However, this early slave trade was a two-way affair. Al-Bakri, a
contemporary Arab writer, was impressed with the display of
power and affluence of the Ghanaian king. According to him, the
king had an army of two hundred thousand warriors which
included about forty thousand men with bows and arrows. (Modern
scholars know that the real power of the Ghanaian army was due
not to its large numbers as much as to its iron- pointed spears.) Al-
Bakri also described an official audience at the royal palace in
which the king, the Ghana, was surrounded by lavish trappings of
gold and silver and was attended by many pages, servants, large
numbers of faithful officials, provincial rulers, and mayors of
cities. On such occasions, the king heard the grievances of his
people and passed judgMent on them. Al- Bakri also describes
lavish royal banquets which included a great deal of ceremonial
ritual.
The power of the king, and therefore of the empire, was based on
his ability to maintain law and order in his kingdom. This
provided the development of a flourishing commerce, and it was by
taxing all imports and exports that the king was able to finance
his government.
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