Ghana, Mali, and Songhai each

dominated West Africa in turn

from about 300 to 1600 A.D.

African people and African

goods played an important role
in increasing European interest
in world resources.
The African Link
As explorers from Portugal began voyages of discovery along the
coast of West Africa, they were unaware that inland there were
rich empires that had been thriving for centuries.

This enormous mosque

in Mali is a marvel of
architecture.

An artist imagines Sundiata of

Mali (c.1217–c.1255) and
Sunni Ali Ber of Songhai, who
died in 1492.

While Europe was reeling from
plague and despair, parts of Africa
were enjoying peace and prosperity. In West
Africa, three great kingdoms arose. The first,
ancient Ghana, came to power around 300 A.D.
For the next 1,300 years, each empire, in turn,
became even more powerful by controlling
trade across West Africa.
Every day caravans crossed the great Sahara
from Asia and Europe to trade for African gold
and precious salt, but crossing the huge desert
took months. Was there an easier way to get
there? Many Europeans hoped so.
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EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY
Ibn Battuta: 1325-1354. Traveled in Asia and Africa
and wrote about safety in Mali:
“They are seldom unjust and have
a greater hate of injustice than any
other people…There is complete
security in their country. Neither
traveler nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear
from robbers or men of violence.”
On meeting Mansa Musa—the King of Mali:
“…There is a platform under a tree…carpeted
with silk with cushions…The sultan comes
out…carrying a bow in his hand and a quiver on
his back. On his head he has a golden skull-cap,
bound with a gold band which has narrow ends
shaped like knives…The sultan is preceded by his
musicians, who carry gold and silver guimbris
[two-stringed guitars], and behind him come
three hundred armed slaves.”
THREE GREAT EMPIRES EUROPE
Portugal
Ancient Ghana, one of
the first great African kingdoms, ASIA
S
A
rose to power because it HA
RA DESERT
controlled the trade from the
vast salt mines and gold fields,
and it became a great trading
center. In 1230 a man named Niger River
Sundiata formed a new empire, AFRICA
Ghana
Mali, which became even richer
Mansa Musa on his Mali
than Ghana. throne of gold
In 1307 Sundiata’s great-nephew, Songhai The three empires
were located in the
Mansa Musa, took power and became one of the most famous
western region of
African kings, as well as one of the richest. He built a city called
Africa, south of the
Timbuktu, known for its universities and libraries. Sahara Desert,
After Mansa Musa died, a series of bad rulers led to Mali’s fall. near the Niger
The kings from neighboring Songhai took over, expanding the River.
empire even more. It was here where sailors from Portugal first
made their way in the early 1400s.
A caravan draws near to the
city of Timbuktu in Mali
A modern-day Malian sits next
to slabs of salt for sale.

A TERRIBLE TRADE
Over the next few years Portuguese sailors,
using better boats and improved navigation aids,
WE CONTROL ALL TRADE!
sailed farther south along Africa’s coast. They
The African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali,
began to carry metals, cloth, and other
and Songhai all controlled the vast salt
manufactured goods from Europe to trade for
trade as well as the trade of precious
the West African empires’ gold.
gold—something every king in Europe
As trade with Africa grew, a new product was
wanted. Today you can buy salt in any
added—people. The buying and selling of slaves
grocery store, but long ago salt meant
became a huge business. By the 1470s Lisbon,
the difference between life and death.
Portugal's capital, became a busy slave-trading
There were no refrigerators to keep
port. Slavery, which had been around for
foods from spoiling. Salt drew moisture
centuries as a way to put captured prisoners of
out of meats and fish, so bacteria, which
war to work, soon took on a terrible new
needs moisture to survive, could not
meaning when Europeans reached the Americas.
grow.
53