READING 7.2.5 GHANA EMPIRE CIVILISATION Macquarie University Big History School: Core

Lexile® measure: 1090L MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY BIG HISTORY SCHOOL: CORE - READNG 7.2.5. CIVILISATION: GHANA EMPIRE - 1090L 2

The Ghana Empire existed from 700 to 1240 CE. It was located in the lands of the Sahara and Saleh, far north of the modern country which is also called Ghana. Modern Ghana took its name in honour of the great Empire. GHANA EMPIRE CIVILISATION By David Baker

KEY FEATURES: AGRARIAN SURPLUS: West Africa developed agriculture around 3000 BCE. Complex agrarian communities emerged around 1500 BCE. By 600 BCE, there were many large towns and villages which had agrarian surplus. Around this time, cultures were using iron technology which increased farming productivity. In 1000 CE, the climate of West Africa was wetter than it is today. The Sahel region of West Africa back then had very fertile land, which made it a great place for farming. As the climate changed over the next 1000 years, people moved south to where the Ghana Empire would eventually arise. This area was able to support many people, who formed a variety of kingdoms. In 300 CE, West Africans domesticated the camel, which were used to trade across the Sahara. This made people across the region very wealthy, just as the Empire of Ghana was getting its start. By 700 CE, Ghana’s wealth and agrarian surplus made it the most powerful state in the region. Archaeologists think that the capital of the Ghana Empire was Koumbi Saleh. This city could have supported 15,000 to 20,000 people. Compared to other ancient cities, this may not seem like much. However by this time, the Sahel was very dry with not much drinking water. Therefore, the size of Koumbi Saleh was very impressive. MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY BIG HISTORY SCHOOL: CORE - READNG 7.2.5. CIVILISATION: GHANA EMPIRE - 1090L 3

ORGANISED RELIGION: The people of Ghana originally believed in an animist religion. They worshipped many different gods. Some looked like animals, and others looked like humans that were neither male nor female. These gods lived in forests and groves. Only priests were allowed to enter the forests to communicate with the gods. The trans-Saharan trade also brought Christianity to the area. However, for a long time the main religion remained animist. Islam became the majority religion in North Africa in the 600s and 700s. Islam then spread down from North Africa into Ghana via trade. By 1100, Islam had become the main religion in the Ghana Empire. CENTRAL RULER/GOVERNMENT: Ghana was ruled by a king. The founding myth of Ghana is that a man called Kaya Magan Cissé founded a kingdom called Wagadou in 300 CE. His sons and grandsons then became rulers of other kingdoms in the area and connected them to Wagadou. By 700 CE, the Ghana Empire was born. We do not know much about who the Ghana rulers were. Very little information on the rulers became part of recorded history. However, we do know that they were very wealthy due to the Saharan trade, which gave them a lot of gold and slaves. DIVISION OF LABOUR & SOCIAL HIERARCHY: The Empire of Ghana had a mixture of farmers, traders, and wealthy nobles. These nobles owned MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE: Koumbi Saleh, the Empire’s capital, had land, in what is called a feudal system. The nobility were very powerful a massive palace which had many buildings to house nobles, officials, and because of the land they owned. However, the most powerful person in the king. Beautiful gold jewellery was also used to display the Empire’s the Empire was the king. Ghana controlled three gold fields and although wealth. The King wore this jewellery and gave them as gifts to allies and other people were allowed to collect the gold dust, all of the gold nuggets neighbours. found belonged to the king. This made the king the wealthiest and most powerful person in the Empire. RISE & FALL: Ghana’s time as the major agrarian civilisation in West Africa ended WRITING: People in Ghana may have used the Tifinagh writing system. in the 1200s. One theory is that climate change was the cause of their However, this was not very common. When Islam became the majority decline. The wet farming region of Saleh eventually dried up. This made religion, Arabic became the language of government. With this came it hard to maintain agricultural surplus. Loss of resources and power the Arabic writing system. We do not have many written works from created conflict within the Empire. The Sosso, who were a rival kingdom, the Ghana Empire itself. A lot of recorded history on Ghana comes from eventually took control of Ghana’s territory. Meanwhile, the Mali Empire outside sources, such as the Moors. was growing very powerful. They eventually conquered Sosso. The ruler WARFARE: Ghana’s massive wealth allowed it to build an enormous army. of Ghana was able hold some control over the region, but over time Ghana One Arab source tells us that in the 1000s, they had an army of 200,000 was fully integrated into the Mali Kingdom. soldiers, 40,000 of which were archers. It is worth noting that these numbers were probably exaggerated. However, they would have certainly been a very powerful military. MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY BIG HISTORY SCHOOL: CORE - READNG 7.2.5. CIVILISATION: GHANA EMPIRE - 1090L 4

REFERNCES Baker, David. Winter is Coming: The Birth and Death of Humanity and the Universe. (in press) Christian, David. Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Christian, David and Cynthia Stokes Brown and Craig Benjamin. Big History: Between Nothing and Everything. New York: McGraw Hill, 2014. Earle, Timothy. How Chiefs Come to Power: The Political Economy in Prehistory. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997. McNeill, J.R. and William H. McNeill. The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003.

IMAGE CREDITS ‘Passe de Djouk’ Credit: Bobrayner, https://www.flickr.com/photos/28605843@ N00/3431820188/ Creative Commons BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/2.0/). ‘La Cite de Oualata’ Credit: Hugues, https://www.flickr.com/photos/13176024@ N02/2187492088 Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/2.0/). ‘Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata (Mauritania)’ Credit: John Spooner, https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/113113 Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en).

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