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During the 200 year period between 1301 and 1500 (the 14th and 15th century) the main civilizations and kingdoms in Africa were the Mali Empire, Kingdom of Kongo, Ife Empire, Benin Kingdom, Songhai Empire, Hausa City-states, Wolof Empire, Great Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Makuria, Kanem Empire,Ethiopian Empire, Kilwa Sultanate, Kingdom of Mapungubwe, Kingdom of Mutapa, and the Ajuran Sultanate.
Kanem rose in the 8th century in the region to the north and east of Lake Chad. The Kanem empire went into decline, shrank, and in the 14th century was defeated by Bilala invaders from the Lake Fitri region. [7] Around the 9th century AD, the central Sudanic Empire of Kanem, with its capital at Njimi, was founded by the Kanuri-speaking nomads ...
The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Europe and the Mongol Empire. [1] [2] West Africa experienced economic growth and prosperity.
Gold dust was used all over the empire, but was not valued equally in all regions. By the beginning of the 14th century, Mali was the source of almost half the Old World's gold exported from mines in Bambuk, Boure and Galam. [46] Gold mines in Boure, which is located in present-day Guinea, were discovered sometime near the end of the 12th ...
There were many kingdoms and empires in all regions of the continent of Africa throughout history. A kingdom is a state with a king or queen as its head. [1] An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant centre and subordinate peripheries".
In West Africa, the trans-Saharan trade routes connected the rich gold-producing regions around the Niger River with North Africa and the Mediterranean. This connection allowed West African empires like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai to flourish as they traded gold, salt, ivory, and slaves for goods from the Mediterranean world, such as textiles and ...
In the fifteenth century, for example, the Ajuran Empire was the only hydraulic empire in Africa at the time. [148] As a water dynasty, the Ajuran state monopolized the water resources of the Shebelle and Jubba rivers. [149] Through hydraulic engineering, it constructed many of the limestone wells and cisterns of the state that remain in use ...
Conquest of territory in Africa also meant that the Portuguese could use African gold to finance travel along this new trade route. [18] The Portuguese began significant trading with West Africa in the 15th century. This trade was primarily for the same commodities the Arabs had bought—gold, ivory, and slaves.