The ancient Kingdom of Ghana is not related to the modern country of Ghana. The ancient kingdom was several hundred miles north of modern Ghana. It covered the modern countries of Senegal and Mauritania.
Ancient Ghana was situated just south of the Sahara desert. Its capital was Kumbi Saleh. Trade routes through the Sahara connected Ghana to northern cities and empires. Muslim merchants traded salt for gold. Salt was worth its weight in gold. Why salt? In the high temperatures of west Africa, salt is needed to prevent dehydration. When human being sweat in high temperatures, they lose the mineral. People living in this arid and hot climate needed salt in order to survive. And they got that salt through trade. |
Gold fueled the kingdom of Ghana. Ghana sat on numerous gold mines. It made Ghana rich. Dogs wore gold collars as did horses. The kings who ruled the kingdom were called ghanas. A 10th century Islamic writer said this about the king of Ghana:
"The King adorns himself like a woman wearing necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his forearms and he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in a turban of fine cotton. He holds an audience in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials…and on his right, are the sons of the vassal kings of his country, wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold.
At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree. Round their necks they wear collars of gold and silver, studded with a number of balls of the same metals."
Kumbi Saleh was the royal court of Ghana. There, the king's word was law. He listened to people's complaints and rendered judgements.
"The King adorns himself like a woman wearing necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his forearms and he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in a turban of fine cotton. He holds an audience in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials…and on his right, are the sons of the vassal kings of his country, wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold.
At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree. Round their necks they wear collars of gold and silver, studded with a number of balls of the same metals."
Kumbi Saleh was the royal court of Ghana. There, the king's word was law. He listened to people's complaints and rendered judgements.
Ghana was at its height in the mid 900s C.E. But it soon began to decline.
The reasons for Ghana's decline are numerous:
By 1235 a new empire was one the rise. And this empire would defeat the last Ghana king. His name was Sundiata of Mali.
The reasons for Ghana's decline are numerous:
- A drought hit the empire, making it more difficult to cultivate land for crops
- Gold mines opened in other areas in West Africa, not under the control of the king of Ghana
- Attacks from Muslims in the north weakened the kingdom
By 1235 a new empire was one the rise. And this empire would defeat the last Ghana king. His name was Sundiata of Mali.