Empire of Ghana
Empire of Ghana
gold-salt trade
Land of Gold
Islamic Influences
Spread through North Africa by conquest
By the year 800, Ghana had become an empire.
Social organization
In the third century AD they discovered camels were much better for trade
Trade was difficult because animals couldn't travel far in the harsh conditions of the Sahara desert
Included multiple people groups
How did limiting the supply of Gold nuggets prevent their price from falling?
muslim merchants and teachers settled in states south of the Sahara and introduced islam religion there
had own customs and languages
concept: conquest... spread islamic religion through control and force
Because Ghana's king controlled trade and command, he could demand taxes and gifts from other lands
Ghana rule strengthened
the empires' cities connected
as long as the chiefs made their payments, the king left them in peace to rule their own people
Why would the disruption of trade destroy Ghana's power? Answer: Ghana's power was based on wealth that they gained from controlling trade
administrative class
In the kings palace he stored gold nuggets and slabs of salt (collected as taxes)
Miners, craftsmen, blacksmiths, leather workers,
Ghana's rulers converted to islam
only the king had the right to own gold nuggets, although gold dust freely circulated in the marketplace
many people kept their animistic beliefs and practices
many kept their old beliefs and mixed it with Islam
concept: diffusion... combined their old practices with the new practices
the king limited the supply of gold and kept its price from falling.
son of the King's Sister was Heir
converts had to study the qur'an and had to learn arabic
Ghanas African ruler
Muslim Almoravids completed their conquest of Ghana, eventually withdrew from Ghana, and the war badly disrupted the gold-salt trade.
Ghana never regained its power and helped Islam gain a foothold in the region
trade routes shifted, but Ghana's trade they developed continued
How did temporary control by the Almoravids cause the decline of the kingdom of Ghana?
Answer: weakened Ghana and collected tribute from Sudan
the demand will be high and the supply was low so the price of it was very expensive.
acted as a religious leader, chief judge, and military commander.
They could plod steadily over much longer distances, travel more than 10 days without water
he headed a large bureaucracy and could call up a huge army.
in 1067, a muslim geographer and scholar named alBakri wrote a description of Ghanas royal court.
two most important items were salt and gold.
gold came from savanna between the niger and segal river
How did the king run things?
Concepts
Authority: this section is about Ghanas king
Ironmaking technologies also increased trade by using the tools and weaponry to keep order on the trade routes, increase agricultural production.
with the camel, nomad used more routes and trade increased
miners dug gold as deep as 100 feet or shifted it from fast moving streams
trade: because they were trading valuable items
sources estimates until about 1340, two thirds of the worlds supply of gold came from west Africa
GOLD
SALT
west africa savanna and forefs lacked salt, a material essential to human life
Trade//It is based around how they improved trade using camels and ironmaking technologies
Sahara contained deposits of salt
workers built their houses from salt blocks because it was the only material available
Without the discovery of camels in trade do you think they would have advanced as much as they did?
arab and berber traders crossed the desert with camel caravans locked down with salt.