190-191-0208co 10/11/02 3:44 PM Page 191 Page 2 of 3

Africa, 500 B.C.—A.D.700

15°W

M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a 30°N Alexandria Memphis

Tropic of Cancer Thebes ARABIAN

r e

SAHARA v PENINSULA i R R e e d il NUBIA N S (KUSH) e a Meroë 15°N N i g 15°N Djenné-Djeno e r Adulis R Aden iv er NOK AKSUM ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS

Gulf of Guinea 0° Equator ver Ri 0°

o g n o C INDIAN OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEAN

15°S 15°S Z r a ive m R Aksum, A.D. 300-700 b ezi Nok, 500 B.C. - A.D. 200 Nubia (Kush), 590 B.C. - A.D. 350 po R o iv N 0500 1000 Miles Tropic of Capricorn p e im r L 0500 1000 Kilometers KALAHARI Robinson Projection DESERT

30°S 30°S

15°W 0° 15°E 30°E45°E60°E

500 B.C. 250 B.C. Djenné- A.D. 100s A.D. 303 King Ezana Nok people Djeno established in Bantu migrations rules Aksum. In time, he make iron tools. West Africa. under way. converts to Christianity. 364-365-0315co 10/11/02 4:02 PM Page 365 Page 2 of 3

EUROPE Africa, 800–1500 15°W

M e d i Fez t e r r a n e Tripoli a n S e a 30°N Marrakech Cairo

Tropic of Cancer Taghaza

r e

v R SAHARA i ARABIAN R e e d il PENINSULA N S e Kumbi Timbuktu a Se Saleh 15°N ne Gao g ° a N Adulis 15 N l i SUDAN R Djenné g Aksum e . r R Lalibela . Kano Zaria N Nok Ife Benin City AFRICA

Equator Mogadishu 0° ver Ri 0°

o g n o C Malindi Mombasa ATLANTIC INDIAN OCEAN Kilwa OCEAN

15°S l ° e 15 S Z er n a iv n r R Ghana, 800s to 1000s m a a b ezi h c C s Mali, 1200s to 1400s a e g Songhai, 1400s to 1500s Sofala u Great Zimbabwe q a i d Hausa city-states, 1200s to 1500s b po R a po iv Tropic of Capricorn e m im r M L a 0500 1000 Miles z o

M 0500 1000 Kilometers Robinson Projection 30°S 30°S Oran ge River

15°W 0° 15°E 30°E45°E60°E

1076 Muslim 1100 1235 1324 Mali king 1464 Almoravids Ife established as a Sundiata founds Mansa Musa goes Sunni Ali begins conquer Ghana. Yoruba kingdom. Mali Empire. on hajj to Mecca. Songhai Empire. 371-377-0315s2 10/11/02 4:03 PM Page 372 Page 2 of 7

40°N West African Empires, 700–1500 At Fez, the traders buy goods brought Fez

Tunis across the M e Sijilmasa d i t e r Mediterranean. r a n e a n Fez Tripoli S e a Marrakech They load up with ATLANTIC Sijilmasa water at Sijilmasa. It OCEAN Cairo will take 25 days to EGYPT reach Taghaza. N i l e R At Taghaza, . SAHARA Taghaza they take on Tropic of Cancer SAHARA salt and Taghaza more water. They trade the salt and other goods for Agades Bilma Ghana, 1000 Timbuktu gold at Timbuktu. Se Gao Mali, 1400 ne Kumbi They also load up on ga Songhai, 1500 l Saleh N water and food for R Djenné ig Katsina . Niani er Trade route R L. Chad the return journey. . Kano Rainforest 0 400 Miles Zaria V AFRICA Timbuktu Savannah o l t Nok R. Desert a ue 0 800 Kilometers R en . B Mediterranean Ife Benin City INDIAN

R. OCEAN ongo A European drew this sketch of Timbuktu in C L. Victoria ° the early 1800s, long after its economic power 0 Equator 40 0 1,000 Miles 0 ° ° had declined. However, the mosque from the E 1300s is still visible in the background. 0 2,000 Kilometers

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps 1. Region Compare the regions occupied by the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires in terms of size and location. 2. Human-Environment Interaction How did the environment both contribute resources to and cause problems for traders?

chief judge, and military commander. He headed a large bureaucracy Background and could call up a huge army. In 1067, a Muslim geographer and Al-Bakri claimed that Ghana’s army was scholar named al-Bakri wrote a description of Ghana’s royal court: 200,000 strong. Some modern scholars A VOICE FROM THE PAST believe that figure The king adorns himself . . . wearing necklaces and bracelets. . . . The was exaggerated. court of appeal is held in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses with gold embroidered trappings. Behind the king stand ten pages holding shields and swords decorated with gold, and on his right are the sons of the subordinate [lower] kings of his country, all wearing splendid garments and with their hair mixed with gold. AL-BAKRI, quoted in Africa in the Days of Exploration

By the year 800, Ghana had become an empire. Because Ghana’s king controlled trade and commanded a large army, he could demand taxes and gifts from the chiefs of surrounding lands. As long as the chiefs made their payments, the king left them in peace to rule their own people. Islamic Influences While Islam spread through North Africa by conquest, south of the Sahara, Islam spread through trade. Muslim merchants and teachers settled in the states south of the Sahara and introduced their faith there. Eventually, Ghana’s rulers converted to Islam. By the 11th century, Muslim advisers were helping the king run his kingdom. While Ghana’s African rulers and many mem- Background bers of the court accepted Islam, many people in the empire clung to their animistic Animism is the belief beliefs and practices. Much of the population never converted. Those who did kept that spirits—residing in animals, plants, many of their former beliefs, which they observed along with Islam. Among the upper and natural forces— class, Islam’s growth encouraged the spread of literacy. To study the Qur’an, converts to play an important role Islam had to learn to read and write Arabic. in regulating daily life. 372 Chapter 15