Geography
Ghana
Mali
Songhai
Spiritual Traditions
100
Mali
100
Ghana was located between ___ and ____ mines
salt & gold
100
King who conquered Ghana & led Mali to become a powerful trading empire
Sundiata
100
King who organized, strengthen and unified Songhai
Sunni Ali
100
The definition of indigenous AND the definition of animism
indigenous - originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
animism- the belief that everything on Earth has a powerful spirit that can help or harm human needs.
200
Ghana
200
What did Ghana do to traders passing through their trade routes?
Tax them
200
Mansa Musa's religion was.......
Did he tolerate other religions?
devout Muslim but tolerated other religions
200
With all of Songhai's wealth... what was one thing they forgot to advance?
the Military
200
The need for a deity is...
High God is too distant, deities control day-to-day occurrences such as nature and agriculture
300
Which river is the most important in this time period?
Niger River
300
Salt was valuable because...
To preserve food, restore PH balance. Keeps you alive!
300
What did Mansa Musa do that negatively impacted people?
Gave out so much gold that he caused inflation
300
What happened to Songhai when it was taken over by Moroccan rulers?
Because a series of military camps
300
Name 5 things Griots use stories for
Interpreting the universe,
resolving natural and physical phenomena,
teaching morals (concerned with the principals of right and wrong behavior with human character.. ex: be honest, don’t give up)
maintaining cultural values,
passing on methods of survival, and
praising God.
Told poems and sang songs to honor a famous family hero
Passed on ancient legends and myths
Important part of ceremonies
sharing history
400
The two cities known as centers of learning and trading...
Djenne & Timbuktu
400
Salt merchants were from ____ Africa while gold miners were from south of Ghana and spread _____ when they crossed the Sahara desert to trade
Salt merchants were from NORTH Africa while gold miners were from south of Ghana and spread ISLAM when they crossed the Sahara desert to trade
400
Main reasons for the decline of Mali
After Mansa Musa’s death there was weak leadership
Invaders weakened empire and burned schools in Timbuktu
The empire had grown so large that it was difficult to control, slowly outer areas began to break away
400
How did Askia Muhammad the Great advance Songhai?
Askia set up a power administrative system- helped organize Songhai
Army, navy, farming departments, tax structure= even richer
400
What did Africans believe about their ancestors?
Africans believe that the spirit of their ancestor would live on in the spirit world and take an active interest in the well-being of those who live on Earth.
500
How did Trans-saharan trade connect to other trade routes?
North Africans traded gold to Europeans via Silk Road
500
3 main reasons Ghana declined
1. Almoravids- group of Moroccans took over
2. Overgrazing- herding animals the almoravids brought ate all the grass & left the soil hard to farm
3. Internal Rebellion- rebels weakened Ghana
500
How did Mansa Musa positively impact West Africa?
Introduced world to Mali empire, others were invited to be apart of Mali.
Under Mansa Musa’s reign Muslim culture and education flourished
He hired architects to build mosques, he sent Muslim scholars to study in Morocco and he stressed the importance of learning Arabic to unify his empire
500
How long did Askia Muhammad the Great rule?
40 years
500
Explain the importance of oral transmission of history by Griots
Without them, we wouldn't know what we know much about the empires we learned about
Families use them to learn about their history as well as for entertainment and to learn morals etc