Mali, Songhai, and Ghana
West African Empire Compare and Contrast
Ghana
Ghana was founded in 300 and lasted until 1200. The king collected taxes from all traders who traveled through Ghana. This added greatly to Ghana's wealth. They also relied on "salt and gold" between West and North Africa. This also allowed them to get very rich. Ghana fell when Muslim raiders began attacking areas across he empire, tried to convert people to Islam. Many smaller provinces began to break off to form their own kingdoms. Ghana was also plagued by a horrible drought and people began to move out of the area in search of a better place to live.
Mali
Mali was founded in the mid 1200s and lasted until the late 1400s. This civilization relied on "salt/gold trade", and their trade routes. They protected trade routes and increased the size of Mali greatly. This growth in size made it too difficult to control. This was the downfall of Mali.
Songhai
Songhai was founded in 1464 and lasted until 1591. Like Mali this civilization was able to get very rich and wealthy by controlling the trade Routes. There downfall happened when Moroccans attacked. The Moroccans had more firepower and men, they attacked with guns while the Songhai people had swords to defend themselves. Besides the attack Songhai was affected by drought and disease.