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North and West African Societies - Coggle Diagram
North and West African Societies
Empire of Ghana
Trade across the Sahara had been a thing for hundreds of years
The trade was very infrequent/irregular because of harsh weather conditions
Trade increased because of camels
Pack animals couldn't travel far because of the very hot weather
Ex. of pack animals: Oxen, donkeys, and horses
In the third century AD, Berbers started using Camels
Pros of the Camel: could travel further than any other pack animal, up to 60 miles a day. Plus they could travel 10+ days without water
Iron tools helped increase agricultural production, and agricultural surplus could be traded
What dies it mean by agricultural surplus and what happens if everyone is in an agricultural surplus?
Food supply was good
This allowed people to specialize in other things like metalworking, trading, or administration.
Natural resources: They got their food from nature originally and created other things to eat out of it
11th century: Arabic writing became important for recording contracts, sharing information, and keeping other records
Ghana: What the Soninke people called their ruler
This or War chief
Ghana was a kingdom and its rulers were growing rich by taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Soninke
Gold-Salt Trade
The two most important trade items were gold and salt
Estimated that 2/3 of the worlds supply of gold came from West Africa
The Sahara was rich in salt; the Saharan village of Taghaza built their houses from salt blocks
Trade: While West Africa was rich with gold they didn't have any salt, which is essential for human life. So they traded with the Saharan villages that was very rich with salt
How were the Arab and Berber traders able to make the trip across the Sahara?
https://study.com/learn/lesson/gold-salt-trade-overview-history.html#:~:text=The%20gold%20and%20salt%20trade%20routes%20were%20important%20trade%20network,the%20mines%20and%20trade%20routes
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Land of Gold
Th kings palace was full of gold
Smaller nations could buy there way out of being conquered if they paid gold.
https://online.kidsdiscover.com/unit/african-kingdom/topic/ghana-land-of-gold#:~:text=Arab%20traders%20crossed%20the%20Sahara,nuggets%20found%20in%20his%20kingdom
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King stored gold nuggets in the royal palace
Ghanas king controlled trade
The year 800 Ghana became a gold empire
Why was the empire so infatuated with gold?
Concept: Natural resources gold is a natural resource.
Islamic influence's
Muslim traders brought there religious beliefs to the east coast of Africa
Muslims sold enslaved people out of Africa by kidnaping them
Then European's bought the slaves that the Muslims kidnapped
conquest
How long did they enslave people for before it stoped
https://www.newarab.com/features/islam-eastern-african-novel
Social Organization
Empire of ghana diversery
Included various peoples with different customs and languages.
Over time, as trade and connections grew, cities in Ghana started to share similarities.
Politcal strcutre
The king was the highest authority in Ghana.
An administrative class assisted the king in governing