French West Africa

West Africa, like most places had rises and falls of kingdom, and some of the greatest ones, was the Kingdom of Ghana, which fell to the Kingdom of Mali, and the Kingdom of Songhai, surpassing Mali. Through much strife and success, Sundiata Keita was the founder of the Mali empire. You would imagine, someone who founded an empire would be a very strong and healthy person. That was Sundiata Keita for you, but he wasn’t always like that. Born around 1217 BC, Sundiata was a sickly boy who was the…

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The Book of Route and Realms was written by Abu Ubaydallah Al-Barki in the year 1067 to 1068. The author, Abu Al-Barki, is reliable because he was a first-hand witness to the events and happenings of that period of time. The role of the author is not directly stated in the document; however, from the information provided, we can infer that he was a Muslim leader among the people of Awkar. This document was intended for the people of Ghana and Mali and the environs that might have little or no…

Mali Empire EQ: How did the expansion of trade and the movement of people affect societies? I. The expansion of trade and the movement of people in the Mali Empire, located in West Africa, affected them via, developing dominance in trans-Sharan trade route, evolving their devotion to Islam, administrating them to embrace an educational system based on Islam, and engaging in the expansion of land. II. The expansion of trade and the movement of people affected the Mali empire by developing…

powerful. Mali took advantage of the gold beneath their feet and began to trade it for other things, such as salt. “Much gold was traded through the Sahara desert, to the countries on the North African coast” (MaliTrade). Being the center of trade, West Africa had many connections to the Islamic trade networks, meaning that they had access to many trade routes and could make even more money off of trade. There were many stories of the overflowing amounts of gold in Mali, and that attracted…

Ghana was the very first west African empire to have trading systems going all throughout Africa. Ghana was the very first in the whole wide world to make and use iron weapons making that invention a gold mine in trading. Speaking of gold mines, Ghana had too many of them! They had so much gold they didn’t know what to do with it. They used it in women’s makeup so it would grab women’s attention in Ghana’s trading system also. They put their gold on weapons such as shields just because they…

Mali is located in West Africa. They relied a lot on trade, and particularly the trade of gold. Islam was introduced to Mali by trade and it affected them in many ways. Ibn Battuta was considered one of the greatest medieval Arab travelers. “While in Mali in West Africa, he wrote his observations about the Mali people, who interwove their traditional customs with Muslim practices.” Ibn Battuta’s writings reveal that Mali takes Islam very seriously, and they live very closely to the Koran and 5…

Throughout the 13th and 16th centuries, the Mali and Songhai Empires rose to power in Western Africa, through an accomplished trading system and powerful legitimate emperors. The Mali Empire was ruled by many emperors, two of which were Sundiata Keita and Mansa Musa. Sundiata and his 11 brothers were seeked to be killed by Sumanguru, ruler of the neighboring state of Kaniaga who wanted to expand his state of the land of the Mali Empire. Because of his childhood disability, Sumanguru spared his…

Nigeria is located in Western Africa and is the most populated state throughout the whole continent. Nigeria’s population in 2013 was estimated at 174 million people. Among those, there were around 86 million females, and almost 88 million males (Statistical Report of Men and Women in Africa). Within the female gender, 64.5% of women 15-64 work, while an average of 70.3% of men work regularly. This number of women in the workforce has increased greatly from 37.2% back in 1966. This country, as…

influential prince who founded the Mali Empire. In The Epic of Sundiata, we learn the historical context of Sundiata, the importance of Sogolon Kokalon and Balla Fasseke, the details that explain the long distance trade, the universal religion, and West African history. The story of Sundiata is known today because of griots, which are oral storytellers who kept the tradition alive from generation to generation. The historical context within The Epic…