Niger River

• What does it provide?– Water, food, transportation

• The four regions we just talked about all surround the Niger

• The Niger’s middle section is an area of lakes and marshes called an inland delta– Many animals live here

Trade

• Began using camels to carry heavy loads through desert, expands trade

• Take salt from Sahara south to trade for gold

• Take gold and copper to the north to trade in Europe/Islamic World

• Places where people gathered for trade become towns, like Timbuktu

Leaders: Mansa Musa• He helped spread Islam by

– Sending scholars abroad to study, setting up schools in Timbuktu

– Making Arabic the main language for religion, government and trade

– Hiring architects to build mosques throughout the empire

Leaders: Askia the Great• Askia was a devoted

Muslim and he helped spread Islam

• He also made a pilgrimage to Mecca like Mansa Musa (Mali’s great king)

• Education flourished under his rule

• Many schools and mosques were built

Pilgrimage to Mecca

Griots

• Griots were West African storytellers

• They were highly respected• Their job was to remember

and pass on their people’s history

• They had to remember hundreds of names and events