Question

what can we infer about the ghana empires political structure from its control over gold and salt trade? the empire relied entirely on military force to maintain control centralized authority was necessary to regulate complex trade networks local chiefs had complete autonomy over their territories religious leaders held more power than political rulers

Explanation:

Controlling complex gold - salt trade networks requires coordination and regulation. A centralized authority is best suited to manage such large - scale and intricate trade systems. Military force alone is not sufficient for long - term trade control. Local chiefs having complete autonomy would make trade regulation difficult, and there is no indication from the trade control that religious leaders had more power than political rulers.

Answer:

Centralized authority was necessary to regulate complex trade networks