West African Kingdoms

West African Kingdoms

Multiple Choice

By around 4000 B.C.E., some people in West Africa formed farming communities made up of

• village neighbors.

• religious officials.

• different tribes.

• extended families.

Multiple Choice

The traditional religious practice of West Africans was centered on the belief that

• the spirits of ancestors stayed nearby.

• there was only one god.

• rituals were very important.

• each person lived several lives.

Multiple Choice

How did villages form in early West Africa?

• A controlling leader forcefully took over many groups.

• Family-based communities joined together for help.

• Communities often went to war over trade disputes.

• Groups developed closely together due to gold resources.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best explains the different parts of West African village society?

• The village chief organized farming activities and the elders organized religious practices

• A village included basic family units, extended families led by village chiefs, and a council of elders.

• West Africans depended on the natural world for survival in their villages.

• Families had little power in the village and the village chiefs led the elders.

Multiple Choice

Which two uses of iron were the most significant for West Africans?

• for celebrating religious rites and using as weapons

• for decorating works of art and clearing land

• for farm tools and religious rites

• for clearing the land and using as weapons

Multiple Choice

As trade in gold, salt, and other items increased,

• trading places grew into towns and then cities.

• caravans were attacked by Berbers.

• the prices of those items increased as well.

• people stopped farming.

Multiple Choice

Religion of early Africa was called

• Buddhism

• Daoism

• Hinduism

• Animism

Multiple Choice

Descriptions of early West Africa were written by

• rulers like Mansa Musa.

• Arabic visitors like Ibn Battutah.

• respected artists.

• griots.

Multiple Choice

“Talking doesn’t fill the basket on a farm” is an example of a

• griot.

• epic.

• proverb.

• title of a dance.

Multiple Choice

One of the disadvantages of oral history is that

• no one can memorize long epics.

• it cannot be acted out.

• names and events can become confused and exaggerated.

• it is not entertaining.

Multiple Choice

A caravan is

• a group of people or animals traveling together on a long journey especially through the desert

• a car that is large and shaped like a van

• giving money or goods to a ruler or country for protection

Multiple Choice

Tribute is

• a payment made for protection or as a sign of submission

• a payment made for groceries

• a payment made for home-building

Multiple Choice

Why are historians unable to study written sources from early West African societies?

• No one can translate the documents' language.

• All of the documents were burned in a fire.

• Most of the period has no written records.

• The government owns all of the documents.

Multiple Choice

In West Africa between about 500 and 1600 C.E., Ghana, Songhai, and Mali were three _____ that arose.

• states

• kingdoms

• countries

• religions

Multiple Choice

What animal helped merchants cross the Sahara Desert?

• Horses
• Camels
• Mules
• Elephants

Multiple Choice

Which is the correct order, according to time and size?

• Mali, Songhai, Ghana

• Songhai, Mali, Ghana

• Ghana, Songhai, Mali

• Ghana, Mali, Songhai

Multiple Choice

Ghana, Mali, and Songhai all traded which TWO items?

• Gold and fish
• Gold and salt
• Gold and timber
• Gold and bronze

Multiple Choice

What African Empire was largest in size?

• Ghana

• Mali

• Songhai

Multiple Choice

The most important river to West African Empires was the?

• Nile

• Niger

• Orange

• Congo

Multiple Choice

The Ghana Empire (800s-1000s CE) grew rich from trading gold and salt in which trading network?

• Silk Roads
• Trans-Saharan
• Trans-Atlantic
• Mediterranean Route

Multiple Choice

Ghana’s position made it an ideal place

• for a shipping center.

• to conduct trade in valuable resources.

• for a caravan rest stop in the desert.

• for a Muslim pilgrimage.

Multiple Choice

Why was salt so valuable?

• Salt was used as a fertilizer for crops.

• Salt was used in many religious ceremonies.

• People needed salt in their diets and they used it to preserve and season foods.

• Salt was used as a medicine.

Multiple Choice

What was significant about the location of the Ghana Empire?

• It had access to the Atlantic Ocean and therefore valuable shipping routes

• It was located between the gold mines in the south and valuable salt resources in the north.

• The empire was isolated from other empires, keeping it safe from attacks.

• Most of the empire was located in the mountains overlooking other empires.

Multiple Choice

Every trader who came into Ghana had to

• pay a tax on the goods he carried.
• be searched by the army.
• visit the court of Tunka Manin.
• keep a careful record of all sales.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following factors is the main reason that Ghana became a powerful empire in West Africa?

• It had extremely productive agriculture
• It controlled the gold and salt trade in that region
• It traded extensively with European countries
• It was the first African empire to industrialize

Multiple Choice

Which correctly describes silent bartering?

• Trading through sign language

• Trading gold and salt for money

• Trading without speaking

• Trading on the edge of town

Multiple Choice

A technology that the early people of Ghana learned was

• how to work with iron.
• how to extract salt.
• how to spin cotton.
• how to control overgrazing.

Multiple Choice

Ghana’s rulers banned anyone else from owning

• slaves.

• gold nuggets.

• gold of any kind.

• iron weapons.

Multiple Choice

Who were the Almoravids?

• merchants from the north who controlled the salt trade

• Muslims who attacked Ghana and cut off trade routes

• Christians from southern Europe who joined forces with Ghana

• a group of sea-traveling people from the coast of southern Africa

Multiple Choice

According to legend, Mali’s rise to power began under the ruler

• Sunni Ali.

• Sunni Baru.

• Mansa Musa.

• Sundiata.

Multiple Choice

The Mali Empire replaced the ___________ Empire.

• Songhai

• Ghana

• Aksum

• Benin

Multiple Choice

A pilgrimage is a

• a journey to a holy place

• person who attended the first Thanksgiving

• a group of people or animals traveling on a long journey

Multiple Choice

What would Sundiata and Mansa Musa have in common?

• Both ruled over the Mali Empire in Africa.

• Both ruled over the Songhai Empire in Africa.

• Both ruled over the Ghana Empire in Africa.

• Both didn't rule over any Empire in Africa.

Multiple Choice

Mansa Musa, the monarch of 14th century Mali, is MOST remembered for

• defending his African kingdom from slave traders.
• his conversion to Islam and his pilgrimage to Mecca.
• his expansion of the gold trade into central and Southern Africa.
• lending his massive military forces to the Arabs during the Crusades.

Multiple Select

What happened when Mansa Musa visited Cairo. Egypt?

• He passed out gold to the poor which caused inflation

• Cairo faced economic problems for decades as a result of his visit

• Mansa Musa attacked the sultan and conquered Cairo

• There is no historical evidence that Mansa Musa visited Cairo, Egypt

Multiple Choice

Which city did Mansa Musa visit for his hajj?

• Medina

• Mecca

• Cairo

• Damascus

Multiple Choice

What did Mansa Musa do on his hajj to Mecca to let others see the wealth of Mali?

• His caravans were elaborately decorated

• He gave away a bunch of gold

• His army was large and impressive

• Showed them pictures of Timbuktu

Multiple Choice

What happened to the Mali Empire after Mansa Musa returned from his hajj?

• The Mali Empire was attacked and conquered by Songhai Empire

• Mansa Musa hired architects to build mosques, libraries, and universities

• Mansa Musa forced the citizens to convert to Islam

• Mansa Musa passed away upon his return and was replaced by his son

Multiple Choice

What famous king is illustrated on the Catalan Atlas of 1375?

• Ibn Battuta
• Sunni Ali
• Mansa Musa
• Sundiata

Multiple Choice

A rival power that grew up during the height of Mali’s empire was

• Ghana.

• Songhai.

• Timbuktu.

• Morocco.

Multiple Choice

The greatest city in West Africa during the medieval era was...

• Ghana
• Niani
• Jenne
• Timbuktu

Multiple Choice

Because of Mansa Musa's pilgrimage, Timbuktu became

• the richest city in the world.
• the leading center for learning in the world.
• the poorest city in the world.
• the least educated city in the world.

Multiple Choice

Although they were located in Africa, the Songhai and Mali Empires both adopted the main religion of the Middle East at the time, which was:

• Judaism

• Christianty

• Buddhism

• Islam

Multiple Choice

In Africa, griots became less necessary once societies began to

• develop instruments

• develop farming

• develop a written language

• develop a system of math

Multiple Choice

Who was Ibn Battuta ?

• Famous leader of Mali

• Moroccan conqueror of the Songhai

• He was a explorer who discovered North America before Columbus

• He was a Moroccan explorer and traveller who explored different parts of Africa and Asia

Multiple Choice

The Songhai Empire replaced the ___________ Empire.

• Ghana

• Mali

• Benin

• Great Zimbabwe

Multiple Choice

Sunni Ali was a great warrior that built a powerful army to break away from Mali and form which West African empire?

• Ghana

• Mali

• Songhai

Multiple Choice

Sunni Ali participated in

• only Muslim ceremonies.

• both Muslim and local religions.

• only local religious ceremonies.

• the Tuareg religion.

Multiple Choice

Askia the Great made laws for Songhai that were similar to

• the laws of Ghana.

• Hammurabi’s Code.

• the laws of other Muslim countries.

• proverbs.

Multiple Choice

The kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, & Songhai prospered primarily due to their 

• exchanges with Indian ports
• direct access to the Arabian Sea
• control of trade routes
• abundance of diamonds

Multiple Choice

Songhai’s trade declined partially because

• their trade goods were no longer valuable.

• the rulers of Songhai were not Muslim.

• bandits made trade unsafe in Songhai.

• Atlantic port cities became the new centers of trade.

Multiple Choice

All three West African Empires fell from...

• Disease
• Invasion/Rebellion
• Natural Disaster
• Hand of God

Multiple Choice

Morocco was able to defeat Songhai because

• Morocco had stronger leaders.

• Morocco had advanced weaponry.

• Songhai was in a state of chaos.

• All of the above