The key item in this financial structure was the
regulation of the vast gold resources of West Africa, and it was by
controlling its availability that the king was also able to
manipulate its value. However, after the eleventh century, the
Ghanaian empire was continually exposed to harassment from a
long series of Arabic holy wars. Over a long period of time, the
power of the king was reduced until the empire of Ghana finally
collapsed. From its ashes emerged the basis for the creation of a
new and even larger empire: the empire of Mali.
Mali, like Ghana, was built on gold. While Ghana had been under
attack by the Arabs from outside, various peoples from within
struck for their own freedom. The Mandinka people, who had been
the middlemen in the gold trade and who had received protection
from the king of Ghana, achieved their independence in 1230 A.D.
They went on to use their position in the gold trade to build an
empire of their own. The peak of their influence and power was
achieved in the early fourteenth century under MansaKankan Musa
who ruled Mali for a quarter of a century.
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