The document summarizes three West African empires: 1) The Ghana Empire (750-1076) was founded by the Soninke people and ruled by a powerful king. It had a large army and controlled the gold and salt trade routes through a "silent barter system" without direct communication between traders. 2) The Mali Empire (1100-1400) was founded by Sundiata and expanded under powerful kings called Mansas. It converted to Islam and seized gold producing areas, controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes. Cities like Timbuktu became major trading hubs. 3) The Songhai Empire rose after 1464 under Sunni Ali and Askia Muhammad. It encouraged Muslim

1. West African Empires

3. The Empire of Ghana 750-1076 The silent barter system was a system started by Ghana, which did not involve any communication between the two trading kingdoms. Instead of meeting and arguing a price, gold would be left at a special place, and the traders would simply come and take it from that secret place. If the desired goods were not left in the same place, in return, then the trade would immediately be stopped. The trading kingdoms often could not speak the same language; therefore the “silent barter system”, was a very effective and useful way of trading. Most traders were afraid to leave too little in return of the gold Ghana provided them with, for they knew that if they did, Ghana would stop the trade. Afraid that the trade between Ghana and their kingdom would stop, many rulers would always leave a bit more than required, in return!

4. It’s been a long journey but I’m almost there! I can’t wait to get Gold from Ghana!

5. Just place the goods here! We will go back to the town and return tomorrow to see if our goods are what they want!

6. Well, They have some much needed salt, some peacock feathers… very nice! Oh yes, they also have an excellent array of spices! So, What did they leave? How much gold should we leave? A fair amount, but not too much! They will give more to ensure that we continue to trade with them!

7. Well, it’s not as much as we would like, but if we haggle, they may never trade with us again! I’ll hit the drum to let them know we have a deal!

9. The Empire of Ghana

11. The Mali Empire 1100-1400