1.1. Ghana was the first great African empire south of western sudan. HIstorians think people founded the empire as early as the year 300 and thrived till around 1200. it had rich culture, wealth, power, and organization. Ghana means ¨king of gold¨ or ¨warrior king¨. Most of the people believed in a god or main creator that is responsible for everything. They also believe living or non-living, everything has a spirit. it can be good or bad, evil or holy. Ghana became rich off of the ¨salt-gold trades¨ going on in Africa. they controlled routes and the gold going through their lands. The mies were a well kept secret from the world and the king kept the solid ¨nuggets¨ of gold for himself, leaving the people to trade with gold dust. in the 1200s muslim raiders came in and the king fought and rules for 30 years but then Ghana got coaght in a drought. That was the end of the Ghana empire.
2. Sea roads as a catalyst of change article summary/facts
2.1. as long distance trade was beginging to be more popular a city in east africa began to rise, this city being Swahili. the fisherman and farmers normally spoke Bantu, while the merchants typicly were Greek, Aribian, and Roman. African products like Gold, Quarts, Ivory, lepord skins, and sometimes even iron were growing in demand. they became islamic becasue of an Arab merchant. the sea roads were also another imporstant form of trade as well as the sand road networks.
3. Oyo empire article sumary/facts
3.1. The Oyo empire was a powerful state in Nigeria. Beginning in the 1300 the Oyo empire lived in West Africa. They used horses and cavalry while living in the savanna. They also forced other kingdoms/empires to let them into European trade. after the 18th century they were cut off from slave trade(which they abused and depended on) and the oyo empire suffered greatly. In 1835 they fell to the Fulani empire.
4. Bantu migrations and Great Zimbabwe article sumary/facts
4.1. The Bantu migration was one of the biggest in human history. It was believed to have been caused by development of agriculture, use of iron, and the making of ceramics. Archaeological, linguistic, genetic and environmental evidence all support the conclusion that the Bantu expansion was one of the most significant human migrations and cultural transformations within the past few thousand years. Great Zimbabwe used to be the capital of the Zimbabwe kingdom
5. Mali empire articles sumary/facts
5.1. The Mali Empire was founded in the mid 1200s and lasted around 200years. Mali stands for ¨where the king resigns¨ or ¨hippopotamus¨. The people of the mali empire lived in little communities with Kafus for housing. King Mansa Musa was one of their greatest kings. He was referred to as the ¨black moses¨ because of his name meaning moses. He created armies to maintain peace and was very good to his officers and soldiers. Mansa Musa would also give out so much gold that gold loses some of its value! After he died his son took over. They were eventually attacked and their ¨house of prayers¨ was burnt down. they still stayed as a kingdom for 200 more years but the golden age was done. When people rediscovered the city in 2012 they compared it to Pompeii because in its final hours it was preserved just like Pompeii.
6. Asante(Ashanti) empire article sumary/facts
6.1. Asante or Ashanti is a west african empire with Kumasi as its capital. Asante was where Ghana is today. they were active in slave trade and unsuccefully resisted the British penetration in the 19th century. In possibly 1670 Osei Tutu basically was elected into the empire and ceased all opposition. His leadership and status was symbolised by the Golden Stool. When he died in either 1712 or 1717 everything turned into chaos until Opoku Ware took over and helped the country get to its fullest extent. Kings Osei Kwadwo, Osei Kwame, and Osei Bonsu made the state strong with an efficient merit-based bureaucracy and a system of communication. in the 1820s Britain outlawed slavery which lead to a war. Osei Bonsu won in 1824 but then in 1831 made peace and the peace was held for 30 years. Then in 1863 when Kwaku Dua took over the Asante challenged Britain again by sending troops. Then in 1874 Sir Garnet Wolseley (on the British side) took over the capitol in one day. Then when Mensa Bonsu took over in 1874 he helped Asante gain resources but was restricted in what he could do because of the british. On January 1st 1902 Asante became a British colony.
7. Songhai empire article sumary/facts
7.1. The Songhai empire became a major empire in the late 1400 when the Mali empire was dying. Ali-Ber -a fearless warrior- became king in 1464 and he lived up to his name. He expanded his empire from Gao to Timbuktu. Songhai broke into 5 different provinces each of them having their own governments. which made them the most organized empire in ancient West Africa. Songhai became rich by controlling trade routes and trade. The people who lived by the river were either the Sorko (masters of the river) or the Gabibi (masters of the soil). The great empire was destroyed in 1591 by battles, drought, and disease. they were taken over by Marocco who was from North Africa.
