Kingdom Of Ghana Dbq Essay

Often, achievements of older civilizations are lost in the shadows of their successors. Such is the case with the early civilizations and people of Africa. Before Europe stepped in, they were a quite advanced, flourishing continent by themselves. They had their own trade routes and systems, enormous wealth, as well as a great lack of corruption alongside an abundance of generosity, and were also advanced in the way of knowledge, even valuing it above other resources. Africa had quite advanced trade routes and systems, especially present in the kingdom of Ghana. Ghana became the trade center for trans-saharan trade. (Doc 2) In document two, an Arab Scholar, Ali-Bakri describes the lavishly decorated court of appeal and its gold-laden inhabitants, even the dogs, whom are draped with collars of gold and silver. This is evidence of the kingdom’s wealth derived from its abundance of trade. They even devised a way to overcome the language barrier between civilizations and cultures by developing a standardized and wordless means of trade involving banging to signal an accepted or unaccepted trade rather than words. As described in document 3, the reason Ghana rose to such power as a trading center was its possession of the land between the Arabs and the Wangara, who were in need of each
other's resources. Ghana had a strong military force with the ability to keep the peace, which assured safe trade for these two kingdoms. For evidence of Africa’s staggering wealth, we must look no further than the great Mansa Musa.
With a net worth equivalent to over $400 billion today, he is far and away the richest person to ever live. Not only was this tycoon immensely wealthy, he was also quite generous with his wealth, as described in document 4. One reason for his generosity was his religion. Mansa Musa was a muslim, and was therefore obligated to give away a portion of his wealth each year to charity. He more than came through on this, according to the Egyptian official in document 4, “there was no person, officer of the court, or holder of any office of the Sultanate who did not receive a sum of gold from
him.” Not only was Africa wealthy, they were scholarly too. The city of Timbuktu is the epitome of this. The city was home to doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men. (doc 5). As with modern societies, the city grew around the school, and in essence became a city of knowledge. “Various manuscripts and written books are brought here… and sold for more money than other merchandise.” (doc 5) This is a good example of how much knowledge is valued by the African people, especially Timbuktu. They even know how to make bronze sculptures, using clay as a mold which allowed them to be beautiful and ornate, as shown in document 7. In the document, the artisan describing the process holds it in high regards, describing the work as “one to cause wonder.” This appreciation of art is an indicator of their scholarship and advancement. Africa’s knowledge, wealth and generosity, and advanced trade are evident throughout its people, culture, cities, and kingdoms. It was doing well on it’s own with many advancements.