ECONOMIC HISTORY
ORIGINS AND TIMEFRAME OF EARLY TRADE
The connections of West Africa with the Mediterranean world is a very old one, which long predates the rise of Islam in the late 6th century CE. Several centuries before the rise of the Roman empire, the Greek historian Herodotus (c.…
THE HISTORICAL ANTECEDENT OF THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT IN WEST AFRICA
The land of West Africa consists of contrasting kinds of physical environment. The forest environment differs from the savanna environment, a mountainous area from a flat lowland area, riverine area from one away from a river, an area with predominantly…
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM IN WEST AFRICA
Africa was the first continent, that Islam spread into out of Arabia in the early seventh century. Almost one-third of the world’s Muslim population resides today in the continent. It was estimated in 2002 that Muslims constitute 45% of the…
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SONGHAI, GHANA AND MALI EMPIRES
SIMILARITIES The three empires were located close to the Niger River; they developed from the same Western Sudan region. The peopling of Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires was similar. The three empires controlled the salt and gold trade. They were…
SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT LED TO THE FALL OF MALI EMPIRE
Social factors: Despite its acclaimed greatness, Mali Empire declined. Internal disputes resulted to wars within the empire. The declaration of war by the Bamana of Djenne weakened the empire. The empire encountered external attacks which led to the capture of…
SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT LED TO THE RISE OF MALI EMPIRE
Social factors: Mali Empire rose to prominence due to several factors, these include: Commissioning of great buildings like mosques in Timbuktu. This made the empire a famous centre of learning and spectacular architecture. The building of one of the centres…
THE LOCATION AND ORIGIN OF MALI EMPIRE
LOCATION Mali Empire developed from the fall of old Ghana Empire in Western Sudan. The empire’s total area included nearly all the land between the Sahara Desert and coastal forests of the Western Sudan. It spanned the modern-day countries of…
SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT LED TO THE FALL OF GHANA EMPIRE
SOCIAL FACTORS In historical movement, empires and kingdoms usually rose to their peaks and then began to experience decline or fall no matter how highly developed the empire or kingdom had been. This was the case of the Old Ghana…
SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT LED TO THE RISE OF GHANA EMPIRE
SOCIAL FACTORS Some factors usually work together to lead to the rise or expansion of empires in history. The following factors were responsible for the rise of the Old Ghana Empire reaching its peak of power and glory around the…
THE ROYAL NIGER COMPANY
The legitimate trade in communities attracted a number of British merchants to the Niger River, as well as others who had been formerly engaged in the slave trade but now changed their line of trade. The large companies that opened…
BRITISH CONTACTS WITH NIGERIA
British contact with the Nigerian people was made through three categories of people namely; the explorers, Christian missionaries and traders. The explorers included Mungo Park, Lander brothers and Henrich Barth. In the case of Christian missionaries, there was Rev. Schon,…
MEANING AND ORIGIN OF LEGITIMATE TRADE
The term, “legitimate trade” refers to the trade in commodities between Africans and the European merchants immediately after the abolition of slave trade. It was a trade where African raw materials, especially cash crops were exchanged for European goods. Such…
SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT LED TO THE FALL OF SONGHAI EMPIRE
Social Factors: The sack and subjugation of Timbuktu by external forces exposed the misrule of some emperors; this was coupled with the outbreak of drought and diseases. There was also the division of the empire into a number of separate…
SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT LED TO THE RISE OF SONGHAI EMPIRE
Social Factors: The merchants of Songhai Empire worked in partnership. The state also protected the partnership. The port cities on the Niger made the empire a very strong and powerful trading kingdom. The expansion of the Sankore University in Timbuktu,…
THE LOCATION AND ORIGIN OF SONGHAI EMPIRE
LOCATION Songhai Empire was located in West Africa along the Niger River. When it reached its peak, its location extended more than 1000 miles towards the Atlantic Ocean. It was centred on the middle reaches of the Niger River and…
THE ROLE OF GEORGE TAUBMAN GOLDIE IN NIGERIAN HISTORY
George Taubman Goldie (1846-1925) was a trained engineer. He played a major role in the founding of Nigeria. He first learnt about Nigeria from Hausa pilgrims passing through the Sudan to or from Saudi Arabia. He must have also met…
IMPACT OF TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
The impact of trans-Atlantic slave trade on African societies can be viewed from many angles. Some Africa rulers used the weapons they acquired from the sale of slaves to expand their polities by raiding other kingdoms. This led to empire…
ABOLITION OF SLAVE TRADE
The first set of people who struggled for the abolition of slavery were the captives and slaves themselves, who adopted various methods of resistance throughout their enslavement, from their capture in Africa to their sale and exploitation on plantations in…
FACTS ABOUT TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
The trans-Atlantic slave trade refers to the sourcing, selling and buying of Africans as slaves and their transportation across the Atlantic Ocean, to be sold in other parts of the world. The Portuguese and Spanish voyages across the Atlantic Ocean…
NATURE OF TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE
Trans-Saharan trade was an economic activity in which different commodities were exchanged across long distances. It was a trade by barter because there was no standard medium of exchange such as currency. The North African traders brought commodities such as…
TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE
The trans-Saharan trade refers to the long distance trade carried out across the Sahara desert by the West African kingdoms. On the other hand, the trade from the West African kingdoms lives through North African States to Europe. The two…
