Types Of Government : The Songhai Empire : Empires And Governments

“West African societies were shaped by competition for wealth and the search for independence from more powerful kingdoms” (History 2011). Most of Africa’s oldest kingdoms originated from West Africa. These old kingdoms contributed to the development and growth of Africa in many ways, especially trade and economic growth. As the new kingdoms replaced the old ones, they experienced a vast change. Conquest and warfare along caused these transformations to occur. It was also influenced by the patterns of trade. The earliest civilizations were in West Africa south of the Sahara desert. These civilisations grew at a time when most of the outside countries were experiencing The Dark Age. “After the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire around

Under Mansa Musa, Mali became the the largest and one of the most renown kingdoms in Africa. Gold was abundant and the empire was prosperous; what more could one ask for? Though as it turns out fame and prosperity can be fleeting. The empire

Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around some form of imperial administration and Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.-476 C.E.) and Han China (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) were no different in this sense. Both civilizations had a network of cities and roads, with similar technologies that catalyzed cultural amalgamation and upgraded the standard of living, along with comparable organizational structures. Additionally, both civilizations had problems managing their borders and used similar tactics for defense. However, the Chinese Emperor was interpreted as a God while the Roman Emperor was a lugal, or big man, who had to fight not only to gain power, but to push through his initiatives. The similarities and differences

Over time, Mali grew and expanded. As a result of Trans-Saharan trade, Inew religions were introduced in Mali. Through the new leadership of Mansa Musa, Mali became a primarily Islamic civilization. They believed that there was only one god: Allah. Muhammad was the final prophet

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.

Africa was the first continent, out of Asia that Islam spread into during the early 7th century. In the mid 7th century Islam had already spread into northern Africa. This was only a few decades after the Prophet

The History of Africa is very interesting. They had many trade routes and many resources such as salt and gold, their most popular resource was gold. Mansa Musa was their leader and had gone on the Haji as a duty and made their empire known throughout other countries. After that journey the empire had expanded even more that from the start of when their empire first rose up. As you could tell Mansa Musa was a good leader because of the choices he had made to create africa today. In Medieval Africa, Mansa Musa had an Economic impact on Africa because of the duty of islam and the value of gold.

Mali: Gold and Salt trade; reached its peak in 14th century; Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca; Islam

West Africa has experienced migration, because of the cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups it contains, and because of the minerals, and goods it can produce. Around the ninth century C.E., in the trans- Saharan route, slave trade became popular. These slaves were used by the Arabs for military service, administration, domestic service, and concubinage. Extensive trade in the region led to urbanization, as well as the introduction of Islam. Muslim Berbers contributed to the expansion of Islam, by controlling the trade routes in Africa, and becoming conduits for economic activities, by the tenth century. During the mid-11th century, cities like Gao and Timbuktu had Muslim scholars traveling the routes, because of the intrusion of the Almoravids, and this resulted in turning these cities into hotspots for study and trade. The eleventh century brought the acceptance of the Islamic culture, and led to conversion of the elites, so they can have legal, political, administrative, cultural, and economic benefits. The Islamic culture did not disrupt indigenous African shamanist and animist beliefs, it united ethnic groups, and led to the development of Islamic states throughout Africa. (Africa, 3000 B.C.-A.D. 1500 / West African Trade /

African Kingdoms were civilized prior to the accession of Europeans in the 15th century. African Kingdoms, such as Ghana, Mali and, Aksum were already progressive in the areas of trade, wealth, and overall advancement. Aksum’s location benefited the region’s advancement by making it a trading center. Mansa Musa was one of the most generous people who expanded the Mali empire through wealth. Through trade and wealth came overall advancement, which brought the rise of literature and art.

A lot of Mali’s success came from their very generous and humble ruler named Mansa Musa (Doc.4). Mansa Musa took a hajj to Mecca to learn and give a chance to the monotheistic culture of Islam. When he returned to Mali, he spread Islam throughout it and eventually it spread all throughout Western Africa by merchants bringing their culture and religion with them when they traded and spreading their beliefs. The capital of Mali was Timbuktu, a very successful city that produced many of Africa's greatest scholars at the time and had a library with many books and manuscripts that would have sold for a fortune (Doc.5). The government of Mali also had a very strict set of laws, most similar to Hammurabi's code of laws from ancient Babylonia. Its laws were very harsh and they showed no mercy for any crime. Even if you stole the littlest thing you would still be punished greatly. Mali also had very great security from outside invaders. These two things impressed many other rulers of similar kingdoms, and made people not commit any crimes in Mali

Changes in political and cultural traditions during the post-classical period occurred in Africa because of intensive Islamic contact. When Arab conquerors introduced the Islamic faith into northern Africa, they expanded the region of commerce. Muslim merchants established trading centers for copper, iron, salts, and cotton textiles. The newly established trade affected traditional social and religious beliefs. After 1000 C.E., the kin-based social structure experienced difficult challenges. Increased conflict between peoples led to the creation of military forces for both offensive and defensive use. This led to the formation of chiefdoms exhibiting more formal structures of governing such as in the kingdoms of Kongo, Ghana, and Mali. Because most traders were Muslim, many African societies converted to Islam to improve their relations with the

In The Sub-Saharan Africa came the first introduction of the camel. The first time period, seen by written records, was the arrival of The Islam's in the 8th century. Three empires were ruling at this time, Ghana, about 700 to around 1100; Mali, about 1100 to around 1400; and Songhay, about 1300-1600. All three kept trade routes open, which in turn gave them more power. "Gold, slaves, cloth, ivory, ebony, pepper, and kola nuts moved north across the Sahara; salt, dates, horses, brass, copper, glassware, beads, leather, textiles, clothing, and foodstuffs moved south." (The Worlds History, Spodek, 2001, Ch. 12, p.379) In East Africa trade went through the Indian Ocean through voyages of The Arabs. The first major port was Manda, but had been succeeded by Kilwa in the 13th century. They traded gold, ivory, horns, skins, tortoiseshell, and slaves for spices, pottery, glass beads, and cloth from India. (The Worlds History, Spodek, 2001, Ch. 12)

Before the Qin Dynasty, China was composed of a network of city states that were loyal to the Chinese king. The seven Warring States had their own institutions that were run by aristocrats. The Qin Dynasty took initiative to expand their territory and to unite the Chinese empire together. Through their ruthless military techniques the Qin Dynasty was able to conquer the city states in China. The Qin Dynasty ruled from 221 BCE – 206 BCE; during their regime, Emperor Qin’s primary goal was to unify the Chinese people. Even though the Qin Dynasty was a short-lived empire, it played a major role in unifying the Chinese empire and provided a foundation for succeeding regimes through a centralized government, standardized systems, and through infrastructure.

Rhoads Murphey describes the history of China history is on the succession of dynasties that ruled it over a period of time until around 1912 when Republic of china was formed before rising to the current People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949. In China, a dynasty was made up of Kings or emperors that came from the same family. They ruled in succession where a king could be inherited by his son or his immediate relatives. Although china’s history is majorly regarded on the basis of dynastic ruling, other small kingdoms were established that ruled different part of china. For example, in 200AD, the fall of great Han dynasty triggered formation of smaller kingdoms all over the china which were later united by a short lived Sui Dynasty that reigned between 580 and 618 AD.