Africa
Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire was one of the most powerful empires of pre-colonial West Africa. Geographically, the empire occupied a territory south of the Sahara Desert, encompassing lands that are part of the modern-day nations of Mauritania and Mali, with a trading influence that extended much further. The Ghana Empire spanned a period of our around 400 years, from 830 CE to 1235 CE. While the Ghana Empire was little known in Europe, Arabs in the North of Africa were aware of the powerful empire that lay south of the desert. In particular, they were aware of the abundance of gold from which the empire derived its wealth and power (Conrad, 2010).
The Ghana Empire rose to prominence in the 9th century when Arabs became aware of its wealth and power. Most of this derived from gold, and control over trade routes in the region. West Africa's trade routes were dominated by rivers that flowed west to the Atlantic, or east and north via camel caravans. Arab writers described the gold mine of Ghana as the largest in the world. These mines were along the Senegal River. Trade was centered on the city of Kumbi Saleh, and in addition to gold they traded slaves, salt and copper, and in exchange acquired consumer goods from Arabs in the north (BBC, 2014).
The wealth from the gold mines was used to consolidate power around trade routes, and allowed for the empire to expand its territories. No other kingdom in West Africa had this level of wealth and therefore had this level of technological sophistication. Administration was apparently enhanced through the use of accounting and management techniques that had arrived from the Arabs in Kumbi Saleh's Muslim community (BBC, 2014).
The empire...
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