Ethan Kletter

Naomi Taxay

History Script

Intro (Naomi):

Trading is the action of buying and selling goods and services, which ​basically​ means

you give something, to get something. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to live in

Medieval Africa, because the only trading we ever did was trading pokemon cards in

first grade. Trading was essential, but how can we describe what this means to us?

Well, during this video we will trace the growth of the Mali and Ghana Empire, and

describe what trades they would make, and why. Stay tuned to find out more.

Ghana Empire (Naomi):

The Ghana Empire ruled in West Africa circa 830 to 1235 CE. Ghana was mainly based

around military power, which could be shown through the production of iron smelting.

Iron smelting was when the Ghana empire melted down raw ore to extract metal. This

produced iron swords, and allowed its warriors to conquer much of Western Sudan.

With its military power, the Ghana Empire ruled over the trading routes of Western

Africa. These routes brought gold, salt, and many other goods shipped from Africa to

places in Eurasia. Because of this, the kingdom of Ghana became very wealthy.

Furthermore, we can look into one of the big trades that happened during the Ghana

Empire time. This was called the “Arab Slave Trade”.

 Arab Slave Trade (Naomi):

The Arab slave trade was a trade between Sudan and Islam, that jeopardized

thousands of African lives in the medieval era. Circa 633 CE, Muslim armies conquered

areas on the North African coast. Islam started taking in slaves from North Africa, not

just non-believers, but also Muslims were taken as slaves. The slavery began in Darfur,

Africa, in 652 CE. To keep a peace agreement between Islam and Sudan, the

Sudanese leader at the time was obligated to trade several hundred African slaves

every year to the Arab invaders. This trade continued for centuries after, and about

6000 slaves were traded in total, by the end of the 18th century. Once the slaves were

traded, Muslims living in Africa would use their slaves for agriculture, labor, household

help, or to be soldiers. This impacted medieval Africa because many people were taken

from their homes, and brought to work for the Islamic people.

Mali Empire (Ethan):

The Mali Empire was a ruling empire during the 13th-17th centuries. Today, much of our

===knowledge on the Mali Empire was contributed by a written trade document called

the “Rihlah”. This document helped us understand a lot about trade during the Mali

Empire as well as geography. During the Mali Empire’s peak, it controlled much of

present day Mali, ​and it’s surrounding areas.​(Sun-dee-ah-ta kay-ta) is believed to be the

founder of the Mali Empire, as it says in the Rihlah. He decided to break the empire

down into provinces and rebuild the gold and salt trade. He realized his government

could become very rich by taxing all this trade of gold and salt. His idea of taxing the
gold and salt trade was very successful because the Mali Empire was soon dominating

trade along the Niger River. The Mali empire is still known as one of the richest empires

that ever existed.

Slave facts (Ethan):

Here are some facts about slavery in medieval Africa, that we thought you might want to

know to help you understand the Arab Slave Trade and other large trades. Did you

know that slavery was a punishment for some crimes? If you committed a crime in

medieval Africa, you would be sentenced to a few years of slavery, sometimes even

your whole life! Slaves could also, and more commonly, be captured in battle, against

foreign countries. If you were enslaved, you could buy your way to freedom, with hard

work for many years. But, we also found out that if you were a slave, that didn’t mean

your children or family members would become slaves as well. When slaves were

transported from place to place during large trades, they were brought in horrible

conditions, with little food and water. These are just a few facts about slavery that we

thought were important.

Summary (Ethan):

In conclusion, the Mali empire became extremely rich due to taxing the salt and gold

trades and the Mali empire soon found themselves holding a monopoly among trade

routes around the Niger river. Additionally the Ghana empire was based around power
of the trade routes, which brought forth more salt and gold as well. Furthermore we can

see the effect the Arab Slave Trade had on Sudan and how the Islamic religion changed

slavery.

Conclusion (both):

Ethan: Thank you so much for watching our video about the growth of the Ghana and

Mali Empires, and the Arab Slave Trade in Africa.

Naomi: I’m Naomi,

Ethan: And I’m Ethan,

Both: And you just got schooled,

Naomi: Thanks for watching and remember to stay tuned for other videos by the

Wornick 7th Grade!