Intellectual Developments/ Technology

Gold Mines
Ghana had numerous gold mines. As a matter of fact, Ghana had such a large amount of gold, that miners had the privilege of keeping any gold dust they found while mining! The king only kept the gold nuggets. As Ghana had such an abundance in gold, it was used to make almost everything. Statues, jewellery, paintings, and even cutlery were made of pure gold in the Ghana Empire.


Gold for Salt
Although Ghana was rich in many things, it did not have salt. As salt is an important spice, which is used for day-to-day life, it was very critical for Ghana to have enough and more quantities of salt. They began to trade with Northern kingdoms, which lacked gold. Ghana had very clear regulations, as far as trade was concerned, and therefore all the Northern traders were fair with the trade-they were even ounce-for-ounce.

Silent Barter System
The silent barter system was a system started by Ghana, which did not involve any communication between the two trading kingdoms. Instead of meeting and arguing a price, gold would be left at a special place, and the traders would simply come and take it from that secret place. If the desired goods were not left in the same place, in return, then the trade would immediately be stopped. The trading kingdoms often could not speak the same language; therefore the “silent barter system”, was a very effective and useful way of trading. Most traders were afraid to leave too little in return of the gold Ghana provided them with, for they knew that if they did, Ghana would stop the trade. Afraid that the trade between Ghana and their kingdom would stop, many rulers would always leave a bit more than required, in return.

(ancient africa) 

Demographics (Ghana)

In traditional society, women had considerable economic and political powers which derived in part from their ability to control their own income and property without male oversight. Among the matrilineal Akan they also regularly assumed high statuses within the lineage and the kingdom, even though their authority was often confined to women's affairs. Colonialism and modernization has changed women's position in complex ways. Women have retained and expanded their trading opportunities and can sometimes acquire great wealth through their businesses. Men have received wider educational opportunities, however, and are better represented in government and formal sector employment. A modest women's movement has developed to address gender differences and advance women's causes.

( http://www.everyculture.com)

Politics (Ghana)

The formal incorporation of (Gold Coast) Ghana into the British Empire occurred after the 1902 battle in which the Asante Empire was thorougly defeated and its royalty banished into exile first in Sierra Leone and later to teh Sechyelles. However, even prior to this defeat, there were diverse social and political movements that agitated for some sort of social, economic and political rights. Among these were the association of states which came to be known as the Fante Confederacy and the Aborrigines Rights Protection Society. Real struggles for political freedome started in the late 1940s when the United Coast Convention (UGCC) formed by some of the established educated elite. The Secretary-General of the party, Kwame Nkrumah, who had horned his political skills in the United Kingdom during the 1945 Pan African Congress in Machester formed a more radical socialist oriented party called the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
As a result of this formation, an inchoate two-party system developed in Ghanaian politics which is still apparent in Ghanain politics. Several referenda were held in which the CPP under Nkrumah’s leadership consistently won. Finally, in 1951 the country was granted self rule under which the CPP administration could rule with the exception of the Finance, Defence and Foreign Ministries. Further agitation led to the declaration of independence on 6 March 1957 with Kwame Nkrumah as Prime Minister and the Queen of England as the ceremonial Head of State.

(ghana nation) 

Social Developments (Ghana)

Art (Ghana)

In the seventeenth century, the region of West Africa known as the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) was dotted with several small-scale principalities populated by peoples belonging to the Akan cultural group. Linked by trade routes, a shared language, and similar belief systems, these states nonetheless remained separate entities until the early eighteenth century, when Asante, an inland kingdom ruled by a chief named Osei Tutu, embarked on a process of territorial expansion that united them as one kingdom. By 1750, Asante had become a large empire whose borders were roughly congruent with those of Ghana today. Developing an inclusive model of leadership that emphasized points of similarity and adopted traditions from throughout the territory for courtly use, Osei Tutu promoted unity among the peoples over whom he ruled and cultivated a strong national identity that has remained to the present day.

The kingdom's active role in the gold, cloth, and slave trades brought vast wealth that fostered especially rich artistic traditions. The king himself was perceived as a creative force whose dynamic patronage of the arts, along with his health and appearance, were considered an important metaphor for his kingdom's strength and stability. The art of Asante, like that of all Akan peoples, wove together the verbal and the visual by illustrating spoken proverbs that communicated accepted truths and practical advice. In courtly art, verbal motifs relating to the cohesion and 

prosperity of the kingdom were used extensively.

(Met Museum)

Religion (Ghana)

Ghana didn't have a religion like the common religion today. The emperor whom they worshipped, was called the Ghana. They also worshipped the Buddha's sea of the Niger. Ghana allowed Muslims to live in their empire and help them with government and the advice on legal matters, but every few converted to Islam.

Geography Ghanian Empire

Ghana, first of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (7th-13th century)It was situated between the Sahara and the headwaters of the Senegal and Niger rivers, in an area that now comprises southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali.