Located in what is today the Republic of Ghana, the Asante kingdom was one of the richest and most powerful empires in precolonial Africa. The author explores the fascinating history, important cultural symbols, key leaders, and achievements of the empire, which flourished from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century. Readers learn about the Asante kingdom’s founding myths, ruling customs, and thriving capital at Kumasi, as well as its rich artistic and musical traditions. The text and glossary support readers in learning new social science vocabulary, as prescribed by the Common Core, and back matter resources facilitate further research.

Located in what is today the Republic of Ghana, the Asante kingdom was one of the richest and most powerful empires in precolonial Africa. The author explores the fascinating history, important cultural symbols, key leaders, and achievements of the empire, which flourished from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century. Readers learn about the Asante kingdom’s founding myths, ruling customs, and thriving capital at Kumasi, as well as its rich artistic and musical traditions. The text and glossary support readers in learning new social science vocabulary, as prescribed by the Common Core, and back matter resources facilitate further research.

The history of the Songhay Empire involves many fascinating stories--the interaction of Islam with older paganistic folk religions, the mingling of many different peoples and tribes of west Sudan, royal intrigue that pitted father against sons and brother against brother, epic battles fought in the punishing desert heat, and a ruinous civil war that left the once mighty empire vulnerable to foreign invasion and domination. This is full-bodied, red-blooded history, and it is brought to vivid life in this account, replete with a treasury of primary source material and full-color images. This text supports Common Core's mandate regarding analyzing the relationship between primary and secondary sources, citing evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, and determining the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source.

The empire of Ghana was a wealthy trading empire in West Africa located south of the Sahara Desert. Made up of a federation of the Soninke people, its richest historical record spans from about 750 until 1076 CE, due to the writings of Arab travelers and geographers from that period. The author explains what we know about this mysterious and fascinating empire, whose main city Kumbi Saleh was a link on the Saharan trade routes. Readers learn about the traditions, beliefs, and lifestyle of the Soninke and other indigenous peoples, as well as the effects of contact with Islam.

The Kingdom of Benin, which started out as a small community and grew to be a vast empire, was particularly known for its expert farming practices, building skills, and artistic abilities. Within a few centuries, the Kingdom of Benin had grown into a dominant force in the region. Contact with Portugal led to economic and military cooperation and an even wealthier and more expansive empire. Eventually, however, it also helped facilitate the slave trade and planted the seeds of Benin's eventual destruction. Today's students are woefully unaware of the political, economic, and artistic glory that was Benin. That is corrected here and done so in lavish full-color, with abundant use of enthralling photographs, artifacts, maps, illustrations, and primary source materials. This text supports Common Core's mandate regarding analyzing the relationship between primary and secondary sources, citing evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, and determining the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source.

One of the largest empires the world has ever known, the Empire of Mali flourished in West Africa from 1235 CE until 1464. The empire remains well known for its wealth and significant cultural influence, still felt hundreds of years later, both in modern Mali and its neighbors. The language, laws, and customs of the Empire of Mali spread throughout West Africa and along the Niger River, creating an enduring legacy that continues to influence and characterize the region. The empire's rich history, enthralling folklore, transporting art and music, enduring cultural and political influence, and modern-day legacy are all presented here in vivid color and dynamic presentation, with a treasure trove of full-cover photographs, maps, illustrations, and artwork. Among other standards, this text supports Common Core's mandate regarding analyzing the relationship between primary and secondary sources, citing evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, and determining the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source.

For the first time, anthropologist Robert Edgerton tells the story of the Hundred-Year War—from 1807 to 1900, between the British Empire and the Asante Kingdom—from the Asante point of view. In 1817, the first British envoy to meet the king of the Asante of West Africa was dazzled by his reception. A group of 5,000 Asante soldiers, many wearing immense caps topped with three foot eagle feathers and gold ram's horns, engulfed him with a "zeal bordering on phrensy," shooting muskets into the air. The envoy was escorted, as no fewer than 100 bands played, to the Asante king's palace and greeted by a tremendous throng of 30,000 noblemen and soldiers, bedecked with so much gold that his party had to avert their eyes to avoid the blinding glare. Some Asante elders wore gold ornaments so massive they had to be supported by attendants. But a criminal being lead to his execution - hands tied, ears severed, knives thrust through his cheeks and shoulder blades - was also paraded before them as a warning of what would befall malefactors. This first encounter set the stage for one of the longest and fiercest wars in all the European conquest of Africa. At its height, the Asante empire, on the Gold Coast of Africa in present-day Ghana, comprised three million people and had its own highly sophisticated social, political, and military institutions. Armed with European firearms, the tenacious and disciplined Asante army inflicted heavy casualties on advancing British troops, in some cases defeating them. They won the respect and admiration of British commanders, and displayed a unique willingness to adapt their traditional military tactics to counter superior British technology. Even well after a British fort had been established in Kumase, the Asante capital, the indigenous culture stubbornly resisted Europeanization, as long as the "golden stool," the sacred repository of royal power, remained in Asante hands. It was only after an entire century of fighting that resistance ultimately ceased.