Salt and Gold Empires

• Numerous, famous rulers associated with Mali

  • Sonni Ali
  • Sundiata Keita
  • Askia the Great
  • Mansa Musa
• Mali


  Black people
• Origin of Mali

  1. Originates under the leadership of Sonni Ali (muslim leader in west africa of the Mandinka people)

  2. Exists under the previous salt and gold empire known as the empire of ghana

  3. As Ghana weakens, Sonni Ali uses this as an opportunity to create a state for the Mandinka people known as the state of Mali

  4. Mali ends up being militarily successful than its competing states

  5. Eventually it absorbed the remains of Ghana and smaller states in the region

  6. Creates the empire of Mali
• Empire of Mali

  • Expands northward and captures the city of Taghaza (massive salt mines)
  • Expanded westward closer to the African coast, gained control over the major salt mines
  • Controls access to the sand road network (terms of trade)
  • Controls the mines that produce raw salt and raw gold that are fueling the wealth of their empire
  • Salt at that time period, worth more than gold (main food preservative globally)
• Anytime that an empire is tied into and fueled by trade, susceptible to cultural influence and the Empire of Mali is no different
• Cultural influence of trade on Mali

  • Prior to the post classical era, the influence of islam across the sand roads is massive within Mali
  • Mali is the first west african empire to adopt islam as majority religion, focused in the aristocracy, wealthy merchant classes
  • Artisan and peasant classes are familiar with islam (many adopt it, but becomes more syncretic and blends with native african traditions than being the strict arab interpretations of islam)
  • Influx of foreigners to west africa
  • Major feat of the Mali empire is that they built massive urban centers in west africa
• Major urban centers of the Mali Empire

  • Gao
  • Timbuktu
  • Daejeon
• Urban centers of the Mali Empire


  • Become the primary centers of the salt and gold trade
  • Become centers of culture and learning
  • Leaders (mansas) hire scholars, scientists, artists, writers from elsewhere in the islamic world to preach and teach at the local mosques, run islamic universities and colleges (madrasas)
  • Overtime urban centers of west africa became centers of islamic cultural output on their own
• Mansa Musa


  Grandson/Great grandson of Sonni Ali. He ruled Mali at the absolute height of its wealth and power. Mansa Musa is generally accepted as the wealthiest individual to exist.
• Musa's wealth becomes legendary thanks to the Hajj (pilgrimage to mecca) to Mecca
• Musa is a devout muslim


  According to the five pillars of islam, is required to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca at least once in his life
• Musa's Hajj to Mecca

  1. Travels to Mecca with a party of 10-12,000 (personal army, slaves, advisors, attendants, camel caravans (carrying food, water, gold, gifts))

  2. Makes this Hajj so legendary not only for its size, but Musa, on the pilgrimage to Mecca, gives gold to basically everyone he meets

  3. One of the five pillars of islam is charity, as a devout muslim he is demonstrating that charity

  4. Gives out so much gold on route to Mecca, that north africa and egypt for about two years, gold becomes completely devalued
• Musa's giant display of wealth


  Attracts negative attention from merchants and slave traders from europe, from arabia, from central and east africa, and this puts a lot of pressure on the population of Mali
• Weak leadership in Mali


  Leads to a civil war within Mali
• Civil war in Mali

  Capital is burnt to the ground and the government scattered into every direction
• The empire begins to break up into smaller warring states, which eventually opens the door for the next large empire in the region, Songhai
• Songhai

  Black people
• Origin of Songhai

  • Disintegration of Mali opens the door for the next major salt and gold empire
  • The Songhai people come from multiple ethnic groups along the Niger river, and the Niger river valley mainly around the city of Gao
  • Although they come from different ethnic groups they all spoke a similar language, and became known as Songhai, that name is adopted as the name of their state
  • As the empire of Mali dissolves around them, the people in and around the city of Gao form their own state, called Songhai, and begin to expand
• Expansion of Songhai

  1. Take possession of many of the major cities that were built up under the empire of Mali, mainly Timbuktu and Daejeon

  2. Expand northward, gaining control over taghaza and the salt mines

  3. Within probably 60-70 years, Songhai has completely absorbed the former empire of Mali, and begun to expand even further northward well into the sahara desert and along the west coast of Africa

  4. Songhai became the largest single African state in history after decolonization
• Acquisition of gunpowder by Songhai

  • Songhai gains control over the very lucrative salt and gold trade across the saharan desert, develop the same contacts with north africa and the islamic world, that means Songhai is gonna be heavily Muslim
  • This also gives them contact with the mediterranean world, and allows the diffusion of gunpowder technology into west africa
  • Another way gunpowder technology makes its way into west africa is because songhai expands northward towards the coast of africa, also come into contact with early european mainly portuguese explorers, making their way southward along the coast of africa looking for a new route to india
  • This leads to the earliest beginnings of west african slave trade that develops after the colonization of the americas
• Even though Songhai acquires gunpowder technology and gunpowder weapons through their connections on the sand roads and the mediterranean, the empire never really integrates gunpowder heavily into its military, even though gunpowder is present in songhai, it isn't an integral factor in their power and control, why we don't group in other gunpowder empires
• Downfall of Songhai

  1. Many Mansas of Songhai make the Hajj to Mecca displaying great wealth and again attract negative attention from foreign states, eventually leading to the downfall of Songhai

  2. They were invaded by the Sultan of Morocco in the north that was supported by the ottoman empire

  3. Morocco eventually defeats them in battle, using modern gunpowder weaponry that they've acquired from the ottomans

  4. Eventually with access to salt and gold and those mining regions cut off, Songhai withers away and dies, devolving into independent smaller states

  5. By this point, the slave trade in west africa is reaching feverious levels, Songhai is basically torn apart by smaller slave trading states
• Swahili states and people


  Trace back to the classical era, the original people of east africa in the time period (400-900 CE)
• Bantu people

  • Migrated out of central africa
  • First in sub saharan africa to develop iron working
  • Had formidable iron tools and more advanced agricultural techniques
  • Allowed them to expand and migrate into southern and eastern africa
  • Became the dominant people of southern and eastern africa by about the 10th century CE
• Bantu people taking control of east africa


  Integrated with the indian ocean trade network
• Swahili culture


  Resulted from a melding of traditional bantu culture with muslim, arabic and persian culture over centuries of integration with the indian ocean trade network
• Swahili city-states

  • Developed similar to greek city-states and russ city-states
  • Were independent from one another
  • Each ruled by a separate king
  • Competed for land and resources, regularly warring against one another
  • Swahili ethnicity and culture was the only bond characteristic between them
  • Major city-states included Great Zimbabwe, Mombasa, Dishuru, and modern day Ethiopia
• Goods from Swahili city-states


  • Luxury goods for the islamic world, India, China and east asia
  • Salt and gold brought over through the interior of Africa from west africa
  • Ivory
  • Slaves
• Swahili city-states' involvement in the slave trade


  Drew the attention of European states, especially the Portuguese
• Lack of unity among the Swahili city-states

  Allowed the Portuguese to conquer them one by one using their superior naval technology and firepower
• Within less than a century, the Portuguese were able to take control of and subjugate and force tribute out of all these Swahili city-states
• The Swahili people, language and culture remained dominant in east africa up until imperialism in the 19th century, but politically and economically, the east coast of Africa was in control of Europeans