The Importance Of Cultural Exchange In West Africa

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Recommended: Rise and fall of Mali Empire

Did you know that Mansa Musa was the wealthiest person in history? He became so rich due to cultural exchange, and Mali itself had an abundance of resources to trade with other countries. Mali became a sight for cultural exchange because of trade, technology, and culture. This grand empire was established in 1235 CE, and Mali’s great wealth came from gold and salt mines. While Mansa Musa was in Timbuktu, he converted people into the religion of Islam, and expanded the city. He also made it a trade center for learning, and built a university and a few mosques. As you can see, Mali was a huge sight for cultural exchange, and it was a very successful reign. Mali became a sight for cultural exchange because of trade, helpful Mansas, …show more content…

Making the long and difficult journey across the savannah was difficult, but they got rewarded with the gold in the end. “One effect of the exchanges was that West Africa became connected to the Islamic trade networks and thus to all of Afro-Eurasia.” (according to the UC Davis History-Social Science Project Lesson Plan on Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World-Mali) West Africa traded through an Islamic trade network. This allowed new people to introduce different parts of their cultures and lifestyles to Mali. Because of this, they began to establish new ways to form their own unique culture and …show more content…

During their stay, they converted the Berber peoples to Islam, and began to convert other people in West Africa to Islam too. Mansa Musa, the king of Mali, built a pilgrimage to Mecca. About 100 camel loads of gold. came with him, and he and his crew traveled from city to city. Mansa Musa was extremely wealthy and built a lot of mosques, and madrassas. He also wanted the people in Timbuktu to convert into the religion of Islam. Aside from all of this, the goal and main purpose of this pilgrimage was to convert everyone into Islam. This was a successful mission because Mansa Musa helped the citizens of Africa to see how amazing Islam was, and he triumphantly expressed the good in this new religion. “Muslims there built a university that was well respected in the Islamic world, and students and teachers traveled to study and read its manuscripts.” (UC Davis History-Social Science Project Lesson Plan on Sites of Encounter in the Medieval

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