African empires

Congo and Africa's World War_ Crash Course World History 221.mp4

Middle Ages Africa.mp4

Ghana Trade.mp4

African Proverbs.mp4

Ghana Empire

The Ghana Empire ruled over part of West Africa from around 800 CE until the 1100s CE. Look at the timeline of some important events in the history of the Ghana Empire.

Historians are not sure who founded the ancient Kingdom of Ghana. However, legends about Ghana's first king have been passed down by griots, or people who tell stories about West African history.

How did Dyabe meet the army leaders?

According to tradition, after Dyabe fled to the wilderness to escape his brother's threats, he found a magic drum that had fallen from a tree. He started to play the drum. As he played, four different troops of soldiers on horseback emerged out of the wilderness from four different directions, each led by a commander.

The commanders of the four troops recognized Dyabe as their leader. Once Dyabe built the Kingdom of Ghana, these four commanders became the chiefs of the kingdom's four main regions.

By around 300 CE, Ghana was a small kingdom. The Sahara, a large desert to the north, separated Ghana from North Africa. This separation started to change over the next several centuries as people developed trade routes across the Sahara. These routes were called the trans-Saharan trade routes and they allowed different groups of people to come into contact with each other. Look at the map of trade routes that crossed the Sahara beginning around 750 CE.

Based on the map, these groups of people were connected by trans-Saharan trade routes:

- people in Ghana and people in the central Sahara. The routes on the map connect the Kingdom of Ghana with people in the center of the Sahara.
- people in Ghana and people in North Africa. The routes on the map extend from North Africa into the Kingdom of Ghana.

These groups of people were not connected by trans-Saharan trade routes:

- people in the central Sahara and people in East Africa. The routes on the map do not extend all the way to East Africa.
- people in North Africa and people in Europe. The routes on the map do not cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

How did people trade across the Sahara?

The Sahara is a large, hot desert in North Africa. Merchants used camels to trade across it. Camels could travel long distances without drinking water, and they could carry loads of up to 600 pounds! These traits made them perfect for trading goods across the desert.

What did they trade?

Many goods and resources were traded between Ghana and other places. Three important resources were copper, salt, and gold. The Kingdom of Ghana was located near vast sources of gold. People from the north wanted to trade with Ghana to get access to this gold.

In addition to trade routes, another important event that affected the development of the Kingdom of Ghana was the introduction of a religion called Islam. Islam began in present-day Saudi Arabia in 622 CE. Followers of Islam, called Muslims, soon began spreading the religion to other places, including Ghana. The map below shows the spread of Islam from 622 CE to 1050 CE.

Islam spread from North Africa to Ghana along trade routes.

The map shows that Islam spread to North Africa and then reached the region of Ghana beginning around 751 CE. The trade routes that connect Ghana and North Africa also began around 750 CE. So, it is likely that Islam spread from North Africa to Ghana along trade routes.

How was Islam founded?

The religion began with a man named Muhammad. Muhammad lived in a place where it was common for religions to include many gods. But according to Islamic traditions, Muhammad started to receive messages from God brought by an angel named Gabriel. The angel Gabriel told Muhammad that there was only one god.

Muhammad began to share his experiences with his wife and a small group of followers. Muhammad's followers grew in number and soon began to spread his teachings across the Middle East and North Africa.

The Kingdom of Ghana grew wealthy from trans-Saharan trade. With their wealth, Ghana's rulers were able to build a strong army and take control of nearby kingdoms. As a result, the Kingdom of Ghana became known as the Ghana Empire around 800 CE. Look at the map of the Ghana Empire around the year 1000 CE.

Shhh! Ghana's secret mines and silent trade

Ghana became wealthy by controlling several trade cities, but not all trade happened inside those cities. In addition to marketplace trading, a practice known as silent bartering, or silent trade, became popular in the Ghana Empire. Silent bartering helped keep the location of gold mines secret. The steps below show how people used silent bartering to trade salt for gold:

First, salt traders left slabs of salt by a riverbank. They beat a drum to signal the salt was there, and then they left the riverbank.
Gold miners then arrived to the bank by boat. They put down the amount of gold they believed was fair for the value of the salt and then retreated.
Salt traders returned. If they were happy with the amount of gold, they took it and left. If not, they would beat the drum again and wait for the gold miners to bring more.
This process continued until both sides were happy with the trade.

As the Ghana Empire grew, its rulers needed to find a way to organize the empire in order to manage all of its resources and to collect taxes. Taxes are fees that a government collects to pay for the things that it needs, such as an army. Ghana's rulers organized the empire into a capital city and surrounding territories, called vassal kingdoms. The diagram below shows the relationship between Ghana's vassal kingdoms and its capital city. Look at the diagram.

In addition to the taxes collected from vassal kingdoms, the government of the Ghana Empire made money by taxing goods that were traded in Ghana. A famous historian named al-Bakri wrote an account of the Ghana Empire in 1068 CE. In this account, al-Bakri describes the Ghana Empire's system of trade and taxes. Read the passage from al-Bakri's account.

For every donkey-load of salt that is brought into the empire's capital to trade, the king of Ghana takes a tax of one golden dinar, and he takes two dinars when a load is sent out. For every load of copper, the king gets five mithqals. . . . The gold nuggets found in all the mines of Ghana are reserved for the king, and only gold dust is left for the people. . . . It is rumored that the king owns a nugget as large as a big stone.

dinar: a type of coin made from gold

mithqal: a type of coin that was less valuable than the dinar

Adapted from al-Bakri, Book of Roads and Kingdoms, cited in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History

Golden coins in the Islamic world

Near the end of the 600s CE, the Islamic empire that ruled over the land that is now Syria began making golden coins called dinars. Over time, different Islamic societies across the Middle East and North Africa began making their own dinars. The Ghana Empire probably did not make their own dinars, but it is possible that merchants used dinars from North Africa to trade in Ghana. People often used the word "dinar" to refer to the amount of gold dust from Ghana that weighed the same as a gold coin.

Historians are not certain where the capital of the Ghana Empire was located. To learn about the capital, historians use written sources such as al-Bakri's account of Ghana. The passage below is part of al-Bakri's description of Ghana's capital. Read the passage.

The city of Ghana is divided into two sections. One section is inhabited by Muslims. It is large with a dozen mosques where Muslims assemble for the Friday prayer. . . . Around the town are wells that provide fresh water for people to drink and use to grow vegetables. The royal section of the city, called al-Ghaba, is six miles away from the Muslim section, and the area between the two sections is covered with small houses. . . . The king has a palace . . . and a royal court of justice in the royal section.

mosque: Muslim place of worship

Adapted from al-Bakri, Book of Roads and Kingdoms, cited in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History

In 1914, archaeologists excavated, or dug up, the remains of an ancient city called Koumbi Saleh. They found evidence that appeared to match al-Bakri's account of the capital of Ghana.

Why didn't archaeologists find a palace or court?

When archaeologists excavated Koumbi Saleh, they found lots of evidence that matched al-Bakri's description of the Muslim section of Ghana's capital city. But they found no evidence to match his description of the royal section!

Here are two possible explanations for this lack of evidence:

- It is possible that the royal section of the capital was completely destroyed by the societies that invaded and took over the Ghana Empire.
- It is also possible that Koumbi Saleh was not actually the capital city of the Ghana Empire!

When Muslim merchants from North Africa arrived in the Ghana Empire to trade, they shared their Islamic religious beliefs with the people they met in Ghana. As a result, many people from Ghana became Muslim. However, many other people continued to follow their ancient religious traditions. In the Ghana Empire, it was common for people of the same social group to follow the same religion. The table below shows different groups of society in the Ghana Empire and the religions that they practiced.

Where did different people in the Ghana Empire worship?

Muslims and non-Muslims in the Ghana Empire had different beliefs, and they also worshipped their gods in different places.

Mosques are still used for worship all over West Africa.

Muslims in Ghana's trade cities built large mosques where they gathered for prayer every Friday. The historian al-Bakri wrote that the capital city of Ghana alone had more than 12 mosques!

Outside nearly every village or town in Ghana, there was a sacred grove of trees where non-Muslims believed they could communicate with the spirit world. They crafted figurines to represent different spirits and gods and placed them in the groves.

Even though many people in Ghana's big cities became Muslim, the rulers of Ghana continued to follow their ancient religious beliefs. Read about one of these beliefs.

According to tradition, the Kingdom of Ghana was formed when Ghana's first king got permission to build his capital from a snake-god named Bida. Bida promised to provide the kingdom with plenty of rain, crops to harvest, and gold, as long he got a yearly sacrifice in return. So, representatives from different parts of the ancient kingdom came together once a year in the capital to celebrate a sacrifice to Bida.

Divine snakes from around the world

The religion of ancient Ghana was not the only religion to feature snakes and snake-gods! Read about some other divine snakes from around the world:

People who followed ancient Mayan traditions believed they could communicate with the gods by talking to a giant snake-like being called the Vision Serpent.

In the Indian religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the nāga are divine beings that are half-human, half-cobra.

In the Haitian Vodou religion, a snake-god called Damballa is believed to have created the universe and all of the life inside it.

In ancient Greek mythology, the goddess Hera created a snake-like monster called Hydra in order to kill the hero named Heracles.

In the mid-1000s, a group called the Almoravids started taking over parts of the Sahara, the vast desert in North Africa. The Almoravids wanted to compete with the Ghana Empire and take control of trans-Saharan trade.

How did Almoravids survive in the desert?

Although most of the Western Sahara is dry, sandy desert, there are underground water holes and patches of grass scattered throughout. The Almoravids were skilled at finding these habitable areas. They would set up camps until their animals had eaten all the grass and then move on to somewhere new, traveling on horses and camels.

Does anyone live in the Sahara today?

Yes! There are still nomadic people living across the Sahara. These people are called the Tuareg.

After about 200 years as a powerful empire, Ghana began to lose power.

A foreign invasion or a cursed kingdom?

Oral traditions tell a different story about the fall of the Ghana Empire. These traditions do not suggest that the Almoravids were responsible for Ghana's decline. According to these traditions, the Ghana Empire lost power when someone killed the snake-god Bida by cutting off his head. Bida had promised gold and prosperity for Ghana. When he was killed, all the gold in Ghana disappeared.

Mali Empire

In the 1300s, several large civilizations flourished on the African continent. Throughout the following questions, you will learn about the origins of one of these civilizations, the Mali Empire. An empire is a group of territories controlled by one central ruler or government. The Mali Empire controlled a large region in West Africa, which is located south of the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River. The map below shows some of the civilizations in Africa in the 1300s.

What else was happening in the world in the 1300s?

The Mali Empire flourished in West Africa in the 1300s. Here are some things that were happening in other parts of the world at that time:

The Yuan Dynasty ruled over China. During the Yuan Dynasty's rule, artists created porcelain objects, such as this dish.

The Vijayanagara Empire flourished in India. People in the Vijayanagara Empire built large temples to honor their gods.

In Europe, a disease called the Black Death spread across the continent, killing between 30 to 60 percent of the European population.

Like other African communities, the Mali Empire grew because of its access to natural resources, or things found in nature that are useful to humans. People who lived in different parts of Africa had access to different natural resources. Look at the map of some of the natural resources found on the African continent.

Many different groups of people in Africa had access to valuable natural resources. In North Africa, people could use copper in order to make cooking tools and other everyday objects. Across the Sahara Desert there was salt, which was useful for seasoning and preserving food. South of the Sahara Desert, people in West Africa had access to lots of gold, which they used for jewelry, decoration, and money.

How did people collect these resources?

Some resources, such as copper, had to be mined underground. North African copper miners traveled far beneath the surface of the earth to find the metal.

Gold was easier to find in West Africa. Instead of mining, people were able to collect gold from the sand in streams and beaches.

Other resources, such as salt, formed thick crusts just a few meters below the surface of the Sahara Desert. Salt traders cut these salt crusts into slabs for easy transportation.

All over the world, different societies traded with each other to get the resources that they couldn't find at home. One resource that became especially valuable was gold. Even before the Mali Empire developed in West Africa, West African societies already had plenty of gold to trade with foreign regions. However, trading across Africa was difficult. The map below shows some African environments.

Was the Sahara always a desert?

No! Scientists have discovered that around 10,500 years ago, heavy rains transformed the Sahara into fertile land with lush vegetation and plenty of fresh water. Water allowed both large animals and humans to thrive in the Sahara. At one point, elephants, rhinoceroses, and giraffes all frolicked in the Sahara!

Today, the Sahara Desert is a sea of sand dunes. It covers more than 3,500,000 square miles!

Then, around 7,300 years ago, the heavy rainfall stopped, and the Sahara dried up again. The humans and animals left to find places that still had water. Many people settled in West Africa, which became the home of the Mali Empire!

Merchants who wanted to trade between West Africa and North Africa had to cross the Sahara Desert. Crossing the desert was dangerous and made trade nearly impossible for a long time. But between 100–400 CE, people in Africa started to train and ride camels.

How do we know when people started using camels in the Sahara?

The Sahara Desert is home to a large group of rock formations, called Tassili-n-Ajjer. In 1933, researchers at Tassili-n-Ajjer discovered tens of thousands of ancient paintings preserved on the walls of these rock formations.

These rock paintings record the history of the Sahara Desert. Paintings from 10,000 years ago show animals such as giraffes and hippopotamuses, but no camels. The earliest paintings of camels come from around the first century CE.

While camels made trading goods across the Sahara Desert easier, the ideas and beliefs of traders also spread along with goods. A new religion called Islam developed in western Asia in 622 CE. Many followers of Islam, called Muslims, wanted to spread their religion as far as they could. So, some Muslims began traveling to northern Africa. By the late 600s, many people in North Africa had learned about Islam and were now Muslim. One group of people from North Africa, called the Berber tribes, played an important role in both trade and the spread of Islam in West Africa.

How was Islam founded?

According to Islamic teachings, the religion began when a man named Muhammad started to receive visions from the Angel Gabriel, a messenger of God. The Angel Gabriel told Muhammad that there was only one god.

Muhammad began to share his visions with his wife and a small group of followers. His followers grew, and soon Muhammad's teachings spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Followers of Islam are called Muslims.

The Berber tribes introduced West African societies to the teachings of Islam. At the same time, they began to trade with West African merchants and brought back valuable goods to North Africa. Berber tribes helped develop a network of trade routes across the Sahara Desert. Historians call this trade network the trans-Saharan trade. Look at the map of the trans-Saharan trade routes.

The desert sea

Some historians compare the Sahara Desert to a sea. These historians say that cities on the edge of the Sahara, such as Timbuktu and Gao, were like ports to the desert sea. Port cities on the edges of actual seas or oceans often became important centers of trade, such as Genoa, Italy or Calicut, India. Similarly, the cities that were "ports" to the Sahara Desert became the key points of the trans-Saharan trade.

The first West African civilization to take advantage of trans-Saharan trade was the Ghana Empire. Ghana prospered for hundreds of years before collapsing.

How did trade happen in the Ghana Empire?

Ghana became wealthy by controlling several trade cities, but not all trade happened in markets in these cities! During the Ghana Empire, a practice known as silent bartering, or silent trade, became popular. This practice helped to keep the location of gold mines secret. The steps below show how people used silent bartering to trade salt for gold:

First, salt traders left slabs of salt by a riverbank. They beat a drum to signal the salt was there, and then left the riverbank.
Gold miners then arrived to the bank by boat. They put down the amount of gold they believed was fair for the value of the salt, and then retreated.
Salt traders returned. If they were happy with the amount of gold, they took it and left. If not, they would beat the drum again and wait for gold miners to bring more.
This process continued until both sides were happy with the trade.

After Ghana collapsed, the Soso kingdom gained control of many new territories. One of these territories was called Mali.

In 1225, a warrior from Mali named Sundiata (soon-JAH-tuh) defeated the Soso kingdom. Sundiata's story has been passed down by oral historians, or people trained to tell stories about their history. Read the oral history of Sundiata.

Oral history, The Epic of Sundiata

Sundiata of Mali grew up as a great hunter and warrior who made many friends through his work. Some people were jealous of Sundiata. One day, Sundiata was attacked, and he ran away to protect himself. While he was away, the people of Mali were conquered by Sumanguru, the cruel king of the Soso kingdom.

Sundiata learned that his people were being treated unfairly and decided to return. He united his old friends together to help him stand up to Sumanguru. Sundiata defeated the evil king. Then, Sundiata freed all the other groups that Sumanguru had conquered. The chiefs of these groups were so grateful that they swore their loyalty to him. Sundiata then ruled over a vast empire.

In the story, how did Sundiata defeat Sumanguru?

According to oral historians, Sumanguru was a powerful sorcerer. When Sundiata first attacked Sumanguru with an iron spear, the spear bounced off of Sumanguru's chest and fell to the ground!

But Sundiata discovered Sumanguru's weakness: a poison that would take away his powers. Sundiata made a poisoned arrow and shot it at Sumanguru. The arrow only grazed Sumanguru's shoulder, but he lost his powers immediately. Sundiata was then able to overpower Sumanguru and defeat the Soso kingdom.

Oral historians were not the only ones to keep track of the history of Mali. Visiting Arab scholars recorded what they learned about the history and culture of the region. Modern-day historians use both types of sources to understand the history of Mali. Compare part of the same oral history to a passage from the Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun (IB-in cal-DOON), written in the 1500s.

Oral history, The Epic of Sundiata

Sundiata learned that his people were being treated unfairly and decided to return to Mali. He united his old friends together to help him stand up to Sumanguru, ruler of the Soso. Sundiata defeated the evil king. Then, Sundiata freed all the other groups that Sumanguru had conquered. The chiefs of these groups were so grateful that they swore their loyalty to him. Sundiata then ruled over a vast empire.

Ibn Khaldun, History of Muslim Dynasties in Africa

The most powerful of these kings was the one who overcame the Soso, conquered their territories, and seized their power. He was called [Sundiata].…This king, whose [background] we do not know, ruled [the Mali Empire] for twenty-five years.

This statement is supported by the oral historian only:
- The chiefs of the other territories chose to support Sundiata because they were grateful to him. The oral history states that chiefs of the groups Sundiata freed were so grateful, they swore their loyalty to him.
This statement is supported by Ibn Khaldun only:
- We do not know the exact story of Sundiata. Ibn Khaldun writes that he does not know Sundiata's background.
This statement is supported by both passages:
- Sundiata defeated the Soso and started the Mali Empire. The oral historian says that Sundiata defeated the "evil king" of the Soso and went on to rule a vast empire. Ibn Khaldun writes that Sundiata overcame the Soso, and seized the Soso's power. So, both narratives agree that Sundiata defeated the Soso and started the Mali Empire.

Unlike the rulers of Ghana, Sundiata and other rulers of Mali adopted Islam as their religion. As the Mali Empire grew, Islam became a useful tool to bring the empire together.

After Islam, did traditional West African religion disappear?

No! People in West Africa continued to hold traditional beliefs after the rulers of Mali converted to Islam. In fact, the Muslim rulers of Mali continued to practice some traditional rituals themselves! People in the Mali Empire combined traditional beliefs with Islamic teachings.

Some people in West Africa continue to hold traditional beliefs and participate in traditional practices today.

Sundiata and his successors continued to expand the territory of the Mali Empire, using Islam to bring people across the region together. The map below shows the territory of the Mali Empire around the year 1300. Look at the map.Do these cities still exist today?

Yes! Timbuktu, Walata, Gao, and Djenné are still cities in West Africa today. Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenné are all a part of the Republic of Mali, a country that covers part of the territory of the Mali Empire.

As the rulers of Mali gained control of major trade cities, such as Djenné, Timbuktu, and Gao, the Mali Empire grew wealthy and powerful. With their new wealth, some of Mali's rulers decided to build mosques, or Islamic places of worship, in these important cities. The first two images below show two mosques built by the Mali Empire. The second two images show styles of architecture that influenced these mosques. Look at the images.

The kings of Mali built large mosques to show off their wealth and power. These mosques were made of adobe mudbrick, similar to the architecture of traditional West African villages. However, the mosques also had tall towers, like mosques in other Islamic societies, such as Morocco. The mosques from Djenné and Timbuktu show that in the Mali Empire, Islamic culture and traditional West African culture were combined.

When cultures meet

The term cultural syncretism refers to the combination of features from different cultures. Mosques from the Mali Empire show cultural syncretism between traditional West African culture and Islamic culture. But cultural syncretism happens all the time!

Chinese immigrants to Peru created a style of cuisine called chifa. Chifa food combines Chinese ingredients, such as soy sauce and ginger, with Peruvian ingredients, such as a yellow chili pepper sauce.

In Ireland, some bands started mixing punk rock music with traditional Celtic music. These Celtic punk bands had rock instruments such as guitars and drums, but also used banjos, accordions, and even bagpipes!

Mosques from the Mali Empire show that Mali's rulers used their wealth to spread Islamic teachings. Islamic teachings emphasized the importance of learning. As a result, wealthy centers of trade also became centers of learning.

The wealthiest trade city in Mali, Timbuktu, became the most famous center of learning in the empire. Many scholars traveled to Timbuktu to study religion and other subjects. There, scholars wrote thousands of manuscripts, or hand-written books, on a variety of topics. Modern-day historians can use these manuscripts to learn about Mali's society.

Preserving the Timbuktu manuscripts

Many thousands of manuscripts are preserved in Timbuktu. These manuscripts serve as a window into hundreds of years of West African history. But during a conflict in 2013, thousands of these precious manuscripts were burnt or stolen!

Today, several organizations are dedicated to studying, translating, and preserving these manuscripts. But there is still a lot of work to do!

When Timbuktu was beginning to flourish as a center of trade and learning, the king of Mali was a man called Mansa Musa. Mansa Musa dedicated himself to his Islamic faith. In 1324, he completed a pilgrimage, or religious journey. During his journey, he had to cross the Sahara Desert, and then pass through Egypt.

In the passage below, an Egyptian author describes Mansa Musa's pilgrimage. Read the passage.

From the beginning of my coming to stay in Egypt I heard talk of the arrival of this sultan Musa on his Pilgrimage . . . This man flooded Cairo with his benefactions. He left no [Egyptian official] without the gift of a load of gold . . . Gold was at a high price in Egypt . . . but [after his Pilgrimage] its value fell and it cheapened in price and has remained cheap till now . . . .This has been the state of affairs for about twelve years until this day.

sultan: a Muslim ruler

Cairo: the capital of Egypt

benefactions: donations

Al-Umari cited in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History

When Mansa Musa passed through Egypt, he gave out gold to many people. The passage states that Mansa Musa flooded the capital of Egypt with donations. To "flood" a place means to bring lots of something to that place. It also says that he did not leave any officials without a gift of gold, meaning he gave gold to every single official.
Mansa Musa brought so much gold to Egypt that gold became less valuable there. The passage states that after Musa's pilgrimage, gold cheapened in price, or became less expensive, in Egypt. Because Mansa Musa left so much gold in Egypt, people could buy gold more easily, which lowered the price of gold.

Songhai Empire

From around 1000 CE to 1600 CE, several different empires ruled over parts of West Africa. Look at the map of West Africa around the year 1350.

In 1350, the largest and most powerful society in West Africa was the Mali Empire, which controlled the major trade cities of Gao, Timbuktu, and Djenné. The outlined territory includes these trade cities.
The empire was filled with many different people. One important group was the Songhai (sahng-AI) people. The shaded territory that overlaps with the Mali Empire territory is the home of the Songhai people. So, some Songhai people lived in Mali.
The map shows that the Songhai people mostly lived in a small territory east of the empire, but some of them lived inside the empire around the city of Gao (pronounced GOW).

A land of gold

The Mali Empire became wealthy and powerful, in part, because it controlled the gold trade in West Africa. One ruler of Mali, Mansa Musa, famously brought 100 camel loads of gold on a religious journey to the city of Mecca! After Mansa Musa's journey, Mali became famous across the Middle East and Europe.

Who weakened the Mali Empire?

In 1360, a man named Mari-Djata II took control of the Mali Empire, ruling for nearly 15 years. His rule led to the decline of the empire. The North African scholar Ibn Khaldun described Mari-Djata II's effect on Mali:

[A man who lived in Mali] told me that [Mari-Djata II] had ruined the empire, draining the royal treasury. . . . He went so far with his spending habit that he sold the famous gold stone, considered one of [Mali's] most precious treasures.

Adapted from Ibn Khaldun, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique Septentrionale

In the late 1300s, many groups of people began to break away from Mali, which weakened the empire. In 1464, a Songhai (sahng-AI) leader named Sunni Ali Ber took advantage of this weakness. He built an army and began to conquer the trade cities that used to be part of the Mali Empire. As he took control of more and more places, he created the Songhai Empire, which eventually became a thriving center of trade and learning.

Sunni Ali Ber and his army conquered many territories to build the Songhai Empire. But not everyone in the new empire was happy under his rule. For example, many Muslims, or followers of the religion of Islam, were unhappy. Read the passage by a Muslim scholar who lived in the Songhai Empire during the reign of Sunni Ali.

This villain,—I mean, [Sunni Ali],—was a prince, who was obeyed and respected. He was feared by his subjects because of his cruelty. . . . The ferocity of [Sunni] Ali towards Muslims and his cruelty . . . in matters of religion, made the hearts of the people overflow with sadness and worry.

ferocity: brutality, violence

What was Sunni Ali's religion?

Even though Sunni Ali treated Muslims under his rule harshly, Sunni Ali was also Muslim!

Many Muslims in the Songhai Empire accused Sunni Ali of not being a good Muslim because he did not follow all of the requirements of Islam. They also criticized him for continuing to practice traditional rituals that were not a part of Islam.

One requirement of Islam is praying five times a day. Some Muslims said Sunni Ali was not a good Muslim because he did not pray enough.

When did the merchants in Timbuktu and Djenné become Muslim?

The growth of trade in West Africa was closely linked to the spread of Islam. When merchants from North Africa crossed the Sahara Desert to trade, they brought their Islamic beliefs with them. Soon after, West African merchants began to follow Islam as well.

After Sunni Ali died, his son could not keep control of the empire. Look at the timeline of the Songhai Empire after Sunni Ali's death.

Did other empires have dynasties?

Yes! Many empires and kingdoms throughout history have been led by families of rulers. Here are some examples of famous rulers from dynasties:

Queen Cleopatra of ancient Egypt belonged to the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 305 to 30 BCE. Cleopatra was the first ruler from her dynasty to know how to speak the ancient Egyptian language!

Catherine the Great was the empress of Russia in the late 1700s. She belonged to the Romanov Dynasty, which ruled over the Russian Empire from 1613 to 1917 CE. In 1917, the dynasty was overthrown by a revolution.

Today, Elizabeth II is the Queen of England and a member of the dynasty called the House of Windsor. The English monarchy no longer holds the same power over the country that it used to, but Queen Elizabeth II still has many duties.

Askia Muhammad took control of the Songhai Empire from Sunni Ali's son. As the new ruler, he acted differently from Sunni Ali. Historians want to understand more about the differences between the two rulers. To do so, they can use many different sources.

Some of these sources were written during the time of the Songhai Empire. Other sources are oral histories that have been passed down through griots (GREE-ots), or people who are trained to tell stories about West African history to younger generations.

Son of the river spirit or chosen by God?

Askia Muhammad became an important figure for many different groups of people in West Africa. In fact, multiple religious traditions viewed him as a divine, or god-like, ruler:

Oral sources often reflect traditional West African religious beliefs. According to oral sources, Askia Muhammad was the son of the spirit of the Niger River. His father, the river spirit, helped him to defeat the Sunni Dynasty.
Written sources from the Songhai Empire were mainly by Muslim scholars. Many of these texts say that Askia Muhammad was supported to rule by Allah, the one god in Islam.

Read about one of the sources historians use to learn about Askia Muhammad's rule.

A section of the questions and their replies

The Replies of Al-Maghili to the Questions of Askia El-Hajj Muhammad is a document written by a well-known Muslim scholar named Muhammad al-Maghili. Al-Maghili put together a list of questions that Askia Muhammad asked him and wrote out replies to each of the questions.

Askia Muhammad's questions cover many topics related to governing the Songhai Empire. For example, he asked about whether or not he could make new taxes and if he should punish people who followed local religions instead of Islam. Al-Maghili responded with advice for the ruler, based on his understanding of Islam.

What were some of Askia Muhammad's questions?

Below are some of the questions included in the source. What do these questions suggest about Askia Muhammad's government?

"If there is a land in which there are Muslims and their [ruler] is oppressive . . . should I or should I not drive away that oppressor from them, even if it leads to his being killed?"
"God has put this territory under my control . . . [The people here] have abundant agricultural lands . . . Is it [allowed by Islam] for me to impose tax on their land or not?"

oppressive: harsh, cruel

abundant: plentiful

Askia Muhammad made several changes to the government of the Songhai Empire. These changes led to better organization, which made the empire stronger.

Under the Askia Dynasty, the Songhai Empire continued to grow. By around 1500, the Songhai Empire had become the largest empire to ever exist in West Africa. It had also become wealthy from trade. Look at the map of the Songhai Empire's territory.

How did people trade across the Sahara?

What did they trade?

Many goods and resources were traded between the Songhai Empire and other places. Three important resources were copper, salt, and gold. The Songhai Empire had easy access to two of these three resources.

Around 1526, a visitor to the Songhai Empire named Leo Africanus published a book that discussed trade in Songhai. Read Leo Africanus's descriptions of trade in Timbuktu and Gao.

[In Timbuktu] there are many shops of artisans and merchants, especially of those who weave linen and cotton. . . . Salt is very scarce here, for it is brought here by land from Teghaza, which is five hundred miles away. . . . The coin of Timbuktu is gold.

[In Gao there] is a certain place where slaves are sold. . . . However, of all other items, salt is the most expensive.

artisans: skilled craftspeople

scarce: rare

Teghaza: a town in the Sahara with a large salt mine

Both Timbuktu and Gao were centers of trade in the Songhai Empire. In Timbuktu, merchants sold fabrics of cotton and paid for valuable goods with gold. In Gao, there was a special market for enslaved people. In both cities, one of the most rare and expensive goods brought from foreign places was salt.

Wealth in letters

Salt wasn't the only precious good traded in the Songhai Empire! The visitor Leo Africanus remarked that in Timbuktu, the most valuable goods were made of ink and paper:

[To Timbuktu] are brought various manuscripts or written books . . . which are sold for more money than any other merchandise.

Both Gao and Timbuktu grew wealthy and powerful from trade during the reign of the Songhai Empire. In fact, both cities became so powerful that some historians say the Songhai Empire had two capitals. But, the two cities had different roles in the empire.

Historians learn about the way these cities functioned by studying historic buildings and other structures that remain in the cities. These historic sites are excavated, or dug up, by archaeologists. Read about some of the archaeological remains found in Timbuktu and in Gao.

How do historians know there was a university in Timbuktu?

Historians use both written sources and archaeological evidence to learn about cities. In addition to the buildings that remain in Timbuktu, other sources confirm that these buildings made up a university:

Scholars produced thousands of books at the university, and many of them have been preserved. These books show what subjects were studied.
Travelers, such as Leo Africanus, wrote about the university and culture of learning at Timbuktu. He remarked on all the educated people in the city:

In Timbuktu there are numerous judges, scholars and priests, all well paid by the king, who greatly honours learned men.

The city of Timbuktu devoted lots of its wealth to education. However, not everyone in the Songhai Empire could access that high-quality education. For example, people who lived in rural areas were educated in different ways. Compare the education of two boys who might have lived in the Songhai Empire.

13-year-old boy from Timbuktu

I live in Timbuktu. After I have mastered Arabic reading and writing and learned the Quran, I get to study all kinds of subjects from some of the best scholars in the world! My favorite subjects are astronomy, medicine, and history, which I read about in books.

Quran: Islamic holy text

13-year-old boy from a rural village

Although I've never been to school, my father has taught me a lot about how to catch fish and tend the land. If I am curious about my history, I ask a local griot to tell me the story of my people.

griot: an oral historian, someone who tells stories about the history of their people

Look back at the texts. Based on the texts, these statements are true:

- People in villages mainly learned about history from oral historians. The boy from a rural village says that he asks griots to tell him about history.
- Reading and writing were important parts of education in cities like Timbuktu. The boy from Timbuktu talks about mastering Arabic reading and writing. He also talks about reading the Quran.

These statements are false:

- All children in the Songhai Empire were required to go to school. The boy from a rural village says that he has never been to school. This suggests that not all children were required to go to school.
- Young boys in Timbuktu could only study religion. The boy from Timbuktu says he studies other subjects, such as astronomy, medicine, and history.

Under the rule of the Songhai Empire, cities like Timbuktu and Gao flourished as centers of trade and learning for most of the 1500s. However, in 1591, the Songhai Empire collapsed. Read about the events leading up to the Songhai Empire's fall.

How did the Moroccan army defeat the Songhai army?

When the Moroccan army arrived in Songhai, they were outnumbered and tired from a long journey through the desert. But they had one big advantage over the Songhai army: guns. Gunpowder weapons such as muskets had begun to spread throughout Europe, North Africa, and Asia, but they had not yet reached West Africa. The Songhai army had never seen muskets before. Some Songhai soldiers were intimidated just by the sound the guns made! Their swords and arrows were no match.

The Songhai Empire was founded by a man named Sunni Ali who took control of several major trade cities such as Gao, Timbuktu, and Djenné. Under his rule the Songhai military grew strong, but many Muslims were unhappy because of the way he treated them. Then, a man named Askia Muhammad took control of the Songhai Empire and made Islam the empire's official religion. During his dynasty, the Songhai Empire became wealthy and powerful from trading gold and salt, and the city of Timbuktu flourished as the center of Islamic learning. Songhai continued to thrive until 1591, when the empire was invaded by the kingdom of Morocco.

How is the Songhai Empire remembered?

In the 1800s, several European countries conquered territories in Africa and set up colonies. Many of the Europeans in charge of these colonies denied that Africans had important history.

In the mid-1900s, many African societies won their independence from European countries. Independence leaders worked to tell people about past African empires like Mali and Songhai. They used the examples of these empires to bring African societies together and build pride among them. This pride in African culture and history made independence movements stronger.

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