C7. Unit 4 Precolonial Africa PART TWO

The empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai grew rich and powerful because they were connected to the trans-Saharan trade routes and then cleverly controlled and taxed commerce.

What does commerce mean?

• poverty/indigence

• business/trade

• lucrative/profitable

• surplus/extra

What language became the language of commerce throughout Northern and Western Africa (and throughout the trans-Saharan trade networks)?

• Arabic

• Latin

• Greek

• Egyptian

Name the 3 powerful West African trading kingdoms that we studied in this unit:

• Ghana, Mali, Songhai

• Timbuktu, Egypt, and Nok

• Kilwa, Mombasa, and Mogadishu

• Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya

How did the West African kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai grow wealthy and powerful?

• By controlling and taxing trade (trans-Saharan trade)

• By tightly controlling the slave trade

• By taxing the buying and selling of diamonds

• The sale of salt and the hoarding of gold

What two types of trade were the most famous and lucrative for the West African trading empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai?

• Gold and Salt

• Salt and Slaves

• Gold and Silver

• Salt and Copper

What regions were linked to West African trading empires by trans-Saharan trade routes (Ghana, Mali, Songhai)?

• North Africa and Southwest Asia (Middle East)

• South Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

• East Africa and India

• North Africa and South America

What river allowed for the development of West African civilizations such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai?

• the Nile River

• the Niger River

• the Tigris River

• the Indus River

What city in West Africa (modern-day Mali) developed on the Niger River and became an important Muslim trade and intellectual (learning) center?

• Timbuktu

• Cairo

• Marrakesh

• Tunis

What is a common name for area along the coast of East Africa including such trade centers such as Mombasa, Kilwa, and Zanzibar?

• the Swahili Coast

• the Sahel

• sub-Saharan Africa

• Dar al-Islam

True or False: the East African Swahili Coast is part of Dar al-Islam today.

• True

• False