World History Terms: Unit 3 - Chapter 9

Kingdom of Mali

(1240-1400) In 1240, the people of ... conquered the old capital of Ghana and established a new empire. Their rulers brought both gold and salt mines under their direct control.

Kingdom of Songhai

(1464-1600) Became the largest of West Africa's three trading kingdoms. Like Ghana and Mali, ... grew rich from trade across the Sahara Desert.

Kingdom of Ghana

(750-1200) It developed in the region between the Senegal and Niger River. The Kingdom prospered by taxing the gold-salt trade.

Savanna

A band of grasslands with some trees just below the Sahara Desert in Africa. It stretches across almost the entire width of Africa, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. It was home to large numbers of pastoral peoples herding cattle and sheep.

Timbuktu

A thriving trading center on the Niger River that was part of the Mali Kingdom. ... became an important center of several important universities and attracted students from Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Jihad

Also known as "holy war." Mohammed gathered his army to retake Mecca in a "holy war."

Ibn Battuta

An Arab traveler that was impressed by the Kingdom of Mali's wealth, respect for law and the power of its ruler. It is through his extensive travels during this time period that scholars known much about life in Africa and the Middle East.

Islam

In the 7th century, the ... religion arose on the Arabian Peninsula. ... is Arabic for "submission." It is the second most popular religion in the world today. Although there are Muslims all around the world, the majority of the people that follow ... are located in Central and Southwest Asia and North Africa.

Mansa Musa

Mali's most famous ruler who expanded the kingdom greatly. He made a religious pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, also visiting Cairo in Egypt. He brought Muslim scholars and architects back with him to Mali.

Gold-Salt Trade

Merchants from North Africa exchanged ... from the Sahara Desert with ... found in West Africa. Ideas were also exchanged, such as Islamic beliefs.

Medina

Mohammed fled to this city in 622. There, he became a popular religious leader.

Hegira

Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622. This event marks the starting point of the Muslim calendar.

Saladin

The Muslim leader and warrior who recaptured Jerusalem from the Muslims during the Crusades

Five Pillars of Islam

The basic religious duties that all Muslims must fulfill - faith in one God, prayer five times a day, charity to the poor, fasting, and the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Mecca

The city in which Islam emerged located on the Arabian Peninsula.

Quran (Koran)

The holy book of Islam. It contains God's message as spoken to Mohammed.

Caliph

When Mohammed died, a group of Muslim leaders chose a new leader, who was the "successor to Mohammed." Two of the early successors were murdered. A new one then founded the Umayyad Caliphate, an Islamic Empire.

Golden Age of Muslim Culture

While learning was in decline in Western Europe, there was a period of great advances in Arab culture and technology. Arab Muslims absorbed the cultural achievements of the Greeks, Persians, Romans, Jews and Byzantines.

Mohammed

founder of Islam. He believed GOd had selected him as a messenger to preach faith in Allah, the one true God

Allah

single God in the Islamic faith.