African Empires’ Packet

Color the maps above and find the

following geographic features.

Sahara Desert

Niger River

Nile River

Atlantic Ocean

Mediterranean Sea

Indian Ocean

Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers (on other

map)

Senegal R. (on other map)

Draw the locations of Ghana, Mali and

Songhai empires (on both the big map

and W. Africa map)

Draw the location of Great Zimbabwe

Draw the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

Africa & West African Kingdoms Geographic Contrasts

Second largest ________________________ in the world.

Some parts have constant _________________________

Can be land of rocky _______________ or desert

Example: Sahara Desert in North Africa

Other parts get 400 inches of ____________________ a year

Can be land of lush, green ______________________________

South Africa has fertile soil and vegetation.

Early African People First Humans appeared in __________________________________

Nomadic lifestyle until they learned to _______________________

animals

Lived in _______________

Religion included _______________________ – a religion where

people believe that spirits are present in animals, plants, and other

natural forces.

Kingdom of Aksum or Axum Located by the Red Sea = modern day ___________________________-

Took over many important areas and became an important center of ___________________

Traded with Egypt, Arabia, Persia, India and the Roman Empire at Aksum’s key sea port called

_____________________________

Leadership Aksum became strong because of a strong ruler named _____________________________

He conquered many lands and expanded his empire.

People who live in Aksum are called __________________________________.

King Ezana is important because he converted to ________________________________.

Trade in Aksum Items traded: ___________________, rhinoceros horns, tortoise shells, ivory, emeralds, and ______________

Imported cloth, glass, olive oil, wine, brass, iron and copper

Aksum Religion Traditionally __________________________________

God called _________________________ and their king Ezana was a direct descendent of him.

Offered sacrifices- ________________________

King Ezana converted to _____________________________

In 451 A.D., Ethiopia and Egypt become _______________________- and split from Roman Catholic

Aksumite Architecture Developed unique architecture using ___________________ instead of mud bricks to build palaces and

buildings

Used NO ________________-

Instead they carved stones to fit together tightly

Built huge stone pillars called ____________________ to celebrate king’s conquests

Fall of Aksum Aksum lasted for _______________ years

Fell to invaders who practiced __________________________

West African Kingdoms Ghana

Ghana is the land of ___________________

Two most important trading goods:

o 1. __________________

o 2. __________________

Gold came from the ____________________

Salt deposits were found in the ______________________ Desert

This important trade of gold and salt took place on the _______________________________- trade

The king was the only one allowed to keep gold ________________________. This way he could keep the price

of gold high.

Mali Like Ghana, Mali became wealthy because of ________________.

A man name Mansa Musa became leader of Mali. He was a devout ______________________.

Because of Mansa Musa, Mali grew to become ________________ the size of Ghana.

The city of _____________________________ became a center of trade and learning because Mansa Musa

ordered mosques and universities to be built.

Timbuktu is the location of the _______________________________

Songhai After Mali declined, people broke away and formed a new civilization near the __________________ river.

Two great rulers name:

o 1. _____________________________

o 2. _____________________________

____________________________ captured the city of Timbuktu.

Askia Muhammad was an excellent administrator. He set up an efficient _____________ system and chose able

officials.

Later they were taken over by the ____________________________ who were fighting with _______________.

GUIDED READING The Kingdom of AksumSection 3

A. Analyzing Causes and Recognizing Effects As you read about the Kingdom ofAksum, briefly note the causes or effects (depending on which is missing) of each situation.

B. Clarifying On the back of this paper, briefly identify Aksum, Adulis, and Ezana.

CHAPTER

8

Causes Effects

1. Aksum had access to the Red Sea, Blue Nile,

and White Nile.

2. The port city of Adulis included people from

Aksum’s trading partners.

3. The Aksumites created terrace farming, which

retained water and prevented erosion.

4. Islamic invaders seized footholds in Africa,

destroyed Adulis, and spread the religion

of Islam.

5. Aksum’s new geographic location led to its

decline as a power.

African Civilizations 73

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1. Berbers discovered that camels could cover greater

distances than other pack animals and could travel

up to ten days without water.

2. The Muslim Almoravids disrupted the gold-salt trade

that Ghana had controlled.

3. The people of Mali, who lived in

the region of the new trade routes,

were able to seize power.

4. The empire of Mali weakened.

5. Moroccan troops quickly defeated

the Songhai warriors.

6. The city-states of Kano and Katsina were located

along the route that linked other West African states

with the Mediterranean.

7. The largest Yoruba kingdoms produced surplus food,

which was sent to cities.©

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GUIDED READING West African CivilizationsSection 2

A. Analyzing Causes and Recognizing Effects As you read about the empires andstates that arose in West Africa, briefly note the causes or effects (depending onwhich is missing) of each situation.

B. Summarizing On the back of this paper, briefly identify each term or name.

Sundiata Mansa Musa Ibn Battuta Yoruba Benin

CHAPTER

15

Causes Effects

Aksum and West Africa

Name:____________________

Down

1. King Ezana converted to this religion.(200)

2. After 800 years, Aksum was taken over by the ________.(201)

3. Kingdom that rose after the fall of Mali. (374)

4. The modern day country where the kingdom of Aksum was located. (199)

6. Aksumite king who was a direct descendent of God. (200)

8. Aksumite architecture is unique because it uses no _______. (201)

9. The place where the gold came from. (371)

10. Religion where people believe that animals and plants have spirits. (200)

12. The place in east Africa where humans are thought to have originated. (195)

15. Huge stone pillars that celebrated king's conquests. (201)

19. Africa can also be very wet and lush with ________. (193)

Across

3. What is the desert that lies in north Africa? (371)

5. City in Mali that became the center of trade and learning. (373)

7. Aksum's key sea port for trade. (200)

11. two most important trading goods of Ghana. (371)

13. Another kingdom that became wealthy from gold. (373)

14. Leader of Mali who was a Muslim. (373)

16. Another name for the gold-salt trade.

17. Name of Aksum's God. (200)

18. Africa _____ items such as olive oil, wine and iron since Africa

lacked these natural resources. (200)

t r a n s s a h a r a n t r a d e

F E B RUA RY   1 8 ,   20 1 9   19

The early African emperor Mansa Musa turned his stash of gold into one of the world’s richest empires.

So why haven’t you heard of him? BY LAURA ANASTASIA

MANSA MUSAThe 400-Billion-Dollar Man

Think of some of the richest people alive today. Who’s on your list? You’ve probably included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder

Bill Gates, and the Queen of England. Yes, they’re all big shots. But, believe it or not, their bank accounts wouldn’t have come close to matching the wealth of African emperor Mansa Musa. That 14th-century ruler still tops many lists as the richest person of all time.

Musa was mansa, or king, of the West African empire of Mali. He ruled from 1312 to 1337. During his reign, he controlled about 80 percent of the world’s gold. His net worth would have topped $400 billion in today’s dollars (see “The Richest People in History,” p. 20).

But Musa’s claim to fame went far beyond money. The emperor was a skilled leader. Under his leadership, Mali became one of the largest empires in African history.

Original accounts about Musa and his reign still exist. And lately, many people have drawn parallels between Musa and T’Challa, the wealthy king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda in the movie Black Panther. So why haven’t more people heard of Musa, nicknamed the “Lion of Mali”?

Mainly because he lived hundreds of years ago. Many world history classes

don’t discuss events that happened before 1450. And those that happened centuries ago in Africa might get talked about even less.

Musa’s kingdom, says Richard Smith, an expert on ancient Mali at Ferrum College in Virginia, is a symbol “of once-

powerful states in the interior of Africa that were often overlooked by historians until very recent times.”

A Skilled Leader How did Musa get so rich? He was in the right place at the right time, for

starters. Mali had an ideal location on the upper Niger River in West Africa. The fertile soil produced a lot of crops. The area was also full of resources, including salt and gold.

Salt was in high demand in the ancient world. It could be used to preserve meat and other foods. That was especially important since refrigerators weren’t invented for another 500-plus years. Mali had easy access to the Sahara Desert’s huge salt deposits.

As for gold, “the upper reaches of the Niger River produced more gold in the 14th century than anywhere else,” says Smith. Gold was used as currency and IL

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Download an account of Mansa Musa’s visit to Cairo at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

These benefited his citizens. He was also known for his generosity. He handed out millions of dollars’ worth of gold.

Those habits were likely the secret to his great success, says David Tschanz, a historian who has written about Musa.

“If you have a good economy and

everybody’s happy,” he says, “nobody gets upset with you.”

An International Celebrity The world outside Musa’s kingdom got a glimpse of the emperor’s vast riches in 1324. That year, he went on a trip so extravagant that it wowed people throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Musa’s journey was a 4,000-mile hajj. That’s the traditional Muslim

20   U P F R O N T   •   U P F R O N T M AGA Z I N E .CO M

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was a status symbol. It still hadn’t been mined in most places, making the metal even more valuable.

Mali was the second of three great West African medieval empires. It came after the Kingdom of Ghana and before the Songhai Empire. Mali became West Africa’s most powerful state in the 1200s, under the leadership of Sundiata. He was the empire’s first great mansa.

A century later, Musa took Mali to the next level. He did so by gaining control of gold-producing regions and reconquering areas of the kingdom that had broken away. He also controlled important trade routes. The conquests of Timbuktu and other major cities along trade routes in the Sahara were also beneficial to Musa. Merchants paid him taxes, and conquered kings gave him gifts of gold and other valuables.

By the time Musa’s reign ended, the Mali Empire covered about 440,000 square miles of West Africa. It spanned all or part of what are now nine modern-day countries, from Senegal in the west to Niger in the east (see map, previous page). Musa once boasted that it would take a year to travel from one end of his kingdom to the other.

Musa ruled over 40 million people in his empire. He still managed to maintain peace during his 25-year reign. He devoted large amounts of time and money to building schools and mosques.

pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. In true centibillionaire fashion, he didn’t go it alone. He traveled with more than 60,000 people, including 12,000 slaves. His caravan stretched as far as the eye could see.

Also along for the ride was a mind-boggling amount of gold. About 80 camels carried roughly 300 pounds of gold each. Musa’s slaves lugged another 24 tons of the precious metal.

“It was more money than anybody had ever seen anybody ever bring with them,” Tschanz says.

Musa and his entourage crossed the Sahara Desert. They stopped for a few months in Cairo, Egypt. During their stay, Musa spent a lot of time shopping at Cairo’s world-famous markets. He handed out gold to Egypt’s poor and sick. He also gave some to just about

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‘Mali began to appear on

European maps as a land of gold.’

Djinguereber Mosque, which Mansa Musa commissioned in Timbuktu in 1327, still stands today.

THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN HISTORY The top moneymakers of all time after adjusting for inflation

1.Mansa Musa

Emperor of Mali(c. 1280—c. 1337)

$400Billion

2.Rothschild Family

Bankers (above, Nathaniel & Jacob)

(1744—today)

$350 Billion

3.John D.

RockefellerAmerican oil tycoon

(1839—1937)

$340Billion

4.Andrew

CarnegieSteel businessman

(1835—1919)

$310 Billion

5.Tsar

Nicholas II Russian ruler (1868—1918)

$300 Billion

6.Mir Osman Ali Khan

Ruler of Hyderabad*(1886—1967)

$230 Billion

7.William the Conqueror

King of England (c. 1028—1087) 

$229.5Billion

SOURCE: CELEBRITY NET WORTH * Hyderabad was an independent state until it was annexed to India in 1948.

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everyone else he met. Historians estimate that the gold he gave away during his hajj alone would be worth more than $100 million today.

Musa reportedly pumped so much gold into Cairo’s economy that the precious metal decreased in value. It took more than 12 years for gold’s value to bounce back. Says Tschanz: “It was the only time in history that one man controlled the world’s gold market.”

Tales of Musa’s incredible wealth and charity quickly spread to North Africa, Europe, and the Arab world. Traders and travelers he came across during his trip helped pass the stories along. Musa had good reason to show off his fortune.

“The lavish display of wealth was designed to advertise his kingdom as a trade destination, and to a large extent, it worked,” Smith says. “Henceforth, Mali began to appear on European maps as a land of gold.”

Indeed, after Musa’s hajj, he and his empire were included in the 1375 Catalan Atlas. This atlas was the most important world map in medieval Europe.

Spreading IslamMusa’s hajj shows that he took his Islamic faith very seriously. In fact, he made it Mali’s official state religion. Fridays are holy days for Muslims. Every Friday during his hajj, Musa reportedly ordered that a mosque be built wherever he happened to be.

After the trip, he devoted himself to turning Timbuktu into a center for Muslim learning and culture. He brought Islamic architects and artists to the city. He also built a major college, Sankore University. The college’s library collection dwarfed those of European libraries at the time. Invaders destroyed the school a few centuries later.

Musa wanted his people to learn to read and write Arabic. It was his desire for them to have the ability to understand the Koran, the Muslim holy book. That’s why he oversaw the construction of schools and mosques to promote the study of Islam. One

of Musa’s mud-brick-and-wood structures, Djinguereber Mosque, could hold 2,000 people. It still stands in Timbuktu today.

‘An Economic Decline’When it comes to wealth, it’s not even a contest between today’s billionaires and Musa. Jeff Bezos is currently the world’s richest person. He had a net worth of $139 billion in January. Bill Gates was second with about $96 billion. Musa’s net worth was more than four times Gates’s. That’s an amount unfathomable to most people.

“Imagine as much gold as you think a human being could possess and double it,” Rudolph Ware, a history professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara told Time.

“This is the richest guy anyone has ever seen.”

So what happened to Musa and the kingdom of Mali? Musa died around 1337. He was about 55 years old. His empire lived on for only 100 or so more years. That’s partly because Musa’s successors didn’t share his talent for leadership. Outsiders conquered Gao, one of the empire’s most important trading hubs, around 1365.

The rest of the kingdom started crumbling in the 1400s, with Timbuktu falling to invaders. By 1500, almost all of Musa’s empire had disappeared, along with his gold and riches. Mali hasn’t been the same since (see “Mali Today”).

“This part of West Africa went into an economic decline,” says Smith, “from which it never fully recovered.” •D

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F E B RUA RY   1 8 ,   20 1 9   21

MALI TODAYA look at how Mali has changed since Mansa Musa’s reign

Islam is still the dominant religion in Mali, but that may be the only aspect Mansa Musa would recognize about the country today. The peace Mali enjoyed under Musa is a thing of the past. For a few centuries, other African empires ruled Mali. In 1898, during the period of European colonization of Africa, France seized control of the area. Mali gained its independence in 1960 but has since suffered droughts, rebellions, and a military dictatorship.

As for all those riches, the area’s gold deposits were mostly used up before the 19th century. Today, about half of Mali’s 19.4 million people live in poverty, and only about one-third can read. Although Mali has a democratically elected president, the nation has become a breeding ground for terrorism. Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (also called ISIS) remain active there, and Mali is plagued by violence and political instability.

Women in Mali pound an ancient grain called millet.

Mali by the Numbers:Population:19.4 Million

Life Expectancy:Male: 58Female: 62(U.S.: 76/81)

Per Capita GDP:$2,200(U.S.: $59,500)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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F E B RUA RY 1 8 , 20 1 9 • U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E .C O M

For use with the article on p. 18 of the magazine

THE 400-BILLION-DOLLAR MAN

Analyze the Article1. �Why�is�Mansa�Musa�an�important�historical�figure?�

Why�don’t�more�people�know�about�him?

2. �How�did�Mali�become�the�most�powerful�state��in�the�1300s?�In�what�ways�did�this�contribute��to�Mansa�Musa’s�legacy?�

3. �The�author�describes�Mansa�Musa�as��“an�international�celebrity.”�How�does��the�author�support�this�claim?

4. �How�does�the�status�of�Mali�in�the�1300s�compare�to�the�current�state�of�the�country?

18   U P F R O N T Download tktk tktk at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM F E B RUA RY   1 8 ,   20 1 9   1918   U P F R O N T   •   U P F R O N T M AGA Z I N E .CO M

The early African emperor Mansa Musa turned his stash of gold into one of the world’s richest empires.

So why haven’t you heard of him? BY LAURA ANASTASIA

MANSA MUSAThe 400-Billion-Dollar Man

Think of some of the richest people alive today: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the Queen of England. Believe

it or not, all of those big shots’ bank accounts wouldn’t have come close to matching the wealth of African emperor Mansa Musa. The 14th-century ruler still tops many lists as the richest person of all time.

Musa ruled as mansa, or king, of the West African empire of Mali from 1312 to 1337, controlling about 80 percent of the world’s gold. His net worth would have topped $400 billion in today’s dollars (see “The Richest People in History,” p. 20).

Musa’s claim to fame extended far beyond money, however. The emperor was a skilled leader who transformed Mali into one of the largest empires in African history.

Original accounts about Musa and his reign still exist. And lately, many people have drawn parallels between Musa and T’Challa, the wealthy king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda in the movie Black Panther. So why haven’t more people heard of Musa, nicknamed the “Lion of Mali”?

Mainly because he lived hundreds of years ago. Many world history classes don’t discuss events that happened before 1450—especially those in Africa.

Musa’s kingdom, says Richard Smith, an expert on ancient Mali at Ferrum College in Virginia, is a symbol “of once-

powerful states in the interior of Africa that were often overlooked by historians until very recent times.”

A Skilled Leader How did Musa get so rich? He was in the right place at the right time, for starters. Mali had an ideal location on

the upper Niger River in West Africa. The fertile soil produced abundant crops, and the area teemed with natural resources, including salt and gold.

Salt was a hot commodity in the ancient world. It could be used to preserve meat and other foods, which was especially important since refrigerators weren’t invented for another 500-plus years. Mali had easy access to the Sahara Desert’s huge salt deposits.

As for gold, “the upper reaches of the Niger River produced more gold in P

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Musa’s claim to fame extended

far beyond money.

Download an account of Mansa Musa’s visit to Cairo at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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Extent of Mali Empire,14th century

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AFRICA

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ATLANTICOCEAN

Mansa Musa journeyed to the holy city of Mecca in 1324.

TIMES PAST

FEBRUARY 18, 2019 • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COMT14 • U P F R O N T • U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E .C O M

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PAIRING A PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCE

Leaving a Golden ImpressionWhen Mansa Musa stopped in Cairo, Egypt, on his way to Mecca in 1324, he spent and gave away an enormous

amount of gold. His extravagance was so great that when Shihab al-Umari went to Cairo a few years after

Musa’s visit, he found that people were still “eager” to talk about Musa and his gold. Al-Umari, a scholar and

historian, wrote down what people told him about Musa. Use the excerpts below from al-Umari’s account along

with the Upfront article to answer the questions at the bottom of this page.

1. How would you describe emir Abu’s tone and purpose

in these excerpts from al-Umari’s account?

2. How is al-Umari’s tone different from emir Abu’s?

Why is his tone different?

3. Based on details in the account, what inferences can

you make about Mansa Musa’s character traits?

4. What does emir Abu’s use of the word intelligent

suggest about his thoughts about what happened

at the meeting of the two sultans?

5. Based on these excerpts and the Upfront article,

evaluate Mansa Musa’s skill as a leader and his

effectiveness at representing Mali outside his empire.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Account Written by Shihab al-Umari, circa mid 1330s

From the beginning of my coming to stay in Egypt

I heard talk of the arrival of this sultan Musa on his

Pilgrimage and found the Cairenes eager to recount what

they had seen of the Africans’ prodigal spending. I asked

the emir Abu . . . and he told me of the opulence, manly

virtues, and piety of his sultan. “When I went out to meet

him” [he said] “that is, on behalf of the mighty sultan

al-Malik al-Nasir, he did me extreme honour and treated

me with the greatest courtesy. He addressed me, however,

only through an interpreter despite his perfect ability to

speak in the Arabic tongue. Then he forwarded to the royal

treasury many loads of unworked native gold and other

valuables. I tried to persuade him to go up to the Citadel

to meet the sultan, but he refused persistently saying:

‘I came for the Pilgrimage and nothing else. I do not wish

to mix anything else with my Pilgrimage.’ He had begun

to use this argument but I realized that the audience was

repugnant to him because he would be obliged to kiss the

ground and the sultan’s hand. I continue to cajole him and

he continued to make excuses but the sultan’s protocol

demanded that I should bring him into the royal presence,

so I kept on at him till he agreed.

“When we came in the sultan’s presence we said to

him: ‘Kiss the ground!’ but he refused outright saying:

‘How may this be?’ Then an intelligent man who was

with him whispered to him something we could not

understand and he said: ‘I make obeisance to God who

created me!’ then he prostrated himself and went

forward to the sultan. The sultan half rose to greet him

and sat him by his side. They conversed together for

a long time, then sultan Musa went out. The sultan

sent to him several complete suits of honour for himself,

his courtiers, and all those who had come with him,

and saddled and bridled horses for himself and his

chief courtiers. . . .

“This man [Mansa Musa] flooded Cairo with his

benefactions. He left no court emir nor holder of a

royal office without the gift of a load of gold. The

Cairenes made incalculable profits out of him and his

suite in buying and selling and giving and taking. They

exchanged gold until they depressed its value in Egypt

and caused its price to fall.” . . .

Gold was at a high price in Egypt until they came in

that year. The mithqal did not go below 25 dirhams and

was generally above, but from that time its value fell

and it cheapened in price and has remained cheap

till now. The mithqal does not exceed 22 dirhams or

less. This has been the state of affairs for about twelve

years until this day by reason of the large amount

of gold which they brought into Egypt and spent there.

sultan—king

emir—local ruler

prostrated—stretched out on the ground, facedown

mithqal—a unit of money used in the medieval

Islamic world

For use with “Mansa Musa: The 400-Billion-Dollar Man” on p. 18 of the magazine

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