I learned many things about the video I watched. There was lots of information on the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires.
Ghana was the first empire to arise in Africa in about 1200 B.C. Ghana was rich because of the gold-salt trade with the northern people of Africa. Since most salt mines were found in Western Africa they were rich. Around the 11th century Ghana collapsed after many wars.
By 1237 Mali had taken over the Ghana Empire. One of the most important rulers was Sundiata he was seen as a hero because he had defeated the cruel ruler who's name was Sumanguru. Another important ruler was Mansa Musa he had spread Islam far and wide with his wealth. Another important reason was that Mali's decline came after Mansa Musa's death.
The last empire was called Songhai. It arose around the 1500s and was very big. The first ruler was Ali Ber who ruled for a short time, but in a significant way. Askia Muhammad was another signifacant ruler who expanded the empire. One important artifact was the old manuscripts found on Timbuktu. Finally the Songhai empire collapsed in 1591.
These are the things I learned from this video that I watched:
Ghana was the first empire of Africa, and it's main source of trade were gold and salt. Ghana also traded minerals such as gold and copper. Ghana traded salt due to the high amount of sugar they contained. In the 11th century, Ghana collapsed by continuous wars.
After the end of the Ghana empire ended, Sundiata defeated a vicious warrior named Sumanguru. When Mansa Musa came to Mali, the people of Mali learned about Mansa Musa's religion called Islam. The people of Mali then converted to Islam, and made the city of timbuktu the center of Islamic learning.
Songhai was a strong and big empire. The empire rose after the end of the Mali empire. The first ruler of the Songhai empire was Ali Ber. He ruled for quite a while, until Askia Muhammad came along, and became the new ruler of the Songhai empire. The Songhai empire did not las long, but finally collapsed in 1591 B.C.
This video contained three of Africa's most successful empires. After watching this video in class, I decided to watch it again to gain a more thorough understanding. Ghana was the first African empire. It rose to power around 1200 B.C. Ghana was rich in natural resources. Some of the more important resources included salt and gold. The empire derived power and wealth from the salt-gold trade. Ghana became a target to attacks, and fell during the eleventh century. Mali rose from the ruins of Ghana, Starting out as a small province, it quickly became an empire. Sundiata was Mali's king. He was young, yet clever and a great leader. He also defeated the cruel Sumanguru. Sundiata expanded Mali, to take control over the salt and gold mines. His grandson Mansa Musa built a university in Timbuktu, which made it the center of knowledge. He converted to Islam, and spread it using his wealth. Soon after Mansa Musa's death the empire of Mali collapsed. Songhai was the third and last empire mentioned in this video. It was also the largest of the three empires. Sunni Ali Ber was the first great ruler of Songhai. The empire continued to enlarge under his control. Shortly after his death, Askia Muhammad rose to power. He brought many scholars and skilled workers to Songhai. This great empire collapsed in 1591 B.C.
The video was about Africa's empires.Mali was the second empire to rise. One of Mali's early rulers was Samanguru. He was a harsh ruler and got overthrown by Sundiata who became the new ruler.Mali had a ruler named Mansa Musa after Sundiata's reign.The empire under Mansa Musa's reign grow to a huge size. Mali had a city called Timbuktu which was the center of learning.
Ghana was one of the first empires in Africa. Ghana was rich in gold becuase of the quantity of natural resources there. The Trans-Saharan Trade was in Ghana. Ghana did alot of trading.
The last empire in the video was Songhai. Songhai rose when decline of Mali occured. Askia Muhammad was one of the rulers in Songhai. He rose to power after a ruler named Sunni Ali Ber. The end of the Songhai empire happened becuase of they're defense wasnt good enought to defend against invading armies from Morrocco.
I found this video quite interesting, although it was on the boring side, but it did have a lot of good information about the Mali, Ghana and Songhai Empire.
It showed a lot of maps on the West African area and how all the three empires had a different layout of their Empires .It also talked about the different leaders of the Songhai Empire, The first was Sunni Ali. When he was the ruler his main priority was to capture big cities, for example he captured Timbuktu which at the time was a trading center. Sunni Ali was a Muslim leader and was the ruler of the Songhai Empire when it was at its height in the 1500’s. Later on after Sunni Ali’s death Askia Muhammad took over the Empire, but unfortunately not long after his rule the Songhai Empire fell.
Before the Mansa Musa was the ruler, Mali wasn’t known. But when Mansa Musa went on the pilgrimage to Mecca, he passed by a lot of big cities including Cairo, Egypt where he spent and gave so much gold that the price of gold was so low, and this caused inflation. It took Egypt a long time till everything was back to normal. Mali was different from Ghana, because it inherited the religion of Islam. It also had Muslim rulers; like Mansa Musa, this made trade between North Africa and Mali easier and it increased trade.
The first of the three African empires was Ghana. It had many natural resources like gold and other minerals like copper. All these resources were traded for salt with the North Africans. Later on the Ghana Empire collapsed due to the rise in war taken place inside and around the Empire.
After watching the video about the three main ancient civilizations in Africa, Ghana, Mali and Songhai, I developed a deeper understanding for these wealthy civilizations of the time.
Ghana was the first empire to rise in Sub-Saharan Africa, and since it was the oldest of the three kingdoms it has the least amount of written documents. Most scientists and historians rely on old folklore and oral history. Ghana arose around A.D 300 near the Niger and Senegal Rivers. Ghana was a civilization held up by gold. Ghana didn’t tell its North African traders about the source of gold, but they did trade it using silent barter. Silent Barter is when Ghana’s traders placed an amount of gold in a specific trading place then left the trading post, and then the other traders would come and trade that gold for mining tools. If they found the amount of gold reasonable they would take it and put their goods and see if the opposite side found their tools reasonable. Once both sides were happy they would leave and no one would meet the opposite trader, and that’s why it was called silent barter.
Mali was one of the strongest and most prosperous civilizations in Sub Saharan Africa. In 1203 Sumanguru was the ruler of Mali and conquered what was left of the civilization of Ghana. Legends say that he was a tyrant king and did not respect his citizens and subjects. He was said to have killed 12 sons and 11 kings, but he left a shriveled boy, Sundiata which was a mistake as he would later find out. Sundiata was a persistent and ambitious person, and soon his people saw him as the person who would free them of the cruel king that ruled them. The two kings were believed to have a battle and Sundiata came out victorious. Mali was a rising kingdom, but arguably the best king is Mansa Musa because he was a fair and just ruler that understood his people and allowed his empire to prosper in its “golden age”.
When Mali fell in 1400 another empire took over its land and riches, Songhai. Sunni Ali Ber was their ruler and he was known to have a strong army with swift horseman. He took over Timbuktu one of the leading trading post, but some reported that he killed many Muslims who used to inhabit Timbuktu. He also conquered Djenne, but he was not so cruel when invading this big trading city. He planned a siege, which means he cut supplies and other goods from entering their city. It is said to have taken seven years seven months and seven days for them to finally surrender, but to their surprise Ali Ber was kind to them. Later when Askia Muhammad took control he spread Islam even farther because some of the neighboring cities held on to their faith, but when he proclaimed war against the Mossi people they didn’t conquer the city and they held on to their original faith.
Overall all three of these empires prospered with the gold-salt trade and were known to have been one of the most important and influential empires of the time. Without all three of these empires we wouldn’t know all of the information we now know about sub-Saharan Africa. This video really captured the Sub-Saharan empires in the brightest light. Tasnim Saada 7A S.S 1-19-15
The video was very inspiring and changed my views on Africa. It portrayed it's achievements and great leaders to look like some of the greatest accomplishments of the world.
Ghana was the first empire to rise in Western Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the main specialties of the Ghana people was ironworking. Though it was not first originated from Ghana itself, they used it to make dangerous steel weapons and this brought them an advantage over their neighboring countries. But this wasn't the only prosperity. Ghana was also rich in natural resources, such as gold, salt and many other essential minerals. Aware of the lack of these needs in other empires, Ghana traded through a method called silent barter, one which discreetly traded with the North Africans. They were in glory for sometime, but after the 11th century, they were attacked for these resources, and soon, the once great empire of Ghana fell.
The fall of Ghana was not the end of some other Empires on the rise. Sumanguru, an evil sorcerer and tyrant king, who killed all 11 of his brother's sons, exept one, named Sundiata Keita was in power. Soon enough, Sundiata battled with his uncle, and then was named emperor of Mali. He started the empire with the ruins of Ghana, then expanded west towards the shore. There were many great caring leaders after Sundiata. Abu Bakr II was a king, and set out to explore the Atlantic Ocean. He never returned and neither did any of his ships, except one.So his brother, Mansa Musa, became ruler in his own right. Musa was a rich and religious man. he was making pilgrimage in Makkah and on his journey, he stopped in Cairo and upset the economy by giving away free nuggets of gold to the common folk there. He was a generous and kind king, with good intentions. This made Mali famous and well known, making it easier to trade with other parts of Africa. Mansa Musa also converted Mali to Islam, and built many beautiful mosques and universities, making cities like Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao centers of trade and scholarship. As long as the Mansa Musa was alive, Mali was well and thriving, but at his death, it collapsed.
The largest of the 3 empires was that of Songhai. Sunni Ali Ber was the first ruler. He had a stable and strong army, and he used it to capture many cities, such as Djenne. Another city he captured was Timbuktu, and it was a harsh siege. Beside all of this, he expanded Songhai very far and did much good for it. After he died, a man named Askia Muhammad rose to power. He brought many scholars and skilled workers to Songhai, and made it rise economically. This great empire collapsed in 1591 B.C.
The Africans were those of great skill, power and wealth. This video showed only a glimpse of the hidden secrets and accomplishments of the,
Gold,Power,Salt, these are words to describe the three ancient empires that were listened in the short video.These Empires were known as Ghana,Mali and last but not least Songhai.
The first established empire was Ghana.This empire was the first in control of the gold and salt trade, also known as the Trans Sahara trade route.In Ghana, they used gold as currency,similar to the way we use money as currency.This is why Gold was a very important element to Ghana.They also use salt to cure illnesses and cook meals. and they were in control of the salt mines and the only way to access the salt was to trade with the people who are in control of the mines which was Ghana.For this reason people travel all over the world to get the gold and salt.They did not tell the northern african traders but they did do a silent barter. Silent barter is when two people trade and they don't even see each other making it impossible to find out what they were hiding.Then Ghana fell to the invaders of the rapidly expanding empire:Mali.
Mali first started out with a cruel Magian emperor but a very skillful at battle.He killed eleven kings and twelve princes because he thought they had a chance to take over the kingdom.He killed all excepted one prince: Sundiata.The cruel tyrant did not kill the prince because he was crippled ,not able to walk properly because he was mentally ill, but Sundiata proven him wrong and should have never underestimated him.Sudiata taught himself how to walk with a cane and then without.The Sundiata had a huge battle with the cruel tyrant and with one shot of a bow, he vanished leaving Sundiata as emperor.After Sudiata's death,The came Abubekar II. He ruled for the shortest amount of time because he gave up his town for sailing to an unknown land.he sent thousands of ships to the Americas but only one came back due to a huge wave swallowed all the ships and the last one turned around before the sea swallowed the ship whole.Then Abubekar II sent double the ships last time and went on the same voyage.This time they were able to go to the Americas way before Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus admitted that there were black people there before him. The next and last emeror of Mali was Mansa Musa. He was the first muslim ruler ever in the history of african ruler.HE also introduced Islam to Mali and making it the official religion of Mali.During his reign, he made the sacred pilgrimage to Hajj.Even though when you are making Hajj you are suppose to be very humble and not better than anyone else, he made hajj in a rather royally way such as thousands of slaves assassinating him .and hundreds of thousands of bags of gold.He mostly spender and gave it way uncontrollably in Ciro causing inflation or lowering the value of the gold due to how common the gold is.Things also happened unexpectedly . One of the thing were that he ended up having to borrow gold to finish his hajj because he was a spending it uncontrollably.
Shortly after Mansa Musa past away the Mali empire fell due to the conquest of the Songhai.Sunni Ali Ber was the emperor of the largest empire in ancient Africa. HE continued the traditional religion when he conquered Timbuktu and killed all the Muslims who refused to convert to the traditional religion.But to the scholars surprise,when he approached Djenne, He approached with respect and kindness and with peaceful conversion.Later An emperor named Askia Mohammed took control and brought back the muslim faith even though some countries near by held on to here religions he declared war to the people of Mossi but unfortunatly they lost and they kept there religion.
To conclude this response I would like to say a couple of things.These three empire has effected upon us so greatly without these emire Africa would not have been the same and our countries that we lived in would have not known about islam if we did not trade with these marvelous Empires!
This video talked about Africa’s three most successful empires, Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. We already watched this in class, but I decided to re- watch it by myself to review what it’s about. Ghana was Africa’s first empire. It was rich in salt and gold. It rose near the Niger and Senegal rivers. Ghana traded a lot, but didn’t tell the North Africans about their source of gold, but they did trade it with the silent barter. The second empire the video talked about was Mali. Mali rose from the ruins of Ghana, but quickly became an empire. Sundiata was Mali’s king. Sundiata was very smart and was a great leader who was able to kill Sumanguru. Later on, Mansa Musa came a long and built the center of knowledge in Timbuktu. Soon, Mali converted to Islam. After Mansa Musa’s death, Mali collapsed. The last empire that this video talked about was Songhay. Its first ruler was Sunni Ali Ber. When he ruled, the empire continued to grow. When he died, another ruler came along, Askia Muhammad. This empire did not last as long as the other empires and soon, it collapsed in 1591 B.C.
What I learned from this documentary was that some of the rulers of Africa were Sundiata, Sunni Ali Ber, Mansa Musa, Abu Bakhari II, and Askhira Muhammad. By the time of Sundiata's death, Islam had spread throughout the empire of Mali. Mansa Musa's brother, who was king before him, was never seen again after embarking on a ship with 999 others to explore different land. The video also showed many ancient maps of Africa and a lot of pictures of Africa too. Sunni Ali Ber’s reign was short, but very significant. Unusually for a West African ruler during this period, he was a non- Muslim who continued to practice traditional religion.
I learned about Ghana. Ghana was the first empire in Africa. Ghana was part of the gold and salt trade with other people of Africa. Ghana also traded other minerals. Ghana collapsed after many wars.
I learned about Mali. In 1237 a new empire called Mali had arose. Sundiata was a hero because he had defeated the cruel ruler Sumanguru. Mansa Musa was rich and he had spread Islam with his wealth. Many people converted to Islam in Mali. After his death Mali collapsed.
I learned about Songhai. After Mali a new empire was formed and it's name was Songhai. Ali Ber was a ruler who ruled for a short time. Askia Muhammad was a ruler who expanded the empire. The Songhai empire collapsed in 1591.
Much could be learned about Africa's rich history from the video as it discussed the various leaders, empires, along with their qualities and significances. As an empire that relied mostly on the gold-salt trade, Ghana kept its gold supply secret. As an alternative, Ghana traded with other empires through silent barter, which is that act of leaving one’s goods for another trader to take and leave something behind in return. In addition, a trader could choose to not take the goods and will keep it there. Ghana’s abundant and opulent natural resources were later discovered as it was attacked eventually leading to its collapse.
Another empire, which was known as Mali, had several historically established leaders, among them Sundiata, Mansa Musa, and Abu Bakri II. Sundiata, a young, strong warrior founded Mali as he overthrew a harsh king by the name of Sumanguru. The first emperor to go preform the Islamic pilgrimage, Hajj, is Mansa Musa, as he is known for destructing Egypt’s economy as a result of him giving everyone gold in Cairo. That led to drop in prices of gold, as it was not sought after as much. Mansa Musa, also, built many, stunning, Islamic pieces of architecture and places of learning. Prominent for his attempt to journey across the Atlantic Ocean, Abu Bakri II prepared 200 ships for the expedition and none but one returned. His journey is reported to have taken place before Christopher Columbus.
Furthermore, the empire of Songhai was a major African empire. Its first ruler was Sunni Ali Ber. He was unkind and harsh to Muslims. As he captured a great center of Islamic learning and trade, he killed and tortured many of the Muslim scholars. In addition, he spent most of his rule on expanding Songhai. After him came a much more subtle ruler by the name of Aski Muhammad who encouraged learning and brought back the many scholars and specialized craftsmen. -Reem Suleiman 7A
I learned many things in this video I didn't know about the three empires. My perspective totally changed after comparing all three empires.
Ghana was the first empire in Sub Saharan Africa. Their culture was passed down by tounge which is called oral history. Ghana rose around 300 A.D near the Senegal and Niger Rivers. The empire was in charge of the gold and salt trade which occurred through the process of silent barter. Gold is what made Ghana very rich and wealthy. Ghana's peak was 1067 and its capitol was Koumbi Saleh. The Soninke people founded Ghana. It fell because of conquest 1237. The empire of Ghana didn't adopt the faith of Islam but there were few Muslims in Ghana.
Mali was the second empire in Sub Saharan Africa. It was the strongest and most wealthy, and even adopted the religion of Islam. Mali was ruled by a tyrant who was later killed by a crippled prince he chose not to murder. The prince's name was Sundiata. Mali had many rulers but the best king was Mansa Musa, who allowed the empire to flourish and prosper under his rule. Mali's peak was 1312 and fell because of a civil war. Also the capitol was Naini.
Songhai is the final empire. It was ruled by Sunni Ali Ber. He killed many Muslims in Timbuktu because they didn't follow the traditional religion. After his death Asika Mohammed ruled. He hired many scholars and artisans and its economy rose. Unfortunately the largest empire in Africa fell in 1591 B.C.
You all have some excellent responses here. I hope you were able to read each other's replies--each of you added some very interesting points here. Nice work!
I learned many things about the video I watched. There was lots of information on the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires.
ReplyDeleteGhana was the first empire to arise in Africa in about 1200 B.C. Ghana was rich because of the gold-salt trade with the northern people of Africa. Since most salt mines were found in Western Africa they were rich. Around the 11th century Ghana collapsed after many wars.
By 1237 Mali had taken over the Ghana Empire. One of the most important rulers was Sundiata he was seen as a hero because he had defeated the cruel ruler who's name was Sumanguru. Another important ruler was Mansa Musa he had spread Islam far and wide with his wealth. Another important reason was that Mali's decline came after Mansa Musa's death.
The last empire was called Songhai. It arose around the 1500s and was very big. The first ruler was Ali Ber who ruled for a short time, but in a significant way. Askia Muhammad was another signifacant ruler who expanded the empire. One important artifact was the old manuscripts found on Timbuktu. Finally the Songhai empire collapsed in 1591.
These are the things I learned from this video that I watched:
ReplyDeleteGhana was the first empire of Africa, and it's main source of trade were gold and salt. Ghana also traded minerals such as gold and copper. Ghana traded salt due to the high amount of sugar they contained. In the 11th century, Ghana collapsed by continuous wars.
After the end of the Ghana empire ended, Sundiata defeated a vicious warrior named Sumanguru. When Mansa Musa came to Mali, the people of Mali learned about Mansa Musa's religion called Islam. The people of Mali then converted to Islam, and made the city of timbuktu the center of Islamic learning.
Songhai was a strong and big empire. The empire rose after the end of the Mali empire. The first ruler of the Songhai empire was Ali Ber. He ruled for quite a while, until Askia Muhammad came along, and became the new ruler of the Songhai empire. The Songhai empire did not las long, but finally collapsed in 1591 B.C.
Omar Khalil
1/15/15
7A
SS
This video contained three of Africa's most successful empires. After watching this video in class, I decided to watch it again to gain a more thorough understanding.
ReplyDeleteGhana was the first African empire. It rose to power around 1200 B.C. Ghana was rich in natural resources. Some of the more important resources included salt and gold. The empire derived power and wealth from the salt-gold trade. Ghana became a target to attacks, and fell during the eleventh century.
Mali rose from the ruins of Ghana, Starting out as a small province, it quickly became an empire. Sundiata was Mali's king. He was young, yet clever and a great leader. He also defeated the cruel Sumanguru. Sundiata expanded Mali, to take control over the salt and gold mines. His grandson Mansa Musa built a university in Timbuktu, which made it the center of knowledge. He converted to Islam, and spread it using his wealth. Soon after Mansa Musa's death the empire of Mali collapsed.
Songhai was the third and last empire mentioned in this video. It was also the largest of the three empires. Sunni Ali Ber was the first great ruler of Songhai. The empire continued to enlarge under his control. Shortly after his death, Askia Muhammad rose to power. He brought many scholars and skilled workers to Songhai. This great empire collapsed in 1591 B.C.
The video was about Africa's empires.Mali was the second empire to rise. One of Mali's early rulers was Samanguru. He was a harsh ruler and got overthrown by Sundiata who became the new ruler.Mali had a ruler named Mansa Musa after Sundiata's reign.The empire under Mansa Musa's reign grow to a huge size. Mali had a city called Timbuktu which was the center of learning.
ReplyDeleteGhana was one of the first empires in Africa. Ghana was rich in gold becuase of the quantity of natural resources there. The Trans-Saharan Trade was in Ghana. Ghana did alot of trading.
The last empire in the video was Songhai. Songhai rose when decline of Mali occured. Askia Muhammad was one of the rulers in Songhai. He rose to power after a ruler named Sunni Ali Ber. The end of the Songhai empire happened becuase of they're defense wasnt good enought to defend against invading armies from Morrocco.
I found this video quite interesting, although it was on the boring side, but it did have a lot of good information about the Mali, Ghana and Songhai Empire.
ReplyDeleteIt showed a lot of maps on the West African area and how all the three empires had a different layout of their Empires .It also talked about the different leaders of the Songhai Empire, The first was Sunni Ali. When he was the ruler his main priority was to capture big cities, for example he captured Timbuktu which at the time was a trading center. Sunni Ali was a Muslim leader and was the ruler of the Songhai Empire when it was at its height in the 1500’s. Later on after Sunni Ali’s death Askia Muhammad took over the Empire, but unfortunately not long after his rule the Songhai Empire fell.
Before the Mansa Musa was the ruler, Mali wasn’t known. But when Mansa Musa went on the pilgrimage to Mecca, he passed by a lot of big cities including Cairo, Egypt where he spent and gave so much gold that the price of gold was so low, and this caused inflation. It took Egypt a long time till everything was back to normal. Mali was different from Ghana, because it inherited the religion of Islam. It also had Muslim rulers; like Mansa Musa, this made trade between North Africa and Mali easier and it increased trade.
The first of the three African empires was Ghana. It had many natural resources like gold and other minerals like copper. All these resources were traded for salt with the North Africans. Later on the Ghana Empire collapsed due to the rise in war taken place inside and around the Empire.
Maram Saada 7A
Social Studies
After watching the video about the three main ancient civilizations in Africa, Ghana, Mali and Songhai, I developed a deeper understanding for these wealthy civilizations of the time.
ReplyDeleteGhana was the first empire to rise in Sub-Saharan Africa, and since it was the oldest of the three kingdoms it has the least amount of written documents. Most scientists and historians rely on old folklore and oral history. Ghana arose around A.D 300 near the Niger and Senegal Rivers. Ghana was a civilization held up by gold. Ghana didn’t tell its North African traders about the source of gold, but they did trade it using silent barter. Silent Barter is when Ghana’s traders placed an amount of gold in a specific trading place then left the trading post, and then the other traders would come and trade that gold for mining tools. If they found the amount of gold reasonable they would take it and put their goods and see if the opposite side found their tools reasonable. Once both sides were happy they would leave and no one would meet the opposite trader, and that’s why it was called silent barter.
Mali was one of the strongest and most prosperous civilizations in Sub Saharan Africa. In 1203 Sumanguru was the ruler of Mali and conquered what was left of the civilization of Ghana. Legends say that he was a tyrant king and did not respect his citizens and subjects. He was said to have killed 12 sons and 11 kings, but he left a shriveled boy, Sundiata which was a mistake as he would later find out. Sundiata was a persistent and ambitious person, and soon his people saw him as the person who would free them of the cruel king that ruled them. The two kings were believed to have a battle and Sundiata came out victorious. Mali was a rising kingdom, but arguably the best king is Mansa Musa because he was a fair and just ruler that understood his people and allowed his empire to prosper in its “golden age”.
When Mali fell in 1400 another empire took over its land and riches, Songhai. Sunni Ali Ber was their ruler and he was known to have a strong army with swift horseman. He took over Timbuktu one of the leading trading post, but some reported that he killed many Muslims who used to inhabit Timbuktu. He also conquered Djenne, but he was not so cruel when invading this big trading city. He planned a siege, which means he cut supplies and other goods from entering their city. It is said to have taken seven years seven months and seven days for them to finally surrender, but to their surprise Ali Ber was kind to them. Later when Askia Muhammad took control he spread Islam even farther because some of the neighboring cities held on to their faith, but when he proclaimed war against the Mossi people they didn’t conquer the city and they held on to their original faith.
Overall all three of these empires prospered with the gold-salt trade and were known to have been one of the most important and influential empires of the time. Without all three of these empires we wouldn’t know all of the information we now know about sub-Saharan Africa. This video really captured the Sub-Saharan empires in the brightest light.
Tasnim Saada
7A S.S
1-19-15
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe video was very inspiring and changed my views on Africa. It portrayed it's achievements and great leaders to look like some of the greatest accomplishments of the world.
ReplyDeleteGhana was the first empire to rise in Western Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the main specialties of the Ghana people was ironworking. Though it was not first originated from Ghana itself, they used it to make dangerous steel weapons and this brought them an advantage over their neighboring countries. But this wasn't the only prosperity. Ghana was also rich in natural resources, such as gold, salt and many other essential minerals. Aware of the lack of these needs in other empires, Ghana traded through a method called silent barter, one which discreetly traded with the North Africans. They were in glory for sometime, but after the 11th century, they were attacked for these resources, and soon, the once great empire of Ghana fell.
The fall of Ghana was not the end of some other Empires on the rise. Sumanguru, an evil sorcerer and tyrant king, who killed all 11 of his brother's sons, exept one, named Sundiata Keita was in power. Soon enough, Sundiata battled with his uncle, and then was named emperor of Mali. He started the empire with the ruins of Ghana, then expanded west towards the shore. There were many great caring leaders after Sundiata. Abu Bakr II was a king, and set out to explore the Atlantic Ocean. He never returned and neither did any of his ships, except one.So his brother, Mansa Musa, became ruler in his own right. Musa was a rich and religious man. he was making pilgrimage in Makkah and on his journey, he stopped in Cairo and upset the economy by giving away free nuggets of gold to the common folk there. He was a generous and kind king, with good intentions. This made Mali famous and well known, making it easier to trade with other parts of Africa. Mansa Musa also converted Mali to Islam, and built many beautiful mosques and universities, making cities like Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao centers of trade and scholarship. As long as the Mansa Musa was alive, Mali was well and thriving, but at his death, it collapsed.
The largest of the 3 empires was that of Songhai. Sunni Ali Ber was the first ruler. He had a stable and strong army, and he used it to capture many cities, such as Djenne. Another city he captured was Timbuktu, and it was a harsh siege. Beside all of this, he expanded Songhai very far and did much good for it. After he died, a man named Askia Muhammad rose to power. He brought many scholars and skilled workers to Songhai, and made it rise economically. This great empire collapsed in 1591 B.C.
The Africans were those of great skill, power and wealth. This video showed only a glimpse of the hidden secrets and accomplishments of the,
Sameeha.S
1/19/15
7A SS
Gold,Power,Salt, these are words to describe the three ancient empires that were listened in the short video.These Empires were known as Ghana,Mali and last but not least Songhai.
ReplyDeleteThe first established empire was Ghana.This empire was the first in control of the gold and salt trade, also known as the Trans Sahara trade route.In Ghana, they used gold as currency,similar to the way we use money as currency.This is why Gold was a very important element to Ghana.They also use salt to cure illnesses and cook meals. and they were in control of the salt mines and the only way to access the salt was to trade with the people who are in control of the mines which was Ghana.For this reason people travel all over the world to get the gold and salt.They did not tell the northern african traders but they did do a silent barter. Silent barter is when two people trade and they don't even see each other making it impossible to find out what they were hiding.Then Ghana fell to the invaders of the rapidly expanding empire:Mali.
Mali first started out with a cruel Magian emperor but a very skillful at battle.He killed eleven kings and twelve princes because he thought they had a chance to take over the kingdom.He killed all excepted one prince: Sundiata.The cruel tyrant did not kill the prince because he was crippled ,not able to walk properly because he was mentally ill, but Sundiata proven him wrong and should have never underestimated him.Sudiata taught himself how to walk with a cane and then without.The Sundiata had a huge battle with the cruel tyrant and with one shot of a bow, he vanished leaving Sundiata as emperor.After Sudiata's death,The came Abubekar II. He ruled for the shortest amount of time because he gave up his town for sailing to an unknown land.he sent thousands of ships to the Americas but only one came back due to a huge wave swallowed all the ships and the last one turned around before the sea swallowed the ship whole.Then Abubekar II sent double the ships last time and went on the same voyage.This time they were able to go to the Americas way before Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus admitted that there were black people there before him. The next and last emeror of Mali was Mansa Musa. He was the first muslim ruler ever in the history of african ruler.HE also introduced Islam to Mali and making it the official religion of Mali.During his reign, he made the sacred pilgrimage to Hajj.Even though when you are making Hajj you are suppose to be very humble and not better than anyone else, he made hajj in a rather royally way such as thousands of slaves assassinating him .and hundreds of thousands of bags of gold.He mostly spender and gave it way uncontrollably in Ciro causing inflation or lowering the value of the gold due to how common the gold is.Things also happened unexpectedly . One of the thing were that he ended up having to borrow gold to finish his hajj because he was a spending it uncontrollably.
Shortly after Mansa Musa past away the Mali empire fell due to the conquest of the Songhai.Sunni Ali Ber was the emperor of the largest empire in ancient Africa. HE continued the traditional religion when he conquered Timbuktu and killed all the Muslims who refused to convert to the traditional religion.But to the scholars surprise,when he approached Djenne, He approached with respect and kindness and with peaceful conversion.Later An emperor named Askia Mohammed took control and brought back the muslim faith even though some countries near by held on to here religions he declared war to the people of Mossi but unfortunatly they lost and they kept there religion.
To conclude this response I would like to say a couple of things.These three empire has effected upon us so greatly without these emire Africa would not have been the same and our countries that we lived in would have not known about islam if we did not trade with these marvelous Empires!
This video talked about Africa’s three most successful empires, Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. We already watched this in class, but I decided to re- watch it by myself to review what it’s about.
ReplyDeleteGhana was Africa’s first empire. It was rich in salt and gold. It rose near the Niger and Senegal rivers. Ghana traded a lot, but didn’t tell the North Africans about their source of gold, but they did trade it with the silent barter.
The second empire the video talked about was Mali. Mali rose from the ruins of Ghana, but quickly became an empire. Sundiata was Mali’s king. Sundiata was very smart and was a great leader who was able to kill Sumanguru. Later on, Mansa Musa came a long and built the center of knowledge in Timbuktu. Soon, Mali converted to Islam. After Mansa Musa’s death, Mali collapsed.
The last empire that this video talked about was Songhay. Its first ruler was Sunni Ali Ber. When he ruled, the empire continued to grow. When he died, another ruler came along, Askia Muhammad. This empire did not last as long as the other empires and soon, it collapsed in 1591 B.C.
Najm Masri 7A
What I learned from this documentary was that some of the rulers of Africa were Sundiata, Sunni Ali Ber, Mansa Musa, Abu Bakhari II, and Askhira Muhammad. By the time of Sundiata's death, Islam had spread throughout the empire of Mali.
ReplyDeleteMansa Musa's brother, who was king before him, was never seen again after embarking on a ship with 999 others to explore different land. The video also showed many ancient maps of Africa and a lot of pictures of Africa too.
Sunni Ali Ber’s reign was short, but very significant. Unusually for a West African ruler during this period, he was a non- Muslim who continued to practice traditional religion.
I learned about Ghana. Ghana was the first empire in Africa. Ghana was part of the gold and salt trade with other people of Africa. Ghana also traded other minerals. Ghana collapsed after many wars.
ReplyDeleteI learned about Mali. In 1237 a new empire called Mali had arose. Sundiata was a hero because he had defeated the cruel ruler Sumanguru. Mansa Musa was rich and he had spread Islam with his wealth. Many people converted to Islam in Mali. After his death Mali collapsed.
I learned about Songhai. After Mali a new empire was formed and it's name was Songhai. Ali Ber was a ruler who ruled for a short time. Askia Muhammad was a ruler who expanded the empire. The Songhai empire collapsed in 1591.
Makin Rohim
7A LA
Much could be learned about Africa's rich history from the video as it discussed the various leaders, empires, along with their qualities and significances. As an empire that relied mostly on the gold-salt trade, Ghana kept its gold supply secret. As an alternative, Ghana traded with other empires through silent barter, which is that act of leaving one’s goods for another trader to take and leave something behind in return. In addition, a trader could choose to not take the goods and will keep it there. Ghana’s abundant and opulent natural resources were later discovered as it was attacked eventually leading to its collapse.
ReplyDeleteAnother empire, which was known as Mali, had several historically established leaders, among them Sundiata, Mansa Musa, and Abu Bakri II. Sundiata, a young, strong warrior founded Mali as he overthrew a harsh king by the name of Sumanguru. The first emperor to go preform the Islamic pilgrimage, Hajj, is Mansa Musa, as he is known for destructing Egypt’s economy as a result of him giving everyone gold in Cairo. That led to drop in prices of gold, as it was not sought after as much. Mansa Musa, also, built many, stunning, Islamic pieces of architecture and places of learning. Prominent for his attempt to journey across the Atlantic Ocean, Abu Bakri II prepared 200 ships for the expedition and none but one returned. His journey is reported to have taken place before Christopher Columbus.
Furthermore, the empire of Songhai was a major African empire. Its first ruler was Sunni Ali Ber. He was unkind and harsh to Muslims. As he captured a great center of Islamic learning and trade, he killed and tortured many of the Muslim scholars. In addition, he spent most of his rule on expanding Songhai. After him came a much more subtle ruler by the name of Aski Muhammad who encouraged learning and brought back the many scholars and specialized craftsmen.
-Reem Suleiman 7A
I learned many things in this video I didn't know about the three empires. My perspective totally changed after comparing all three empires.
ReplyDeleteGhana was the first empire in Sub Saharan Africa. Their culture was passed down by tounge which is called oral history. Ghana rose around 300 A.D near the Senegal and Niger Rivers. The empire was in charge of the gold and salt trade which occurred through the process of silent barter. Gold is what made Ghana very rich and wealthy. Ghana's peak was 1067 and its capitol was Koumbi Saleh. The Soninke people founded Ghana. It fell because of conquest 1237. The empire of Ghana didn't adopt the faith of Islam but there were few Muslims in Ghana.
Mali was the second empire in Sub Saharan Africa. It was the strongest and most wealthy, and even adopted the religion of Islam. Mali was ruled by a tyrant who was later killed by a crippled prince he chose not to murder. The prince's name was Sundiata. Mali had many rulers but the best king was Mansa Musa, who allowed the empire to flourish and prosper under his rule. Mali's peak was 1312 and fell because of a civil war. Also the capitol was Naini.
Songhai is the final empire. It was ruled by Sunni Ali Ber. He killed many Muslims in Timbuktu because they didn't follow the traditional religion. After his death Asika Mohammed ruled. He hired many scholars and artisans and its economy rose. Unfortunately the largest empire in Africa fell in 1591 B.C.
You all have some excellent responses here. I hope you were able to read each other's replies--each of you added some very interesting points here. Nice work!
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