Lauren Knott

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Section A:
Mansa Kankan Musa was a powerful leader of Mali who came into power in 1307
following a series of weak leaders. As such, Mali had fallen into a state of instability and many

of the outlying territories had broken off and regained their independence. Mansa Musa gathered

an army said to be 100,000 men strong and fought to regain peace and order. Not content with
simply gaining back lost territory, he is also said to have conquered twenty-four cities along with
their outlying villages and peoples, expanding the empire to its largest point. Mansa Musa was
known for his impartiality and sense of justice and was known to listen to any accusation of
corruption or oppression in his governors and dealt with them accordingly. In addition, he
fostered goodwill in his people by setting up a system of honors to reward those of devoted
service.

One of the highlights of his reign was his hajj in 1324. He brought a spectacular amount
of gold, both on camels and held by slaves, and distributed his wealth with abandon and endless
generosity. The effects of this pilgrimage were myriad and far-reaching in the kingdom of Mali.
Firstly, he gained prestige and publicity for his ruler ship and empire, and quite literally put Mali
on the map. In addition, his generosity in Egypt led to increased trade between the two

kingdoms. Mansa Musas holy journey also strengthened his faith, and he returned to Mali full
of religious fervor, with a determination to purify and fortify Islam in his kingdom as well as
promote literacy and education. He brought back from his journey new knowledge gleaned from

learned Islamic scholars. He even brought back an architect to build great mosques in Gao and

Timbuktu. Under Mansa Musas leadership, Mali grew and prospered as never before and its

people enjoyed wealth and a high standard of living all around.

Askiya Mohammed Ture was a great ruler in the kingdom of Songhai. Despite coming to
power through a military coup detat, Askiya Mohammed was able to quickly solidify his
position on the throne, to the point where he made the pilgrimage to Mecca only three years after
coming to power, showing his supreme confidence in his control over the empire. His hajj was

stunningly extravagant, including 1,000 infantrymen and 500 horsemen carrying loads of gold.
He established relationships with brilliant Muslim scholars and indeed, many of these learned

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men later came into Timbuktu, attracted first by the generosity of the ruler, but also swayed by
the promise of peace and safety in the empire of Songhai. Askiya Mohammed had been
profoundly affected by his journey, and upon his return, set about enforcing the rules of Islam,
and promoting learning and literacy. With his hajj, he cemented himself as a respected and
legitimate ruler, not just politically, but also as caliph or head of the community of believers in
Western Sudan. Besides this wildly significant hajj, Askiya Mohammed also boasted a healthy

and functional administration, including many Muslim advisors and courtiers. He established

royal estates which were worked by slaves and produced crops or products for the empire. He
took particular care to promoted trade and commerce in the kingdom of Songhai, which not only
brought many people and goods into his kingdom, but also allowed for a substantial income from
taxation. In these ways, Askiya Mohammed was integral in establishing the empire of Songhai

and ensuring its peace and trade during his reign.

Mansa Musa and Askiya Mohammed were both great rulers of their respective empires,
and arguably the most successful rulers of their times. They both relied heavily on the unifying

force of Islam in ensuring peace and prosperity in their kingdoms. Their pilgrimages to Mecca

were both legendary and integral to their success as leaders. Both made a point to show
boundless generosity on their journeys and increased the prestige and standing of both
themselves as rulers and their empires in the eyes of the Muslim world. Askiya Mohammed
followed in Mansa Musas footsteps in this way, perhaps deliberately making his hajj larger and
more lavish in order to outdo the stories told of Mansa Musa. In addition to their similar views
and practices of Islam, both rulers had firm military control over their kingdoms, ensuring peace
and safety throughout. This allowed for trade to become prosperous and for Muslim scholars to

flock to their major cities, making them centers of learning and prestige. Both rulers were strong

militarily and succeeded in expanding their empires to perhaps their largest points. Where
weaker rulers failed to maintain order in ever-expanding empires, both Askiya Mohammed and
Mansa Musa put into place systems of administration and governance that allowed for the
prosperity of all their people.

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Section B:

While physical geography was no doubt a vital factor in the emergence and expansion of
the early large political systems of West Africa, I would argue that it is the interplay of many
strong forces that allowed for the existence of these empires, and their successes and failures
cannot be attributed to any one factor. It was the combined forces of the trans-Saharan trade,
Islam, physical geography, camels, and political leadership that led to the rises and falls of the
empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. The first factor to look at is the camel. Without the camel,

nothing could follow, and none of the other factors would be of any importance. The camel
allowed for large scale trade and travel across the vast Sahara, which was previously limited by
pack animals ill-suited for the sand, high temperatures, and scarcity of both food and water. A
camel could travel for up to ten days without fresh water, which was twice as long as most oxen
and horses, and could maintain a pace of 25 to 30 kilometers a day, even fully-laden and carrying
the same weight as a horse or ox was able. This allowed for large scale and long distance trading

across the Sahara, linking North Africa to the gold producing regions of Western Sudan.
Next we must look at the combined factors of the trans-Saharan trade and physical
geography. I have combined these two factors because it is difficult to talk about one without

mentioning the other. The early political systems of West Africa shared a similar geographical

location, though they varied in size and scale. Each of the empires was ideally situated between
the North and South African trading routes, allowing them to control trade between their
southern and northern neighbors. In addition, the kingdoms of Mali and Songhai included the

fertile river regions, allowing for agriculture and fishing as a source of wealth and food. They

also boasted control over the gold producing regions, such as Bure and Bambuk. Without the
trans-Saharan trade, the access to or control of gold-producing regions would have meant very
little. If there was no one to sell the gold to, there is little point to having it, aside from its

obvious decorative and aesthetic properties. Thanks to the trans-Saharan trade, these early
political systems were able to use gold to bolster trade through their kingdoms, and with that
trade, were able to enforce systems of taxation both on the production as well as the import and

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export of gold and other products. This led to centralized wealth for the leaders of these

kingdoms, but also a general prosperity among its peoples. Desire to control trade routes and
gold or salt producing regions encouraged rulers to expand their empires and thus their bases of
taxation. The trans-Saharan trade also supplied the tools for warfare such as horses and metal for

weapons, which allowed for conquest and expansion. As the trans-Saharan trade expanded its
reaches, it brought the states and peoples of West Africa to the attention of the North African
states and the larger Muslim world. For example, Ghana was first known to the Muslim world as
the land of gold due to their thriving gold trade which supplied most of North Africa and
Europes gold. Lastly, trade lent to the trend of urbanization. Though small villages and family
settlements existed throughout all of the early West African empires, trade encouraged the
gathering of people in one place and settlement into larger cities.
Trade brought many physical goods to Western Sudan, but it also brought the religion of
Islam, which is the next important factor we will discuss. Islam is a religion that values unity and

brotherhood and can bridge factors that would normally divide a people. Thus, Islam became a
basis for larger kingdoms to come into being under one ruler who was provided a commonly
accepted authority by Islam. In addition to providing unity, Islam is an educated religion that
promotes literacy and teaching, which allowed for an educated class of people who became
administrators and advisors in the courts of the various kingdoms. Muslim systems of justice and
taxation were also adopted by rulers of West African kingdoms and provided previously
unmatched efficiency and organization. An important tenet of Islam is the idea of the hajj or

pilgrimage to Mecca. This holy journey was undertaken by many of the great leaders of these

political systems and provided a myriad of benefits and resources for their people back home.
Firstly, the hajj increased a rulers reputation and therefore the reputation of their kingdom and
people, and also increased their religious standing in the eyes of their Muslim subjects. Rulers
were exposed to some of the greatest minds of their time, including architects, judges, scholars,
and other powerful rulers. They then were able to absorb this knowledge and bring it back to

their people to improve their administrations and ways of life. Some rulers even brought back
scholars and architects to inhabit their cities and teach their people the word of Islam or design

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grand mosques. In addition to this, rulers were able to established diplomatic relations with other

Muslim leaders. Mansa Kankan Musa, for instance, exchanged gifts and established ambassadors
with the African states of Egypt and Morocco and these contacts were maintained for many years
by himself and his successors. Increased diplomatic relationships with other great Muslim

powers increased trade between West Africa and their new friendly relations. Islam didnt

always bring peace, however. One aspect of the Islam is the idea of jihad or holy war, which

some rulers used as impetus to wage war on nearby territories. In some instances, the holy wars
were waged upon them, leading to chaos, instability and the eventual demise of at least one of
the early political systems.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is the influence of strong political leadership in
these early political systems. Without a strong, central leader, the emergence and expansion of

the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai would have never come about. Most of these rulers

came to power in order to organize and consolidate trade within their regions. What started as
middlemen who simply wanted to take a cut of the great riches passing through their areas,
evolved into great rulers establishing empires in order to control trade routes and ensure safe
travel within their borders. The greatest political leaders built their kingdoms by combining a

number of chiefdoms and smaller kingdoms both by peaceful means and by force. The only way
these large numbers of individual towns and peoples could coexist under a single government
was by having a strong, competent leader. While there were many periods of weak leadership in
West African history (and these weak rulers were taken advantage of, as outlying provinces
broke off and regained their independence in times when the central power was weak), there
were also a number of incredible leaders who united their people and expanded their empires
both in size, trade, and world standing.
Without strong political leaders, the trans-Saharan trade would have existed, but not been
as safe and therefore not as wide-reaching and prosperous as it became. Without the trans-

Saharan trade, Islam would have had a harder time getting to and taking root in West Africa.
Without Islam, political leaders would not have had a strong common base for their authority
across their empires, and wouldnt have been able to made diplomatic relationships with other

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Muslim powers, therefore not providing expanded trade, education, and literacy to their peoples.
And without the camel, it would be nearly impossible have and maintain large scale travel and
trade across the Sahara in the first place. As Ive clearly shown, each of the above factors was
important and integral in its own way to the emergence and expansion of the early West African
political systems, but almost none could have existed or thrived in isolation. Therefore, I
disagree with the statement that physical geography was the main factor in the emergence and
expansion of the early large political systems of West Africa, but acknowledge that it is one of a
few vitally important, interrelated factors.

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