Rise And Fall Of The Ancient African Kingdoms Of Ghana, Mali, And Songhai

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days without water, twice as long as most pack animals. With the camel, nomads blazed new routes across the desert and trade increased. The trade routes crossed the savanna through the region farmed by the Soninke people. The Soninke people called their ruler Ghana, or war chief. Muslim traders began to use the word to refer to the Soninke region. By the 700s, Ghana was a kingdom, and its rulers were growing rich by taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory.
By the ninth century Ghana was approaching the fullest extent of its power and influence with territory extending to the south as far as the upper reaches of the Niger and Senegal, to the north into the desert and eastward to the Niger bend.
The Soninke's early involvement with the traders of the Sahara is one reason Ghana emerged as the first of the great medieval empires. The two most important trade items were gold and salt. Gold came from a forest region south of the savanna between the Niger and ...

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as well. At the time of the Kingdom of Ghana, gold was traded for salt that came down from the Sahara desert.
Ghana's king controlled trade and commanded a large army, as such, he could demand taxes and gifts from the chiefs of surrounding lands. As long as the chiefs made their payments, the king left them in peace to rule their own people. In his royal palace, the king stored gold nuggets and slabs of salt (collected as taxes). Only the king had the right to own gold nuggets, although gold dust freely circulated in the marketplace. By this means, the king limited the supply of gold and kept its price from falling. Ghana's African ruler acted as a religious leader, chief judge, and ...

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