Chapter 12: Ghana: A West Africa Trading Empire Mr. Meza 7th Grade World History

1. Where do the earliest writings about Ghana come from? Arab scholars

2. How did scholars describe Ghana? As a “land of Gold”

3. How did Ghana’s king acquire his wealth? Through the control of the gold trade Collected taxes on the goods that passed through the kingdom

4. How did the king address the people’s concerns? By holding a daily court with his people

5. Matrilineal A family line traced through the mother In Ghana, the royal inheritance was matrilineal

6. What was Ghana’s military composed of? Several thousand career soldiers They were responsible to maintain peace and order

7. What was the source of Ghana’s wealth? Salt, copper, cowrie shells (used as money) Taxes

8. What is the trans-Saharan trade? Trade between Islam and West Africa Through the Sahara desert

9. When were camels brought to the Sahara? 300 CE

10. What are porters? A person who is hired to carry loads

11. What is Wangara? Area located near the forest south of Ghana Gold was plentiful Only the people of Wangara knew its location

12. What is Taghaza? City where the salt mines are located In the Sahara desert

13. In what two ways is salt produced? Evaporation Mining from salt deposits

14. What kind of taxes did Ghana collect? Traders paid taxes to Ghana on goods they sold and bought Traders paid taxes when they entered and exit Ghana

15. What was the busiest market in Ghana? Kumbi, the capital of Ghana Was one of the largest slave markets

16. When and how did the decline of Ghana take place? Reached its height in 1000 C.E. Declined because of war and a loss in natural resources In ended in 1203

17. When did Mali become a West African kingdom? In 1240 the Mande conquered Kumbi The leader accepted Islam (Muslim religion)