GHANA Ghana was the first great African empire of the western Sudan. Historians believe that a group of people called the Soninke founded Ghana as early as the year 300 and it thrived until around 1200. Ghana became known for its rich culture, wealth, organization, and power. The name Ghana means both “warrior king” and “king of gold.” These were good names for an empire with an army who ruled with iron spears and an incredible supply of wealth derived from their control of the gold trade in West Africa. The Soninke people belonged to a larger language group called the Mande. A typical Soninke family included a man, his wife or wives, their children, and other relatives. This big family was referred to as a clan.
Each clan had one member
Ghana is located in a different place than the modern country of Ghana in West Africa. Ghana was located in the savanna region, and just south of it lay rain forests where there was an abundance of gold found in streams and mine shafts. Ancient Ghana was divided into ten regions, Western Ghana, Central Ghana, Greater Accra, Eastern Ghana, Volta, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern Ghana, Upper West Ghana and Upper East Ghana. The Empire of Ghana was located in Western Africa in what is today the countries of Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali. The region lies just south of the Sahara Desert and is mostly savanna grasslands. Major rivers in the region such as the Gambia River, Senegal River, and the Niger River served as the means of transportation and trade.
In early Africa, the kingdom of Ghana was prosperous due to the trade of salt and gold. Ghana’s location benefited it in many ways. First Ghana’s location allowed them to be the center of the Gold/Salt trade. Since salt was so valuable at the time, the people of Ghana were able to sell salt for gold throughout Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Middle East. Ghana also made a lot of revenue from taxes on the Gold/Salt trade route. Since they were the center
The Kingdom Ghana in western Africa flourished. Ghana gained control of the salt-and-gold trade (Doc. 2). This was important because Gold was used as a currency,
Ghana: wealthy because of gold; declined because of loss of trade, drought, and pressure from outside forces
Gold and salt mines surrounded Ghana and were kept a secret from the other countries who might want to get in on the great wealth of Ghana. Another reason Ghana had an opulent economy was because people loved books and would pay a great fortune to buy them. In Document 1 it talks about how the location of Ghana was important to the economy and in Document 4, people in Ghana lived on to do great tasks, because of the knowledge they got from all the books they bought. As seen in the map in document 1, it shows Ghana located directly in the middle of 12 gold and salt mines which they kept private so no one could steal their good fortune (Document 1). In the fourth document it reads,“Here are many doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men that are well maintained at the king's costs. Various manuscripts and written books are brought here . . . and sold for more money than other merchandise” (Document 4). This is helpful because they used the mines to trade with people who did not have the opportunity to collect gold and salt, but needed it. The salt is used to keep food fresh in warmer areas, and the gold is used for trading. They also highly appreciated books and would pay a substantial of money to get them. Books started to even become more highly priced than items like merchandise. The location of Ghana contributed greatly to the rich and wealthy atmosphere of Ghana as well as
The Empire of Mali was the “Land of Gold” to all of Eurasia. Their huge abundance of gold brought many people from all around the world in seek for this valuable treasure. The Empire of Mali was founded by Sundiata after the Ghana Empire fell. Sundiata created a new society that involved powerful warriors and elite craftsman. He also created a society with religious freedom. Sundiata ultimately helped Mali grow and prosper in the beginning years. Mali developed into a site of cultural exchange because of the gold-salt trade, which quickly resulted in religion being mixed together and many merchants becoming eager for a large profit.
The histories of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai are not well documented. Much of what we know is a mixture of legend, stories and secondhand accounts. North Africa has small coastal areas, some savanna areas, but it is mostly made up of the sahara desert. It is a very dry and hot region. West Africa has some desert areas, wet and dry grasslands, small rainforest, and long rivers, like the Niger River. It has some vegetation areas, but it also has some dry and hot areas. According to legend, Ghana started when a foreigner named Dhinga had to kill a goblin, and marry the goblins pretty daughters. Their offspring became ancestors of the ruling Soninke clans. After he died, his son Dyabe defeated his brother and founded the empire of Ghana somewhere
Resources,they carry a country financially.A big driving force for imperialism at the time was resources,and Africa just so happened to have an abundance of them.Ranging from diamonds to slave labour ,Africa was a gold mine in the eyes of the Europeans.Proof of this is the
How did the polity of Ancient Ghana arise? How did Ghana maintain its strength and what were some of the challenges? The Wagadou Empire was a monarchy, and the king was regarded by the people to be a semi-divine figure who kept order and justice. Ghana was not rich in natural resources as it was located along a major trade route between ivory and gold producing areas and salt miners in the Sahara. Merchants were lured into Ghana by the wealth of gold and prosperity helped the capital, Kumbi Saleh, to be a center of trade. The country will eventually become a prosperous entrepôt. Ancient Ghana derived power and wealth from gold and transportation of camels during the Sub-Saharan trade to increase the quantity of goods that were transported. The traditional Ghanan religions and Islam spread
Once Africa got involved with the major trading centers, trade improved and they were able
In Africa there were three great empires, first the Ghana Empire who domesticated camels and carved trade routes all across the Sahara then
The Kingdom of Ghana was a rich and mysterious country. The Ancient country lay where Maturia, Mali, and Senegal are to day. The kingdom existed from 700-1200 A.D. but people had been living in the area since the Fourth century A.D. Ghana's Golden age was from the Ninth to the Eleventh century A.D. During this time gold was abundant along with salt and other valuable goods. These items made Ghana a rich nation where the primary income was made from trading with the Arabs and other African nations. Even though trading was the main source of income, most of the common people were farmers. These farmers grew crops like corn, wheat, and rice. All of these reasons make the Ancient Kingdom of Ghana a desireable place to move to.
After the fall of Ghana, a Black state called Mali became the successor power in West Africa. The king of Mali formed alliances with other Islamic rulers, and this military and religious strength made him the most powerful ruler in Africa. Mali was founded by the Mande people of the upper Niger River, famous for their weaving, mining and architecture. By the close of the fourteenth century, the Mali empire had achieved greater wealth and power than Ghana. Civil warfare, attacks from Mossi and Songhay, and the arrival of the Portuguese in Africa mortally reduced Mali's power.
The Ashanti tribe, is located on the gold coast of West Africa in the center of Ghana it is known to be one of the largest tribe of the entire region. According to David Luca the author of the article The Ashanti Legal System says that the Ashanti tribe was under British control from the year 1873 until 1951, but had little or no effect on the way their society was developed since they were free to develop their own laws, religious, and etc. (Luca 2005). British domination had no effect on their way the society was able to be built is because Ashanti tribe had the freedom to make the society the way they wanted it since British people did not intervene on the way it was being built. According to Buzz Ghana the Ashanti tribe dominated most of the modern province of Ghana from 1670-1902 (BuzzGhana 2016). The Ashanti tribe was known to dominate most of Ghana since it was one of the largest and most powerful tribe in the region since it was one of the most indigenous groups of the Akans (Ashanti and Fanti) of Ghana. They were also dominant because they were very rich in gold so they were able to start their own state without any financial issues, but then came the time of the 19th century, when trade of the slaves was completely abolished, and this was the major reason for the Ashanti Kingdom’s downfall (BuzzGhana 2016). The Ashanti had a major downfall when the slaves were abolished because they relied on the slaves in order to get things done around the kingdom and they used
The Kingdom of Ghana was a kingdom that rose into power very quickly and lasted for a long 800 years. But the kingdom was then taken over by Mali when it came to its fall. But before any of these things happened, Ghana, accurately known as Wagadugu was created by a tribe called Soninke. This tribe was the main reason that this Kingdom rose into power because they would expand they land and take control of areas strategically, increasing in power over time. By the time that it was the year 1000 B.C.E they had control of a good amount of land in the upper part of Niger and Senegal Rivers which had a great amount of riches and gold, which will then lead to Ghana being one of the biggest kingdom in the trans-Saharan trade network. Main things Ghana