The three powerful empires of West Africa acquired vast sums of wealth and power for two primary reasons: their military and the abundance of gold. The military was utilized to acquire vast areas of land and to control the lucrative gold-salt trade that existed with North Africa. North Africa had an abundance of salt and desired to acquire gold from the West African kingdoms. Salt was a hot commodity in West Africa because the heat made it necessary for the inhabitants to replace salt lost by sweat. Salt was also used to season and flavor food. Beginning with the Kingdom of Ghana, through the Empire of Mali, the king's control of the gold mines as well as the vast network of trade through his area led to the acquisition of enormous wealth. By leveraging the military power of the kingdoms the king profited from the trade itself. Taxes, tolls, and rents were collected by the African kingdoms as a result of the abundance of trade along routes in their territories.
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