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The Old Empire of Ghana started somewhere between 300 and 800 AD. The domestication of the camel helped the young empire with trade and transportation.
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The Songhai Empire was founded between 500 and 700 a.d.
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Ghana was really good with their tools and weapons which helped them capture a city called Awdaghast which was north of their empire.
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The Empire of Ghana controlled a large portion of the gold, and salt in their area. They also learned how to gather a newer material called iron. The army comprised of a whopping 200,000 warriors.
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In the 11th century, Mali became a dominant empire in the upper Niger Basin. Its great period of success began with King Sundiata in 1235.
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Mali reached it's peak under the rule of Mansa Musa, who is in fact the richest person in history. He had a net worth of roughly 400 billion dollars. He ruled from 1312 to 1337.
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In the 14th and 15th century, Mali began it's great decline. It lost many of it's strong points including it's dominance of the gold trade to the Songhai Empire.
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Until 1464 when Sunni Ali became the king, the Songhai Empire wasn't a very strong or expanding territory. However Sunni Ali changed Songhai into a dominant empire. He expanded their territory too. He ruled until his death in 1492.
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After his father's death Sunni Baru ruled over the Songhai Empire for 40 months before he was deposed in 1493 by Askia Muhammad Touré. He is more commonly known as Muhammad the Great.
