The Rise and fall of the Great Kingdoms of W. Africa such as Ghana and Mali

 

 

Islam and trade were monumental reasons for both the rise and fall of these ancient societies. West Africa, more specifically the ancient Ghanaian Empire, was incredibly rich in desirable resources like gold and salt. In addition, as with the seat of many ancient civilizations, it was located between two rivers which provided an abundant supply of food conducive to building a nation. Ghana's government was lead by a king who was its spiritual leader as well as its political leader and also in control of trade routes from north to south. Gold trade along this path was extremely lucrative and made the kingdom of Ghana very wealthy. Salt, used to dry meats to prevent spoiling, was also exchanged along these routes by the Sanhaja people and was traded for gold in the capital city of Kumbi. The Sanhaja people brought the Islam faith with them as well as their salt and before long, Ghana's rulers learned Arabic and accepted help from the Muslims in setting up their government structure to accommodate the growth and change the empire was experiencing. They may not have realized it but they were laying the groundwork for a major shakeup of the kingdom.

The next century saw expansion of the empire due to amassed wealth of the kings through gold trade. In the process of northward expansion, the salt trade routes of the Sanhaja were absorbed and taken over by the kingdom. This conflict, coupled with pressure and competition from the Berbers for sub-Saharan routes provided a motivation for the Sanhaja to follow an extremist sect of Islam called al-Mirabitun. The Almoravids, or followers of this cult sect, began to fight back for the overtaking of their trade routes and after conquering Morocco and southern Iberia, they finally conquered Ghana and converted its people to Islam. This basically made the king obsolete and they regained control of their trade routes in Ghana as well as presided over additional routes stretching from central Spain. They did not replace the government structure after quashing it. The removal of central authority and the fact that the Almoravids were based in the north and preoccupied with affairs there promoted political unrest in the region. Additionally, Ghana's agricultural base was ruined by grazing flocks of animals owned by Almoravids and never recovered. These factors impelled trans-Saharan caravans to circumvent Ghana in favor of less tumultuous areas and suffocated its commerce, the source of what had made it a great nation in the first place.

Although the introduction of Islam by the Sanhaja people was innocent enough in the beginning bringing with it centralized and structured organization to the government, it also was responsible for its demise. For Ghana, the growth of the empire into the north upset the regional balance of trade routes. This provoked the Sanhaja, a group of Muslims, and provided the catalyst pushing them toward an extremist sect of Islam which proved to be far more dangerous to the empire than one could have probably speculated. Unfortunately for Ghana, through tyrannical expansion, it ultimately crippled itself.