Empire of Ghana
salt and gold trade
Land of gold
click to edit
Islamic Influences
Social Organization
the two most important items of trade within the empire of Ghana were old and salt
The Empire of Ghana included many groups in which some had their own language and customs. The trade was able to connect people and communities. This led to the cities developing similarities.
The Almoravids' temporary control over the Kingdom of Ghana significantly weakened the empire by disrupting its lucrative trans Saharan trade routes, causing internal unrest, and extracting tribute, which ultimately led to the decline of Ghana's political power and its eventual collapse into smaller states
click to edit
click to edit
Because Ghana was built from trading so without trading their empire basically declined. and because trade was decreeing the people were lousing money and there government were also they were also losing money.
click to edit
In the year 800, Ghana had become empire
gold came from the forrest region south of the savanna between the niger and senegal rivers
Because Ghana was kind he had controlled trade, and commanded a large army
The king was considered the supreme ruler in all of Ghana.
The Sahara contained many deposits of salt
Empire of gahna
Miners dug gold from shafts as deep as 100 feet or sifted it from fast-moving streams
However, this trade remained infrequent and irregular because of the harsh desert conditions. Most pack animals—oxen, donkeys, and horses—could not travel very far in the hot, dry Sahara without rest or water.
Some sources estimate that until about 1350, at least two-thirds of the world’s supply of gold came from West Africa.
African traders also exported spices, kola nuts, shea butter, animal hides, leather goods, cloth , and slaves.
Berber nomads began using camels. The camel could plod steadily over much longer distances, covering as much as 60 miles in a day. With the camel, nomads blazed new routes across the desert and trade increased.
in the Saharan village of Taghaza, workers built their houses from salt blocks because it was the only material available.
he could demand taxes and gifts from the chiefs of surrounding lands
Arab and Berber traders crossed the desert with camel caravans loaded down with salt
Only the king had the right to own gold nuggets, although gold dust freely circulated in the marketplace
They also carried cloth, weapons, and manufactured goods from ports on the Mediterranean
an admistrative class would help the king run the government.
The ironmaking technologies that had developed by 500 BC in West Africa enabled trade as people manufactured agricultural tools, weaponry, and other implements.
He headed a large bureaucracy and could call up a huge army. In 1067, a Muslim geographer and scholar named al-Bakri wrote a description of Ghana’s royal court.
The iron weapons helped West African empires keep order on the trade routes, providing safe passage to merchants. Iron tools also helped increase agricultural production, and agricultural surplus could be traded
Slaves were a part of the trans-Saharan trade from the sixth century to the nineteenth century
Other groups that were created in Ghana's society included miners, agricultural laborers, leather crafters, and metal workers. Some of these groupd were supported by the kings court.
Slaves taken from West Africa were sold in North Africa, Egypt, Arabia, what is now Iraq, and India
By the eleventh century, Arabic writing became important for recording contracts, sharing information, and keeping other records. Pottery made locally could be used to store and transport goods, and canoes were used to carry materials and goods along the Niger River to trading towns.
Merchants met in trading cities, where they exchanged goods under the watchful eye of the king’s tax collector
The trans-Saharan trade routes crossed the savanna through the region farmed by the Soninke (soh•NIHN•keh) people. The Soninke people called their ruler ghana, or war chief. Muslim traders began to use the word to refer to the Soninke region. By the 700s, Ghana was a kingdom, and its rulers were growing rich by taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory.
Ghanan was a matrilineal society, meaning that ancestry and inheritance passed through the mothers lineage. For example, the kings son was not the kings heir, the son of the king's sister was the heir.
In addition to taxing trade, royal officials made sure that all traders weighed goods fairly and did business according to law
Why was the king only allowed to have gold but no one else was?
Royal guards also provided protection from bandits.
how did limiting the supply of gold nuggets help prevent their price from falling?
What discovery first allowed successful trade routes through the Sahara?
click to edit