Beginning of Essay
When we think of , we usually mean the modern day country of . But what about the roots of , which dates back to the mighty ancient kingdom of ? The Kingdom of lasted from about 300 to 1300. At its time, was one of the most powerful empires in Western Africa and ....

Middle of Essay
.... group of Islamic converted West Africans called the Mandinke overthrew them. Meanwhile, another empire called Mali was slowly beginning to gain power and eventually conquered the Kingdom. An ideal location is what led the ians to be so prosperous. They grew very wealthy from their control of the southern gold fields, and even wealthier from tax collected on traded goods. The people in the gold fields of Wangara happily traded their gold for salt since they needed the salt to preserve and flavor food. Salt also helped replace the salt lost from the body through perspiration. Outside traders found gold extremely valuable for use as money and in jewel ....