West African Empires

The rise and fall of the three great West African empires is a tale of conflict, leadership, and pure circumstance. In the savannah these civilizations flourished on trans-saharan trade, environmental benefits, and strong leadership; Islamic influences from North Africa soon thereafter provided a strong cultural influence on these states. With this foundation three empires rose up sequentially in West Africa – the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. From this same base came the downfall of each empire, sped along by external forces. During the holocene period many groups in West Africa began to master the tools of state formation. Populations rose and cities grew up as better food production and iron making techniques were developed. Iron tools permuted larger food surpluses which in turn increased population cultural complexity. Davidson explains surpluses allowed for division of labor which “encouraged trade, at first local then long-distance, by producing a wide range of goods. All this, together with the growing size of populations, required more complex forms of political organization.”1 Like other civilizations states would form to manage …show more content…
Its openness allowed ample space for agricultural development and resource gathering; moreover the savannah is defendable. The availability of water sources in the area was also a vital environmental factor. Major rivers such as the Niger, Benue, Sengal, and the Vola crisscross the land and Lake Chad's massive footprint sustained tens of thousands. The availability of pack animals also was a great boon. Horses and camels facilitated trade, cattle provided food and leather, and donkeys worked as beasts of burden. All of these animals couldn't have functioned as effectively further south in the tropical zone due to the prevalence of the tsetse fly. By the third century the Berbers were regularly using camels to cross the