Inayah Shabazz
May 5th, 2013
Within Ancient Africa the East and West African Societies were well known. The three west African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai arose in the Sahel and grew strong by the power of trade and cultural diffusion. In the east villages along the east coast begin to develop important trading cities along the east coast such as Kilwa, and The Great Zimbabwe. Together both the East and West African Societies each had many similarities and differences that each made them unique but brought them together through the power of both trade and cultural diffusion.
The empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai controlled West Africa between A.D. 1000 and 1500. Each empire thrived on the trade of goods across the Sahara and was affected by the exchange of culture and belief systems along the trade routes. As each empire declined, the next empire took its place. Many great kings led these empires for example, Mali's Mansa Musa helped spread West African culture and resources around the world through his hajj. The empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai developed on trade networks where culture was "traded" along with salt and gold. Like the empires of West Africa, the trading cities in East Africa grew wealthy by controlling all incoming and outgoing trade. In East Africa the city state Kilwa became the wealthiest, most powerful coastal city-state. Kilwa grew rich because it was as far south on the coast as a ship from India could sail in one monsoon season. Therefore, trade goods from southerly regions had to funnel into Kilwa, so Asian merchants could buy them. The Great Zimbabwe was South East African city state that built an empire on gold. The area was well suited to farming and cattle raising. Its location also had economic advantages. Because of this growing wealth, Great Zimbabwe became the economic, political, and religious center of its