Drill 3 · Multiple Choice · Unit 1: The Global Tapestry
AP World History Unit 1 Drill 3 is a Multiple Choice practice drill covering Unit 1: The Global Tapestry. It contains 5 original questions created by Brian Stewart, a Barron's test prep author with over 20 years of tutoring experience.
This drill focuses on state building in Sub-Saharan Africa from c. 1200 to c. 1450, with attention to the Mali Empire's governance, trans-Saharan trade, and the role of Islam in legitimizing royal authority. Read the passage carefully, then answer all five questions.
Adapted from a modern historian's analysis of the Mali Empire.
"The Mali Empire reached the height of its power under Mansa Musa (r. 1312–1337), whose pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 announced West Africa's wealth to the wider Islamic world. Yet Mali's foundations rested on control of trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt — commodities whose exchange network linked the savanna states of West Africa to the Mediterranean world. The mansas legitimized their authority through a dual system: they claimed descent from the legendary founder Sundiata Keita, invoking indigenous traditions of sacred kingship, while simultaneously projecting Islamic piety to win the loyalty of Muslim merchants and scholars. This dual legitimacy allowed Mali's rulers to govern a diverse population spanning hundreds of miles of the Niger River valley."