Account of Ghana by Abu Ubayd Al-Bakri Show
You have already learned about the key role that trade played in the development of Ghana. You also read how the empire of Mali arose after the decline of Ghana. Both empires exercised political and economic power over a large part of Africa. Control of high-demand trade products like gold and salt allowed Ghana and Mali to become powerful and wealthy. Gold and salt were the largest part of West African economies. Slavery was another part of those economies. Many societies in One of the sources of information about Ghana and its cities comes from Abu Ubayd Al-Bakri. He was a historian and geographer from Muslim Spain. In 1068, he wrote the Book of Roads and Kingdoms. He never traveled south of the Sahara himself. He based information in his book on those areas he had never been to on accounts given to him by merchants and other travelers.Below is an excerpt from Book of Roads and Kingdoms. In it, Al-Bakri describes a city in Ghana. What do you learn from the excerpt about the geography of this city and its people? Excerpt from Book of Roads and KingdomsThe city of Ghana consists of two towns situated on a plain. One of these towns, which is inhabited by Muslims, is large and possesses twelve mosques, in one of which they assemble for the Friday prayer.� The king�s town is six miles distant from this one�. The king has a palace and a number of domed dwellings all surrounded with an enclosure like a city wall. Around the king�s town are domed buildings and groves and thickets [woods] where the sorcerers of these people, men in charge of the religious cult, live. In them too are their idols [statues] and the tombs of their kings. The king adorns himself.� wearing necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his forearms and he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in a turban of fine cotton. He holds an audience in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials� and on his right, are the sons of the vassal kings of his country, wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold. SourceBBC World Service, �The Story of Africa: West African Kingdoms: Ghana,� http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter1.shtml. Investigating Primary Sources Historians study a large number of sources whenever they try to piece together an accurate picture of the past. They must learn to identify the most important details to help them discover what is most important in a historical narrative or story. The terms below are handy tools for studying historical documents. Relevant: Information important to solving a problem or reaching a conclusion. Irrelevant: Information not important to solving a problem or reaching a conclusion. Essential: Information absolutely necessary to solving a problem or reaching a conclusion. Incidental: Information not absolutely necessary to solving a problem or reaching a conclusion. Verifiable: Information that can be proven by examining other sources. Unverifiable: Information that cannot be proven by examining other sources. Imagine you are a historian studying Ghana. You want to design a map of the city in Ghana that is as accurate as possible. What important information can be drawn from Al-Bakri�s account? For each of the six terms above, find and list examples of that term in Al-Bakri�s account. You may use the same fact or information more than once in your list.What was the main source of the wealth and power of all the West African empires quizlet?Caravan trade contributed MOST to the growth and power of the West African empires of Ghana and Mali. The gold-salt trade in Africa made Ghana a powerful empire because they controlled the trade routes and taxed traders.
What was the source of wealth of the main West African kingdoms?Ghana's rulers gained incredible wealth from trade, taxes on traders and on the people of Ghana, and their own personal stores of gold. They used their wealth to build an army and an empire. Extensive trade routes brought the people of Ghana into contact with people of many different cultures and beliefs.
What caused the West African kingdoms to become wealthy and powerful?Rapidly growing trade brought a lot of wealth and power to West Africa, just as the Ghana Empire was getting its start. The Ghana Empire, in particular, grew rich from the trans-Sahara trade. It certainly helped that the empire had control over the three major gold fields to the south of them.
What two resources were acquired for wealth and power in the West African kingdoms?The West African Trading Empires of Ghana (800-1050 CE), Mali (1235-1464 CE), and Songhai (1464-1591 CE) were powerful and wealthy states that controlled the gold and salt trade in West Africa.
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What was the main source of the wealth and power of all the West African empires?
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