WEST AFRICAN KINGDOMS
By: Bernadette D. Bennett
Long before Europeans set foot on the continent, there were great kingdoms that flourished among the deserts and mountains in Africa. One of those kingdoms, Mali, is believed to have been in existence from around 600 AD. Mali was a very rich and powerful nation that was aggressive in the spread of the Islamic faith. Mali was an empire based on a stable government and a strong economy from trade. Mali's size was more than double of the traditional European kingdoms of the time.
Mali's wealth came from trade. Mali's main city, Tombouctou or Timbuktu, was a great trading center as well as one of the most inaccessible places in the world. It was situated 8 miles north of the Tiger River in the southwestern Sahara Desert. The city was originally a meeting place for nomads that were named after a slave girl left to watch the possessions of her masters. Nomads wandered the desert moving from place to place searching for food and grasslands to feed themselves and their animals. Around 1100 AD, tents were replaced with huts leading to more permanent housing. Traders would navigate the rivers from the coast and bring goods to Mali. Trans-Saharan caravans would meet in Mali and travel across the desert and bring gold, salt, honey, jewelry, tools, metal, and other goods to people who lived on opposite sides of the dessert. Professionals (nomads) were hired to help control the camels that were used to cross the desert.
Wealth came from the salt mines in the Sahara. Salt was necessary for preserving available food, which made survival in the desert possible. People on the north African coast wanted the gold from the south and the people of the south needed salt to survive. The trade between the two brought much wealth to Mali. The king would tax all imports and all exports thus financing his government. The king also regulated the vast gold resources, enabling him to manipulate the value of the gold.
Mansa Musa was one of the great rulers of Mali. He controlled the middle Niger River. By controlling the river, Musa controlled the trade. Musa was also in control of Timbouctou and Gao, two very powerful trading cities. Under his power, Mali continued to grow and prosper. Additionally, Musa was also strong is his Islamic faith even though most of his people practiced traditional religions.
In 1324 Musa decided to take a pilgrimage to Mecca. Mecca is a very holy city for the Islamic people. People of the Islamic faith are supposed to make a pilgrimage once in their lifetimes to Mecca to show their faith. Mecca was over 6,000 miles from Mali. In 1325 he set out across the desert after a year of preparation. To help him on his pilgrimage, he brought 60,000 people. Included in his caravan were 500 slaves dressed in silk, each carrying a four-pound bar of gold. Twelve thousand personal attendants, 500 bodyguards, and 80 camels with 12 tons of gold to give to the poor rounded out his caravan. Musa had an extensive stay in Cairo. Part of his caravan included scholars expected to gather as much knowledge as possible and bring it back to Mali. Musa gave away so much gold while he was in Cairo that the Egyptian economy suffered for twelve years due to the amount of gold given away in the marketplace. This pilgrimage opened the eyes of the world to the great wealth of Mali that would be talked about for thousands of years.
Upon his return to Mali, Musa put his scholars, as well as the scholars he enticed back from Egypt, to work. Timbuktu, a center of Islamic studies on its own, was enhanced and enlarged by the added scholars. Skilled artisans built a great tower for the Mosque of Djingereyber. Artisans, skilled in metal works used gold to make masks, jewelry, and coins.
The great empire of Mali grew. The empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Chad. Mansa Musa overextended the empire. Musa, a skilled ruler, could manipulate his vast empire; but after his death around 1332 his sons, over one hundred of them, could not keep his empire together. Each area moved to self-government, and the central authority was destroyed. By 1500, Mali was no longer an important empire. It lost its power and authority.
Today, salt caravans still arrive in Timbuktu although there is no more gold to trade or Trans Saharan Caravans crossing the desert. But, the stories, legends, and mysteries of Timbuktu are alive today.
WEST AFRICAN KINGDOMS
FCAT Questions
Short Response:
1.Why was trade important to Mali?A top score response will include
To get goods like salt necessary for survival.For wealth to keep the empire together
2.How did the death of Mansa Musa affect Mali?A top score response will include
The empire could not be kept together by his sons.It was no longer considered a great empire due to the loss of power and authority.
Extended Response:
3.How did the Islamic faith affect Mansa Musa and Mali? Use details from the selection to support your answer.A top score response will include
Pilgrimage to MeccaShowed the world the wealth of Mali
Scholars and Artisans were brought back to Mali
The growth of Timbuktu's universities
Brought about growth in the empire
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