The West Africans (1.2)

The West Africans

Timeframe and diversity: West Africa in the 15th century was culturally diverse; wealth and growth driven by trade networks and valuable resources.
Geography and resources: Sahara (north) and savanna with major rivers Niger and Senegal; key resources include salt (Sahara) and gold (Atlantic coast valleys).
Trade networks: trade towns grew into powerful empires; routes linked West Africa with North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Asia; trade promoted cultural wealth.

Geography shaped commerce: Sahara enabled long-distance caravans; rivers supported inland trade; resources attracted merchants and wealth.
Major empires grew from trade towns and control of routes across the region.

Rise to prominence around A.D. 800; gold caravans to the Mediterranean with strong Muslim influence in North Africa.
Wealth and power visible in large towns, commerce systems, and a complex political structure.
Decline: weakened by Almoravid attacks; supplanted around A.D. 1200 by Mali.
Notable rulers and cultural notes described by travelers (e.g., lavish royal court).

Succeeded Ghana after A.D. 1200; Mansa Musa (early 1300s) expanded territory to the Atlantic and promoted Islam.
Timbuktu emerged as a renowned center of learning and culture in the Islamic world.
Mali weakened after the death of Mansa Musa in A.D. 1332.

Rise in the 1400s; Gao as capital; flourished under Islamic education centered in Timbuktu.
Under Askia Muhammad, trade-based wealth continued; conquered Mali in A.D. 1468, becoming the region's largest empire.
Declined due to poor leadership, eventual loss of Gao.

Benin: Gulf of Guinea forest region; kings called "obas"; celebrated bronze/ivory sculpture; strong artistic tradition.
Hausa: seven major cities in present-day Nigeria/Niger; known for cloth production and trade.

Religious beliefs varied: Islam spread via Sahara caravans; traditional beliefs included a supreme creator, spirits in nature, and ancestor veneration.
Ancestors remained influential in extended families and community life.

Land belonged to kinship networks, not individuals.
Kings could assign land to officials but could not sell it; officials could be reassigned.
Peasants worked land communally; harvest shared by household size; wealth often tied to slaves or wives rather than private land ownership.

Slavery was common in West Africa before Europeans; slaves were often captured in warfare or for crimes.
Slaves could be adopted into families, marry, and sometimes become officials or soldiers; status not inherently inherited; not based on race.
Slavery played a role in state power through slave armies and officials.

Portuguese exploration began in the 1400s using new navigational tools (compass, astrolabe, quadrant).
Initial interests focused on gold; later expanded to peppers, ivory, copper, and slaves.
Fortified trading posts established along the coast; forts like Elmina Castle became major slave-trading centers.
By 1500, Europeans bought about 1{,}800 slaves per year, nearly doubling earlier Arab–West African slave trade levels of about 1{,}000 per year.
The Atlantic slave trade began in this period, with many enslaved Africans sent to sugar plantations on Madeira, Canary, and Azores islands, and later to the Americas.

Portugal leveraged its coastal position and navigational advances to seek new routes and expand influence.
Trade goods included gold, peppers, ivory, copper, and slaves; commercial treaties allowed forts and control of harbors along the coast.
The Portuguese did not invent the slave trade but expanded it significantly.

West African kingdoms were closely connected to the wider world through trade routes and coastal forts.
Distances and caravan times illustrate long-distance connections: 1{,}070 miles to Morocco, 2{,}290 miles to Tunisia, and 3{,}380 miles to Egypt; Sahara crossing typically 70-90 days; camels could go about 7 days without water.
These links enabled exchange of gold, salt, slaves, and other goods, integrating West Africa into Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Arabian trade networks.