West, East, and North Africa.

• Had a major role in cultural diffusion

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Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade Routes

• ​Mansa means king.

• Grandnephew to Sundiata Kieta

• Expanded and Strengthened the kingdom of Mali

• Sent scholars to study in other kingdoms and empires so that they could gain new knowledge to teach in the Kingdom of Mali

Malian King
Mansa Musa

• ​Mansa Musa took a pilgrimage to Mecca

• He traveled with:

  • 60,000 men

  • 12,000 slaves

  • 80 camels

  • 300 pounds of gold

• In each place he rested he paid for a mosque to be built after he left

• Musa spent lavishly and news quickly spread about the generous Malian King

Musa's Massive Pilgrimage

Multiple Select

What 3 regions of Africa did the Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade Routes connect?

• North

• South

• East

• West

Multiple Choice

What important city is located near the Red Sea?

(hint. the final destination of a pilgrimage)

• Timbuktu

• Djenne

• Ghanna

• Mecca

Multiple Choice

What name is the city of Mecca also known as?

• The Mali Empire

• The Crusades

• The Holy Land

• Muhammad's Town