Trans-Saharan Trade and West African Empires

Vocabulary flashcards covering Trans-Saharan trade routes, West African empires, significant historical figures, and geographic features.

Sahara Desert

The largest hot desert on the planet, which historically divided North Africa from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa

The region of the African continent located south of the Sahara Desert.

Camel Saddles

A technological development created and used by nomadic peoples during the Medieval Era, allowing merchant caravans and nomadic bands to reliably cross the Sahara Desert.

Umayyad Caliphate

The Islamic empire that united Northern Africa and launched expeditions south across the Sahara Desert using camel saddles to establish contact with West Africa.

Oral Tradition

The historical method employed by African societies without written languages, where storytellers passed history to children through spoken tales.

Trans-Saharan Trade Route

A major trade network connecting West Africa to Dar al-Islam that facilitated a massive exchange of wealth and goods between both regions.

Gold Empires

A nickname given to Western African empires due to controlling roughly $\frac{2}{3}$ of the world's known gold reserves during the Medieval period.

Salt Importation

One of West Africa's primary trade imports, acquired to maintain large stores of dried food for Saharan military campaigns.

Ghana Empire

An early polytheistic West African empire that expanded its prominence by taking advantage of the Trans-Saharan Trade Route.

Mali Empire

A Late Medieval West African empire that replaced Ghana and institutionalized Islam as its official state religion.

Great Mosque of Djenne

The largest earth-brick building in the world and a major religious centerpiece of the Mali Empire.

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the Mali Empire and devout Muslim who was the richest human being in history with a net worth of $\$400\text{ billion}$, known for his legendary Hajj to Mecca.

Ibn Battuta

A Moroccan Arab Muslim scholar who went on the longest pre-modern expedition in human history, leaving behind one of the few surviving written records of Medieval Africa.