The Sudanic African Empires: Ghana / Mali / Songhay

& The Swahili City States of East Africa

AP World History Mr. Blankenship

Ghana Mali Songhay Swahili States
The Kingdom of Ghana
emerged c. 5
th
century C.E.
around the Senegal River.

Became one of the most
powerful and influential
Empires in West Africa
because of the richness
provide by the huge
deposits of Gold close to its
borders (it did not produce
the gold but the trade
routes from the mines). It
is estimated that until 1400
2/3 of the Worlds supply
in circulation came from
this region. It was obtained
in rivers but also mined
they built mine shafts as
deep as 100 ft where
small girls and boys would
obtain the gold.

Other commodities that
were provided by Ghana
were Ivory and Slaves
which were sold to
merchants who took them
to North Africa.
In the early 1200s as the
Ghana Empire was
weakening a group of
people known as the
Makinke who lived in
towards the east of
Ghana began to create
a new Empire.

The creation of this new
state would be achieved
by the ruler called
Sundiata (Sun JAHT
ah) legend has it that
he was one of 12
brothers but when he
was young an invading
tribe came and killed all
of them except for him
they wanted to eliminate
their rivals after a
period of interfamily and
regional fighting he was
able to prove himself as a
great warrior and then
leader and eventually
leader of a new empire:
the Kingdom of Mali.

As the power of the Mali
continued in the 1400s a
state within the Empire
was able to obtain its
independence this was
called the Songhay
Empire with its capital in
the trading city of Gao.

The height of the Empire
came under the
leadership of Sunni Ali
who ruled from 1464-
1493. He built an
elaborate administrative
and military apparatus to
oversee affairs in his
realm. He appointed
governors to oversee
provinces and maintained
a professional army, with
a cavalry and navy of
small boats and canoes
which were able to patrol
the Niger River.




The Swahili coast
refers to a string of
Islamicized African
ports tied to the
trade across the
Indian Ocean.

The term Swahili
is an Arabic term
meaning: coasters
and it refers to
cities on the Eastern
African coast such
as: Mogadishu,
Zanzibar, Mombasa
and Sofala.

The language
Swahili is an
example of cultural
diffusion in this
case Bantu
speaking peoples
adopting words from
Arabic.





The rulers of Ghana
became very rich because
of the taxing of the trade
that traveled through their
Empire. They created large
bureaucracies to help
govern and raised large
standing armies the
empire had superior
techniques in iron making
and were able to subdue
nearby peoples who had
weapons made from wood,
bone or stone. Rulers
demanded tribute / taxes
from Chiefs of surrounding
lands but left them in place
as long as they recognized
the supreme power of the
Ghana ruler and paid their
tribute.

C. 10
th
century the rulers
of Ghana converted to
Islam which expanded
the relationship between
Islamic traders from North
Africa and themselves.
They made little attempt to
convert their subjects and
they still retained much of
their African religious
beliefs. The Muslim
concept of a ruler who
united civil and religious
authority reinforced
traditional ideas of
kingship.
As Mansa or emperor
/king of this Empire he
was able to set up a
bureaucracy with able
administrators in charge
of Malis finances,
defense and foreign
affairs. He also re-
established the gold-salt
trade routes which made
Mali even more powerful
and richer than Ghana.

Even though he allowed
local Chiefs to rule over
their subjects he did
create garrisons
throughout the empire to
maintain loyalty and
security this made
travel secure as crime
was severely punished.

Like Ghana many rulers
of Mali either converted
to Islam or honored it.
They also did not
actively attempt to
convert their subjects.

The height of the Empire
came under the
leadership of Mansa
Musa who may have
been the grandnephew of
Sundiata. He ruled from
1312-1337.


He extended his empire
over the areas formally
controlled by the Mali
rulers he conquered the
cities of Timbuktu and
Jenne (which took him 7
years of siege warfare
he finally married its
Queen to solidify his rule).

From the capital city of
Gao the Songhay rulers
presided over a
prosperous empire that
participated in the trans-
Saharan trade that
brought: Salt, textiles and
metal goods in exchange
for gold and slaves.

Despite the fact that the
rulers were Islamic and
supported Islamic
institutions: mosques /
universities the vast
majority of the populace
remained non-Muslim.

The Songhay meet their
demise in 1591 when they
took on a Moroccan army
armed with musket gun
the defeat left open an
opportunity for regions to
revolt against Songhay
administration.



These cosmopolitan
trading towns were a
mixture of: Arabian,
Persian, Indian,
Chinese and African
cultures and peoples.

The ruling families
of these cities were
very rich as they
oversaw the
movement of: gold,
ivory, iron, slaves,
and exotic animals in
exchange for silks
and rugs from
Persia, porcelain
from China and
spices from
Southeast Asia.

The ruling families
and the merchants
tended to be Muslim
and sponsored the
construction of
mosques and places
of learning
however the
majority of the
people remained
non-Muslim.








The empire was eventually
weakened by invaders out
of the Sahara in the 13
th

century which eventually
brought the empire down.










Between the rule of
Sundiata and Musa there
had been political
turmoil as Mali saw 7
different rulers in 50
years but Musa
brought an end to this.
He was a skilled military
leader who as ruler
maintained a strict
controlled empire.


He kept a standing army
of close to 100,000 men
and as the empire grew
to over twice the size of
Ghana he divided it
into provinces and
appointed governors
who reported to him.

As a devout Muslim he
went on a hajj to Mecca
from 1324/1325 this
trip became legendary
since it brought the
attention of the Islamic
world to the Kingdom of
Mali and its ruler. It is
said that he lavished the
areas that he visited so
much with gold that it
actually devalued the
metals worth in local
markets! When he came
back he took his religion
more serious than before
and began creating
The Songhay empire
crumbled into a series of
small regional kingdoms
and with the arrival of the
Europeans and the
redirection of trade
towards the coastline
the Sudanic Empires
ceased to play a
prominent role in West
African politics.

The arrival of the
Portuguese in the
early 1500s the
Swahili states fell
into a decline from
which they never
recovered The
Portuguese
established trading
posts of their own
and led attacks
against several
Swahili states.
Mosques and universities
in cities like: Timbuktu,
and Gao.

They became some of the
most important cities in
the empire where
Muslim judges, doctors,
religious leaders and
scholars were attracted.
The book was the
symbol of civilization
in the Islamic world
and the book trade was
one of the most lucrative
businesses in Timbuktu.

Despite the riches of the
Empire of Mali and
Ghana away from the
trading centers with
markets and thriving
trading networks most
of the people in the
empire were small
agricultural farmers
where between 80% -
85% of the people were
farmers. Life was
difficult but villages
worked under the
commune system.

After the rule of Mansa
Musa the successors
lacked the ability to
govern and the empire
resided in power and
influence.