Ancient Mali Empire: 5 Themes of Geography & 7 Criteria of Civilization

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By: Jean Sassine and Thompson Uwanomen

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Outline

5 Themes of Geography:

• Location (Relative)
• Place (Landmarks)
• Region
• Movement (Transportation)
• Interaction

7 Criteria of Civilization

• Government System
• Thickly Populated Settlements
• Writing Systems
• Social Structure
• Economic System
• Religious System
• Evidence of Intellect

Location (Relative)

• The Mali Empire was located south of Ghana
• The Mali Empire held Timbuktu, Koubi and Saleh
• Guinea, Senegal, and Algeria all border Ghana
• Most of Mali, within West Africa, can be located to the south of the Sahara Desert

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Place (Landmarks)

• Human
• The 1st Mosque of Djenne was made out of mud and some other materials
• The Bamako Grand Mosque is the city centre of Bamako, Mali

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• Physical
• The Niger River flows through several regions including Mali
• The Hombori Mountains are mountains within Mali’s Mopti Region

Region

Foods & Beverages

• Because of agriculture, rice and millet were common crops
• The Niger and Senegal rivers provided a stable water supply

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Religion

• Mansa Musa, introduced Muslim religion and culture

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Climate

• The Northern part of Mali Empire was dry and void of vegetation
• The Southern part was more wet and carried lots of vegetation.

Movement (Transportation)

A) Immigration/Emigration

• The trading city of Timbuktu attracted Muslim judges, doctors, religious leaders, and scholars from across the land

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B) Imports/Exports

• The Mali Empire imported two types of valuables, salt and gold
• The Mali Empire utilized ships and boats to transport goods including cotton

C) Transportation

• The people used camels, boats, horses, ships, and carriages to travel

Interaction

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• Irrigation projects near the Niger and Senegal river were used in daily life
• Farming was widely used across the land to gain both food and means of trade
• In order to gain wealth, people used salt, gold, and cotton to trade with one another
• Civilians went mining for new gold deposits farther towards the east

Government System

• The Mali Empire used a form of government called a monarchy with a ruler or leader in charge

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• A division of the Mali Empire resulted in new provinces and newly appointed governors

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• Famous leaders included Sundiata and Mansa Musa

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• “Able administrators” were put in charge of Mali’s foreign affairs, defense, and finance

Thickly Populated Settlements (People)

Most of the population of the Ancient Malian people was made up of two groups :

• The first were citizens speaking the Monde tongue
• The second were the many muslims that had different jobs such as judging and doctoring
• Even though these are the two main groups, however there were many citizens from Ancient Ghana because the people began to rebel for being controlled and contained for far too long

Writing System

• The writing of Ancient Mali is based off of Linguistic Diversity
• Each ethnic group and village had their own writing system
• Many indigenous languages of the Malian Empire belong to the Niger-Congo language family
• Because of the way the languages were diverse then, it remains that way today

Social Structure

• The social structure of Ancient Mali is like a caste system

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• Mansa Musa once said “Choice of destiny was not an option.” in order to keep power in the family of Musa

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• The ruler of the civilization was called “Emperor”.

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• The Emperor assigned military defences and strategies, watched over his kingdom and also assigned political posts, such as Governors

Economic System

• Agriculture included cash, and food crops like millet, corn, and yams. Cash crops included rice, peanuts, and tobacco

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• Much of the trading of Ancient Mali was based off of their most prized possession: Gold.

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• Other natural resources used were cotton, rice and salt. Ancient Mali also traded sheepskins, leather, goatskins and very other various items

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• Ancient Mali heavily taxed every item of goods coming in, out or through, the empire

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Religious System

• Mansa Musa, introduced Muslim religion to the civilization

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• Most of the civilization converted to the Islamic culture

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• Roughly 99% of population is Muslim, 1 % is Christian and other indigenous beliefs.

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• Religion was the cause for many things, the main thing being the construction of Mosques

Evidence of Intellect

• Materials were used to construct buildings and mosques such as adobe, and mud

• Advanced architecture can be seen in many structures like the first mosque of Djenne

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• Royal artists served according to kin based guilds; their jobs were being potters, ironworkers, weavers,and griots

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• Mansa Musa’s 100 army protected Mali as the appointed government controlled it

Conclusive Slide

• The Mali Empire’s cultural system, overall, allowed it to gain wealth, publicity, food and water, etc.

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• The Mali Empire was carried with several types of regional activities and ideas such as food, drinks, religions and climates

Suggestions for Future Research

• Daily Activities
• Traditions and LIfestyles
• Artistic Perspective

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“Great Things Can Arise From Mistakes”

Simple Question Slide

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“Now that we have discussed the Mali Empire, are there any questions concerning its development?”

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<http://sacredsites.com/africa/mali/djenne.html.>.

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<http://dilemmaxdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/timbuktu-architecture.jpg.>.

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<http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mali/hd_mali.htm.>.

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“History,” Lonely Planet, 2014. Web. July 2014.

<http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mali/history.>.

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<http://worldinfozone.com/facts.php?country=Mali.>.