| A | B |
|---|
| Sahara | world's largest desert; located in North Africa |
| Wangara | gold mining area in West Africa |
| salt | a necessary part of West African diet and valuable commodity |
| "silent trade" | kind of trading in the Sudan where two groups would trade without ever coming into contact with one another; contact was made by signaling with drums |
| Ghana | ancient African kingdom (500-1235); developed as a leading trade center |
| Kumbi-Saleh | twin cities that made up the capital of ancient Ghana in Africa |
| Almoravids | Muslim Berbers who occupied Ghana in the 11th century, leading to its decline and fall |
| Sundiata | leader of the Mali province of Ghana and defeated the last king of Ghana in 1235 |
| Mali | a province of Ghana that eventually became an empire-was a Muslim state |
| Timbuktu | capital city of Mali famous for wealth and learning |
| Songhai | a province of Mali that became an empire in 1468; its capital, Gao, was located near Timbuktu |
| Sonni Ali | king of Songhai who became known as a ruthless tyrant to city dwellers |
| Askia Muhammad | Sonni Ali's successor as king of Songhai and supported trade |
| Kilwa | one of the richest cities in East Africa; a port city |
| Zimbabwe | ancient kingdom in East Africa with gold fields and flourishing trade |
| Swahili | a Bantu language containing many Arabic and Indian words, spoken in much of eastern Africa and parts of Zaire |
| Shona | Bantu peoples who established the kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 11th century |
| Benin | a forest state of Africa, located in what is now southern Nigeria |
| Obas | the kings of Benin who ruled from the 11th to 18th centuries |
| Portugal | first traders to arrive in both East and West Africa |
| slave trade | a system that had always existed but was exploited by Europeans in the 16th century for plantation workers |
| Middle Passage | grueling sea voyage for slaves from Africa to America |
