Empires of West Africa
What was the first major West African trading empire?
Ghana
What desert did traders cross to reach Ghana and Mali?
Sahara Desert
What is a griot?
A West African oral historian
Through what activity did Islam first spread to West Africa?
Trade
What river was vital for trade, farming, and settlement in West Africa?
Niger River
Which empire rose to power after Ghana and was ruled by Mansa Musa?
Mali
What two goods were most important to West African trade?
Gold and salt
What musical style involves a leader singing a phrase and a group responding?
Call-and-response
Who was the first devout Muslim ruler of Mali?
Mansa Musa
What type of community came before towns and kingdoms in West Africa?
Family-based communities
What was the name of the last major West African empire that enforced Islamic law?
Songhai
What method of trade was used to avoid language barriers and protect gold secrets?
Silent barter
Name the harp-like instrument with 21 strings made from a gourd.
Kora
What religious law replaced traditional customary law under Islamic rule?
Shari’ah law
What technology, developed by the Nok, helped farming and village growth?
Ironworking
Which powerful Songhai ruler enforced Shari’ah law and expanded the empire?
Askia Muhammad
What people kept the location of their gold mines a secret, even under threat of death?
Wangaran
What kind of cloth, made of narrow strips sewn together, represents beliefs and history?
Kente cloth
What was the name of the pilgrimage Mansa Musa made to Mecca?
Hajj
What type of inheritance system was practiced in early Ghana?
Matrilineal succession
What city, known for its scholars and libraries, became famous under the Mali Empire?
Timbuktu
What was the name of the town in the Sahara known for salt mining?
Taghaza
What style of trade was preserved and passed on by enslaved West Africans in the South?
Basket weaving
What university in Timbuktu became a center of Islamic scholarship?
Sankore University
What was the name of the early African city with walls and trade along the Niger and Bani Rivers?
Jenne-Jeno