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North and west African civilizations, Land of Gold - Coggle Diagram
North and west African civilizations
social organization
Empire of Ghana included many people groups,Ghana’s rule strengthened and trade continued to connect peoples and communities, the empire’s cities, at least, began to develop similarities.
In all of Ghana, the king was considered the supreme ruler.administrative class helped the king run the government.
Ghana’s society included miners, agricultural laborers, metalworkers, and leather crafters. Skilled craftsman such as blacksmiths, these people got a privilege place in society, some being supported by the kings court.
Ghana was a matrilineal society, which means their ancestry was traced threw the mothers lineage.
Islamic Influences
How did temporary control by the Almoravids cause the decline of the kingdom of Ghana?
Trade routes where forced to go elsewhere and those who never converted religion had no reason to stay
Why would the disruption of trade destroy Ghana’s power?
Losing knowledge and money after the war and losing trade routes limited Ghana
By the year 800, Ghana had become an empire.
Because Ghana’s king controlled trade and commanded a large army, he could demand taxes and gifts from the chiefs of surrounding lands, If the chiefs payed they were allowed to rule their own people.
In his palace the king stored gold nuggets and slabs of salt
Only the king was allowed to have ownership of the gold
Empire of Ghana
oxen, donkeys, and horses
could not travel very far in the hot, dry Sahara without rest or water.
camels
over much longer distances, covering as much as 60 miles in a day. In addition, it could travel more than ten days without water, twice as long as most pack animals.
The ironmaking technologies that had developed by 500 BC in West Africa enabled trade as people manufactured agricultural tools, weaponry, and other implements
iron weapons helped West African empires keep order on the trade routes, providing safe passage to merchants.
expansion of trade and trade routes
its rulers were growing rich by taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory.
agricultural advances
Iron tools also helped increase agricultural production, and agricultural surplus could be traded.
Plentiful food also meant that more people could specialize in areas such as metalworking, trading, or administration.
gold salt trade
Gold came from a forest region south of the savanna between the Niger and Senegal rivers
Some sources estimate that until about 1350, at least two-thirds of the world’s supply of gold came from West Africa
Miners dug gold from shafts as deep as 100 feet or sifted it from fast-moving streams
Arab and Berber traders traded salt and other good with to the africans for gold
Although rich in gold, West Africa’s savanna and forests lacked salt, a material essential to human life
Land of Gold