Large And Great Powerful Kingdoms: West African Kingdom

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Large and great powerful kingdoms covered much of West Africa from Medieval times onward. And most likely through these kingdoms’ reign, they acquired power over the vital Trans-Sahara trade. Three of West African kingdoms, Ghana, Mali and Songhai, are examples of how powerful kingdoms emerged and controlled the Trans-Saharan gold and salt trade. One of the most prominent West African kingdoms was Ghana. The Ghana empire was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and Western Mali. The founders of Ghana were the Soninke people, and an official-appointed emperor ruled Ghana. The emperor had control of gold, which was something Ghana could easily acquire through trade. Camels, which were introduced to the area, allowed from trade routes to go through Ghana. This placed Ghana with power of the Trans-Saharan trade, and their capital city of Koumbi Saleh, located on the rim of the Sarhara Desert, flourished. Merchants mostly controlled trade, but the emperor was known to collect taxes of gold from imports such as salt. Overall, Ghana had a successful economy. …show more content…
Mandingos, or farmers, who had conquered many gold-producing areas, founded Mali. The most important thing about Mali was it’s trading system. With a use of the Trans-Saharan trade, the kingdom had a powerful hold of the gold and salt trade. Mali’s most noteworthy leader was Mansa Musa, a king who adopted Islam and based the system of justice based on the Koran and Mecca. This earned Musa a respected reputation, and he built many mosques in Mali’s main city of Timbuktu. Though after Musa’s acclaimed reign over Mali ended, the kingdom fell into a steady decline and ultimately came to an

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