Ancient Ghana Research Paper

At their start, they were attacked by the British, they gave them a good sum of gold, even though it was against their will. Throughout their rule, they took over much unclaimed land and conquered many small cities around them. They were attacked several times by other places that wanted their land. They generally won and get the attackers as slaves. The Ashanti were one of the biggest exporters of slaves to several places, affecting them all. The Ashanti, though not very powerful, is still in existence. It is a sub city in Ghana and provides over 90% of Ghana's gold. Ghana is a large gold supplier to Italy. So in ways, the Ashanti empire is still plays a decent part in today's society.

In Africa there were three great empires, first the Ghana Empire who domesticated camels and carved trade routes all across the Sahara then

Ghana was called “The Gold Coast” until its independence was gained from the British in the 1900s, due to the abundance of gold. This, along with the eventual slave trade was a catalyst for the arrival of Europeans in the area in 1471. The Ashanti Empire was founded in 1697 by King Osei Tutu I. At its height, the Ashanti Empire was incredibly rich and powerful, larger than modern-day Ghana, and even had European advisors. Dress was extravagant, rituals were important, and courts, tax systems, and military organizations were all being employed. Yet, as is the case with many African nations around this time, conflict with Europeans eventually arose. The first conflict between the Ashanti and Europeans was with the British, and it occurred in 1824. The Ashanti emerged victorious with the death of the British governor. During the second conflict with the British, the Ashanti were defeated and Kumasi was captured. The near fall of the Ashanti Empire came in 1896, when the Ashanti were defeated by the British and King Prempeh was exiled to the Seychelles. After this, the Ashanti attempted one last attack on the British fort, spurred on by the disrespect they were being shown by the British governor, but they were ultimately defeated. However, many of the traditions and cultural aspects of the ancient Ashanti’s still exist today.

Even before Europeans came to Africa, the kingdoms in Africa were quite wealthy. As previously mentioned, Ghana was a very strong kingdom in which its people were also incredibly wealthy. Their government appeared to be wealthy as well, which assisted Ghana in being able to control the gold and salt trade. An Arab scholar, Al-Bakri, wrote about the king’s court and how basically everything that the court had was gold (Document 2). The point of view of this document was also positive, and that is because scholars are usually upper class, just like the king’s court. Al-Bakri thought very highly of the court, and explains in detail how every person has some gold on them and how their surroundings also possessed gold. Ghana had a strong army and an intelligent political counsel, which made other countries fear them. Nations around Ghana did not want to start problems and usually just maintained peace with Ghana (Document 3). Ghana was not the only successful kingdom, one of the leaders of Mali, Mansa Musa,

Africa accomplished great feats, but some of the most historical ones are from the trade throughout Africa, Political Status, and culture in Africa. Trade in Africa thrived in the Kingdom of Aksum, known as Ethiopia today, as African traders used their nautical skills to reach nearby lands to trade goods and ideas. The Kingdom of Aksum was located in a unique location where it thrived in multiple trade routes. This unique location of, “Aksum reached its height between 325 and 360 A.D.” (Doc 1).

Gold and salt mines surrounded Ghana and were kept a secret from the other countries who might want to get in on the great wealth of Ghana. Another reason Ghana had an opulent economy was because people loved books and would pay a great fortune to buy them. In Document 1 it talks about how the location of Ghana was important to the economy and in Document 4, people in Ghana lived on to do great tasks, because of the knowledge they got from all the books they bought. As seen in the map in document 1, it shows Ghana located directly in the middle of 12 gold and salt mines which they kept private so no one could steal their good fortune (Document 1). In the fourth document it reads,“Here are many doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men that are well maintained at the king's costs. Various manuscripts and written books are brought here . . . and sold for more money than other merchandise” (Document 4). This is helpful because they used the mines to trade with people who did not have the opportunity to collect gold and salt, but needed it. The salt is used to keep food fresh in warmer areas, and the gold is used for trading. They also highly appreciated books and would pay a substantial of money to get them. Books started to even become more highly priced than items like merchandise. The location of Ghana contributed greatly to the rich and wealthy atmosphere of Ghana as well as

In West Africa, the savanna provided a long distance trade site before the use of Atlantic slave trade. Its surplus of gold makes Africa rich and rivaling with Europe's power

How did the polity of Ancient Ghana arise? How did Ghana maintain its strength and what were some of the challenges? The Wagadou Empire was a monarchy, and the king was regarded by the people to be a semi-divine figure who kept order and justice. Ghana was not rich in natural resources as it was located along a major trade route between ivory and gold producing areas and salt miners in the Sahara. Merchants were lured into Ghana by the wealth of gold and prosperity helped the capital, Kumbi Saleh, to be a center of trade. The country will eventually become a prosperous entrepôt. Ancient Ghana derived power and wealth from gold and transportation of camels during the Sub-Saharan trade to increase the quantity of goods that were transported. The traditional Ghanan religions and Islam spread

Because political leaders could not re-establish the empire after the attacks, smaller empires battled for control of Ghana’s political and economical power. Smaller states competed to gain dominance of Ghana’s gold and salt trade routes, which provided the former empire with its vast wealth. These trade routes exported gold to the Mediterranean Sea area and imported items such as salt and North African goods. One leader, Sundiata Keita, from a small African state defeated its rival to take over power. (Tesfu, 2017)

According to The Ghana empire by U.C Davis Social Science in the year 2014 it states “ Mali was one of three medieval kingdoms that ruled over West Africa. The first empire was Ghana, which was ruled by a king from the Soninke people” and “Trade with the Arabs did not create the Ghana empire, but it certainly made the rulers and merchants of Ghana much richer”.These quotes show that Ghana was one of the strongest and wealthy kingdoms and Mali was one of those strong,wealthy kingdoms and a cultural exchange site.This proves that Mali was

Archaeologists know from ruins that Mali has been populated for about 50,000 years. During ancient times, part of the Sahara was a fertile grassland, and farming was introduced to this land in 5000 BCE. The earliest traceable civilization in Mali is the Ghana Empire, which began in 300 BCE (Baxter 1). Lasting until the thirteenth century A.D., the Ghana Empire ruled most of northwestern Africa. Ghana, defined as leading or first, controlled from the Niger basin to the Atlantic until its collapse and the establishment of the Mali Empire in the thirteenth century (African History: An Illustrated Handbook 1).

By the time Arab geographers began to write of West Africa in the 8th century A.D., the Empire of Ghana -- described as a "land of gold" -- was already in existence. This ancient state's origins, however, remain unclear. The Tarikh as-Sudan, a book of West African history written in Timbuktu around 1650 A.D., claims that the Empire of Ghana had 22 kings before the beginning of the Muslim era (622 A.D.), and 22 kings afterwards.

Some have called the Kingdom of Ghana the "land of gold, " an exceptional description since it was flourishing with gold. Historians generally give the kingdom of Ghana the dates 9th to the 13th century CE. The gold trade played a major role in the development of Ghana. Gold was traded for salt that came down from the Sahara desert. Shortly after, the use

Then you have West Africa having seven empires rising up in one region. . Takur (ca.800-1285 A.D.), Ghana (700-1200 A.D.), Mali (1237-1450 A.D.), Songhai (1460-1591 A.D.), and Kanem-Bornu (1348-1890). The Asante Empire (ca.1670-1900 A.D.), Yoruba Kingdoms (ca.1100-1830), Benin (ca. 1440-1900) and Mossi (1200-1900 A.D.). Even though not at the same time, the fact that it was able to unify its people so quickly is remarkable. Being able to read about so many achievements is astonishing. And it’s not just one area of Africa, but all over. Now when some say I come from a line of African royalty, they might actually be right. Because it doesn’t matter from which part you claim there is

The histories of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai are not well documented. Much of what we know is a mixture of legend, stories and secondhand accounts. North Africa has small coastal areas, some savanna areas, but it is mostly made up of the sahara desert. It is a very dry and hot region. West Africa has some desert areas, wet and dry grasslands, small rainforest, and long rivers, like the Niger River. It has some vegetation areas, but it also has some dry and hot areas. According to legend, Ghana started when a foreigner named Dhinga had to kill a goblin, and marry the goblins pretty daughters. Their offspring became ancestors of the ruling Soninke clans. After he died, his son Dyabe defeated his brother and founded the empire of Ghana somewhere