Empire of MaliHolt Page 136-140

Standard 7.4.3, 7.4.4

Sundiata

Sundiata is Mali’s first leader

Had to overcome great hardships

Mighty warrior and magician

Son of a former king that built an army to win independence

Conquered nearby kingdoms, including Ghana

Mali Improves

Take over the gold and salt trade

New farmlands produce many new things

Beans, Onions, Rice and Cotton Cotton quickly becomes valuable

Once fighting was over soldiers became farmers themselves

Worked in the fields with slaves Sundiata took power away from local leaders

and granted it all to himself

Mansa Musa Mali reaches its height under Mansa Musa in 1300’s

Islam spreads as a result

Rules Mali for 25 years

Captured three cities Timbuktu

Gao

Djenne

The World takes Notice

Mansa Musa travels to Mecca in 1324 (hajj)

Stops in Cairo with 100 camels, each with 300 pds of gold

Gave away so much gold it was no longer rare there

Becomes famous throughout Africa, Asia and Europe

Musa Supports Education

Sent scholars to Morocco

Set up schools in Mali to study Qur’an

Timbuktu famous for schools

Stressed reading and writing in Arabic

Arabic becomes main language

Hires architects from Muslim countries to build elaborate mosques

All good things Must come to an End

Poor leadership after Mansa Musa weakened the empire

Son Maghan took over and couldn’t stop raiders Set fire to schools and mosques

Mali slowly declined for two reasons

#1-It was too big to control Parts of the empire started to break away

#2-Invaders weakened the empire Eventually even claimed all of Timbuktu

Homework

Answer Questions #1-4 on page 140 on the left side of

your notebook (WA 13)