1. Islam
On the continent of Africa which historically had little more than isolated tribes and endless open countryside two of the most successful empires emerged from the empty savannah. The territory of the two kingdoms stretched over all of West Africa and the influence of the kings spread far beyond their boarders. The wealth of Ghana and Mali, unmatched by any government in the world, allowed vast palaces to be built in honor of the kings. The unprecedented achivements of Ghana and Mali can be attributed to their strong military, the fortunate geographic position and efficient organization of both kingdoms.
The military of both Ghana and Mali offered protection of the boarders and the trading system. The force loyal to the king of Ghana was said to be two-hundred thousand men strong with forty thousand of them archers, a formidable army to say the least. The other one hundred sixty thousand men carried spears, shields and swords. The surrounding peoples scarcely dared to threaten the powerful warriors of Ghana and Mali. The army also discouraged traders from cheating or ripping anyone off for fear of swift and decisive retribution. This allowed the Muslim traders from the north and the southern gold traders to have faith in the dumb barter system. In this way the army protected the wealth and the people of Mali and Ghana.
The unique and fortunate area that the two empires occupied was beneficial to their wealth and power. The empires stretched from the Atlantic Ocean nearly to lake Chad, south of the Sahara and north of the tsetse fly's northern boundary. The kingdoms were located on the only rout between the gold fields near the niger river and the salt mines of the Sahara. Because of the size of the armies of Mali and Ghana the traders were happy to pay the import-export taxes of the two empires. In effect the empires were making themselves the middleman of the salt gold trade which became immensely profitable.
A writer named Ibn Khaldoun described in a book he wrote "History of the Berbers" that a Sultan from Mali got a disease that killed him. ... African sleeping sickness can also be found in low endemic levels in Benin, Burkina-Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, & Zambia. ... Success in the latter phase depends on having a drug that can cross the blood-brain barrier to reach the parasite. ...
"It is also known that the rulers if the Western Sudanic empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai used slave labor on their royal plantations (Bah 75).... Mali used slaves in their military as well as in their administration. ... The success of the Atlantic slave trade was blamed on ethnic rivalries or "tribal conflicts" but it was also said that Europeans stirred up things between tribes causing hatred and hostility amongst the African people by plotting one ethnic group against another, resulting chaotic and widespread the conflict, which leads to more prisoners of war whom would b...
The kingdom of Ghana (war chief) was made up of Soninke people who were ruled by a king assisted by a council of ministers that appealed to the supernatural. The kingdom of Mali is a better organized and powerful empire made by the Mandinke, subject of Kangaba kingdom, built on the foundation of the now collapsed empire Ghana. ... Also it was said that earlier that it was Christianity that brought the demise of the Roman Empire, so how can a religion bring both success and failure? ... What attributed to their great success was their tolerance to diverse religions, their acceptance/utility ...
Chapter One ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF CASTE It seems necessary at the outset to point out the specific features of the caste system, in order more clearly to bring out the difference in social structure which has always existed between Europe and Africa. The originality of the system resides in the fact that the dynamic elements of society, whose discontent might have engendered revolution, are really satisfied with their social condition and do not seek to change it: a man of so- called "inferior caste" would categorically refuse to enter a so- called "superior" one....