What did Ghana and Mali trade?

What did Ghana and Mali trade?

What did they trade? The main items traded were gold and salt. The gold mines of West Africa provided great wealth to West African Empires such as Ghana and Mali. Other items that were commonly traded included ivory, kola nuts, cloth, slaves, metal goods, and beads.

What did the empire of Ghana and Mali have in common?

Ghana, Mali, and the Songhai Empire all had trade in common as the primary lifeblood of their civilizations.

What did the Mali Empire trade?

Acting as a middle-trader between North Africa via the Sahara desert and the Niger River to the south, Mali exploited the traffic in gold, salt, copper, ivory, and slaves that crisscrossed West Africa.

What did West Africa trade?

A profitable trade had developed by which West Africans exported gold, cotton cloth, metal ornaments, and leather goods north across the trans-Saharan trade routes, in exchange for copper, horses, salt, textiles, and beads. Later, ivory, slaves, and kola nuts were also traded.

How did trade develop between West Africa and North Africa?

The trade began due to a surplus of each product per area. Gold was plentiful in West Africa so traders sent the item to North Africa so they too could have the valuable mineral. In return, North Africans gave salt to West Africa. Salt is vital to prevent dehydration and was scarce in West Africa.

Which two trade goods were most important to the African trading empires of Ghana Mali and Songhai?

The main items traded were gold and salt. The gold mines of West Africa provided great wealth to West African Empires such as Ghana and Mali. Other items that were commonly traded included ivory, kola nuts, cloth, slaves, metal goods, and beads.

How were the goods traded by Ghana and Mali alike and different?

How were they different? Ghana and Mali were similar in that each kingdom was located in West Africa, and their power depended on control of the gold-salt trade routes stretching east to the Sahara Desert. They were different in that Ghana was an older polity, having collapsed before Mali would rise to power.

Why was trade so important to the empire of Mali?

Gold was bountiful in West Africa, and was used as a form of currency. The trade in gold helped Mali stay very wealthy. The main item they would import was salt which they would use it for many things. Since salt was abundant in the North of Mali, but scarce in the South, they would have to import it.

What did Ghana trade?

At its peak, Ghana was chiefly bartering gold, ivory, and slaves for salt from Arabs and horses, cloth, swords, and books from North Africans and Europeans. As salt was worth its weight in gold, and gold was so abundant in the kingdom, Ghana achieved much of its wealth through trade with the Arabs.

How did trading these items impact West Africa particularly Ghana and Mali?

The gold-salt trade in Africa made Ghana a powerful empire because they controlled the trade routes and taxed traders. Control of gold-salt trade routes helped Ghana, Mali, and Songhai to become large and powerful West African kingdoms. Epics were transmitted in West African culture by griots, or oral historians.

What is one similarity between Ghana and Mali?

They were both created in the same region, West Africa, both relied heavily on trade, and both produced an abundant amount of gold. One key similarity between the two is their eventual adoption of Islam, which improved relations with neighboring Islamic kingdoms.

What was the significance of Ghana Mali and Songhai?

Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were three of the greatest western African trading states. Beginning with Ghana as early as 300 c.e. and ending with the conquest of the Songhai by Morocco in the 16th century c.e., they dominated the trade of gold, salt, and merchandise between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

What was the relationship between Ghana and Mali?

Nevertheless, Ghana remained strong until it was annexed by Mali, an even wealthier and larger trading empire which formed south of Ghana. The empire of Mali was founded by Sundiata, a king who not only overcame external enemies but his own physical disabilities.

What made the gold trade so successful in West Africa?

The internal strength of these West African empires was what made the gold trade so successful. An intricate system of silent trade, transport, safe passage for merchants, and control over a vast array of tribes facilitated the countries success in trade. When these empires declined, so too did the trade in gold.

What were the major civilizations in West Africa before European colonization?

ECONOMICS West Africa contained several rich and powerful states, including Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. These civilizations demonstrate the richness of African culture before European colonization. • Ghana •Mali • Sundiata •Mansa Musa • Ibn Battuta • Songhai • Hausa •Yoruba • Benin 2