World History › Section M · Medieval sub-Saharan Africa › Topic M.2
Medieval sub-Saharan states and Great Zimbabwe
Gold made medieval Africa famous from Cairo to Catalonia. In West Africa, Ghana and then Mali grew rich by taxing the trade across the Sahara; in the south, Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe sent gold and ivory to the Indian Ocean. This topic asks how these states worked and how historians know.
In this topic
- Gold, salt and the rise of states
- Ghana, land of gold
- Taxing the caravans
- Worked example: did the Almoravids conquer Ghana?
- Sunjata and the founding of Mali
- Mali at its height
- Worked example: Mansa Musa's pilgrimage
- Mapungubwe
- Great Zimbabwe
- Worked example: who built Great Zimbabwe?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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