The West Africans (1.2)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from 1.2 The West Africans.

Ghana

An early West African kingdom (AD 300–1200/1500) that rose around AD 800, thriving on trans-Saharan caravan trade with Muslim influence and becoming a major gold-salt trade center for the Mediterranean.

Mali

West African empire that followed Ghana (around 1200–1450s); expanded westward to the Atlantic coast; wealth from trade and Islam; Timbuktu later became a renowned center of learning.

Mansa Musa

Mali’s famous early 14th-century ruler who promoted Islam, expanded Mali’s territory westward, and helped found the famous university town of Timbuktu.

Songhai

West African empire rising in the 1400s; capital Gao; wealth from trade and Islamic education centered in Timbuktu; conquered Mali in 1468 and became the region’s largest empire before decline.

Timbuktu

A major center of learning and culture in Mali and Songhai, famed for its Islamic scholarship and university.

Benin

Kingdom along the Gulf of Guinea known for its rulers (obas) and its advanced bronze and ivory art.

Hausa

People and region in present-day Nigeria and Niger; built seven cities and became known for beautiful cloth and extensive trade.

Sahara

The vast desert north of West Africa that shaped trade by enabling and necessitating long caravans across the region, linking West Africa with North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Asia.

Elmina Castle

Portuguese coastal fortress established in 1482 to conduct the slave trade, becoming a major trading post along the West African coast.

Slavery in West Africa

A widespread system prior to European colonialism where enslaved people could be adopted into families, marry, and even rise to official roles; not based on race, with Arab caravans and later European involvement expanding the slave trade.