Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Trade-driven, with gold and enslaved people as primary exports; imports included cloth, salt, and horses. Agriculture produced millet, sorghum, yams, cassava, and livestock.
Highly diverse: centralized empires (Songhai, Mali, Benin) coexisted with decentralized chiefdoms and tribal confederacies.
Complex hierarchies with elites (rulers, nobles, merchants) and commoners (farmers, laborers, enslaved), yet notable social mobility allowed some to rise in status.
Rich oral traditions—music, dance, storytelling—central to community life. Notable literary works include the Epic of Sundiata and the Mwindo Epic.
Traditional African religions predominated (supreme creator, lesser spirits). Significant Muslim and Christian communities also existed, especially in trade centers.