West Africa Flashcards
What ancient west African city was built along the niger river?
Djenne
What were clans based on
Lineage
What are the two largest rivers in west Africa?
Niger and Senegal
Order of the three kingdoms that formed in Africa?
Ghana, Mali, Songhai
Which of the three kingdoms became a major crossroad of the Islamic world?
Mali
How did the two rivers play a major part in the lives of Africans?
These rivers helped with transportation and trade between cities
How did trade impact west African societies?
These west African societies got influenced by other cultures and helped with their artwork and religion.
What is Trans-Saharan trade?
This is a trade network between the north and south ends of the Sahara desert.
Which animal did traders start using around 300ce to move goods across the Sahara?
Camel
What region did gold come from in west Africa?
The south in the Sahel desert
What region did salt come from in west Africa?
The north in the Sahara desert
What is Ghana known for?
This kingdom was known for religious tolerance and welcomed Muslims.
Who weakened Ghana and what were the reasons it fell?
The Amaravids weakened Ghana and Ghana also suffered from food shortages since it relied heavily on trade.
Who is Sundiata?
Sundiata was the first king of Mali. He defeated the Soso people and expanded Mali´s lands.
Who was Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa was a really rich Emporer of Mali. He practiced the Islamic religion devotedly and gave many people gold throughout is reign.
Explain Mansa Musa hajj.
Mana Musa went on a hajj to mecca and brought a caravan that stretched as far as the eye could see. You stopped in Cyro and gave out so much gold that he crashed the market and caused inflation.
How did Mansa Musa establish Mali as a center for Muslim culture?
He built many mosques and encouraged learning. You donated tons of money to universities and made the empire very rich and lavish
Explain the importance of Timbuktu.
Timbuktu was the center of learning during the Mali empire. Mansa Musa built many mosques and universities to encourage learning in the city.
Who is Sunni Ali?
Sunni Ali strengthened the Songhai kingdom and unified the lands under one ruler. He also fought the Tuareg invaders.
Who is Askia Muhammad?
Askia Muhammad divided the empire into different provinces and assigned a governor to each one, unlike Sunni Ali.
Who brought down the Songhai empire?
Moroccan invaders
In what areas did Songhai scholars make advances?
Biology, Medicine, Law and, Agriculture
What language did the Songhai empire speak?
Arabic
What is a west African Historian called? Describe them.
A west African storyteller is called a griot. These storytellers would sing and tell tales about the past. They also passed down information that we use today to research the past.
When stories began to be written down what language were they in?
Arabic
How did the location of west African cities help in major growth?
They were right in the middle of the Trans-Saharan trade routes so that brought in a lot of money and new ideas.
Describe religions in Africa before Islam became popular.
They worshiped their ancestors before Islamic Faith
What is animism?
Animism is the belief that everything has a spiritual essence
