WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Mali Empire controlled all of the salt trade along the trade routes and was the second largest and most successful empire between 1230 and 1600. The Niger River played an important part in Mali’s success, providing a method of transporting heavy goods and accessing more trade.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Niger River divides into countless channels and forms the largest wetland in Western Africa. The river and wetland form an important water resource for Mali, a landlocked and generally dry country.

Detailed explanation-3: -The trade routes that evolved along the Niger River Valley have come to be known as the trans-Saharan caravan trade, a system of routes on which merchants traveled by caravan across the Sahara Desert.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Mali Empire grew and prospered by monopolizing the gold trade and developing the agricultural resources along the Niger River. Like Ghana, Mali prospered from the taxes it collected on trade in the empire. All goods passing in, out of, and through the empire were heavily taxed.

Detailed explanation-5: -The northern part of the river, known as the Niger bend, is an important area because it is the major river and source of water in that part of the Sahara. This made it the focal point of trade across the western Sahara and the centre of the Sahelian kingdoms of Mali and Gao.