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Africa, 500 B.C.—A.D. 700
15°W
Med
iterran
ean Sea
Alexandria
30°N
Memphis
Thebes
A
H
A
R
A
Meroë
Ni g
15°N
15°N
Adulis
er
Djenné-Djeno
ea
d S
NUBIA
(KUSH)
ARABIAN
PEN IN SU LA
Re
R iv r
e
S
Ni
le
Tropic of Cancer
R iv
Aden
er
NOK
AKSUM
ETH IO PIAN
HIGHLANDS
Gulf of Guinea
0°
er
Riv
0°
Co
ng
o
Equator
INDIAN
OCEAN
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
15°S
15°S
Za m
ver
Ri
b e zi
Aksum, A.D. 300-700
Nok, 500 B.C. - A.D. 200
Nubia (Kush), 590 B.C. - A.D. 350
0
500
1000 Miles
opo Ri
mp
Tropic of Capricorn
Li
500
N
ver
0
KALAHARI
DESERT
1000 Kilometers
Robinson Projection
30°S
30°S
15°W
0°
500 B.C.
Nok people
make iron tools.
15°E
250 B.C. DjennéDjeno established in
West Africa.
30°E
A.D. 100s
Bantu migrations
under way.
45°E
A.D. 303 King Ezana
rules Aksum. In time, he
converts to Christianity.
60°E
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Africa, 800–1500
E U R O P E
15°W
Med
Fez
Tripoli
iterran
ean Sea
Marrakech
30°N
Cairo
Tropic of Cancer
H
A
R
A
Kumbi
Saleh
Sen
Timbuktu
Gao
Djenné
S UD A N
l
Ni
eg a
15°N
ea
d S
Ni
le
A
R
ge r
R.
.
Re
S
R iv r
e
Taghaza
ARABIAN
PENINSULA
15°N
Adulis
Aksum
Lalibela
Kano
N
Zaria
Ife
A F R
Equator
I
C
A
Mogadishu
er
Riv
0°
Co
ng
o
0°
Nok
Benin City
Malindi
Mombasa
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
INDIAN
OCEAN
Kilwa
l
15°S
0
500
1000 Miles
r
ne
aga
sca
e C
ha
n
Sofala
Mad
Li
Tropic of Capricorn
500
0
ver
Great Zimbabwe
opo Ri
mp
Hausa city-states, 1200s to 1500s
iqu
Songhai, 1400s to 1500s
amb
b e zi
Mali, 1200s to 1400s
15°S
Moz
Za m
Ghana, 800s to 1000s
ver
Ri
1000 Kilometers
Robinson Projection
30°S
Oran
ge
15°W
0°
1076 Muslim 1100
Almoravids
Ife established as a
conquer Ghana. Yoruba kingdom.
15°E
1235
Sundiata founds
Mali Empire.
30°S
Ri v e r
30°E
1324 Mali king
Mansa Musa goes
on hajj to Mecca.
45°E
1464
Sunni Ali begins
Songhai Empire.
60°E
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40°N
West African Empires, 700–1500
Tunis
Fez
Marrakech
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Medi
terra
Tripoli
nean
At Fez, the traders
buy goods brought
across the
Mediterranean.
Sea
Sijilmasa
Cairo
EGYPT
Nil
.
eR
Taghaza
Tropic of Cancer
S A H A R A
Agades
Kumbi
Saleh
Djenné
At Taghaza,
they take on
salt and
more water.
SAHARA
Taghaza
They trade the salt
and other goods for
gold at Timbuktu.
They also load up on
water and food for
the return journey.
Katsina
r
ge
R.
Niani
They load up with
water at Sijilmasa. It
will take 25 days to
reach Taghaza.
Gao
Ni
al
eg
Sijilmasa
Bilma
Timbuktu
en
S
L. Chad
R.
Kano
Nok
R.
Ben
Ife
0
AFRICA
Zaria
a
Vo l t
Ghana, 1000
Mali, 1400
Songhai, 1500
Trade route
Rainforest
Savannah
Desert
Mediterranean
Fez
ue
0
Benin City
Con
go R .
800 Kilometers
INDIAN
OCEAN
L. Victoria
40°E
0° Equator
0°
A European drew this sketch of Timbuktu in
the early 1800s, long after its economic power
had declined. However, the mosque from the
1300s is still visible in the background.
400 Miles
Timbuktu
R.
0
0
1,000 Miles
2,000 Kilometers
G E O G R A P H Y S K I L L B U I L D E R : 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
and could call up a huge army. In 1067, a Muslim geographer and
scholar named al-Bakri wrote a description of Ghana’s royal court:
A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T
The king adorns himself . . . wearing necklaces and bracelets. . . . The
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.
Background
Al-Bakri claimed that
Ghana’s army was
200,000 strong. Some
modern scholars
believe that figure
was exaggerated.
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 members of the court accepted Islam, many people in the empire clung to their animistic
beliefs and practices. Much of the population never converted. Those who did kept
many of their former beliefs, which they observed along with Islam. Among the upper
class, Islam’s growth encouraged the spread of literacy. To study the Qur’an, converts to
Islam had to learn to read and write Arabic.
372 Chapter 15
Background
Animism is the belief
that spirits—residing
in animals, plants,
and natural forces—
play an important role
in regulating daily life.