How Did West African Kingdoms Maintain Their Power?

West African kingdoms maintained their power through the accumulation of wealth and the infusion of new ideas from the Trans-Saharan trade. Within the Trans-Saharan trade, West African kingdoms traded their gold for North African salt, a scarce resource in the West (McKay 236, 240). Trading gold for salt boosted the West African economy and made North Africans dependent on West Africa for trade, helping them maintain power and status. Beginning in Mali and later in Songhai, the West African kingdoms utilized their power over the Trans-Saharan trade routes to tax Berber merchants' goods (McKay 240; Hamilton 5). Taxes went directly to the reigning king and the kingdom, gaining significant wealth and helping maintain economic power. Cities in