The Kingdoms of West Africa

Medieval Africa

Discover Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and the networks of trade and scholarship.

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about 300 AD to about 1200 Proven

Ghana Empire

A Soninke kingdom of the western Sahel, also called Wagadu, that grew rich on the trade of gold north and salt south, from about 300 AD to about 1200.[Source 1]

The kingdom its people called Wagadu lay in what is now southern Mauritania and western Mali, far to the north of the modern country of Ghana.[Source 2] Its people were mostly Soninke, who speak a Mande language.[Source 3] "Ghana" was a title of its rulers.[Source 4]

Ghana did not mine gold itself. Its wealth came from controlling the trade: gold went north across the Sahara, salt came south, and Ghana's rulers taxed the exchange.[Source 5]

In the 11th century the geographer al-Bakri described its capital as two towns: one where the king lived, and one of Muslim merchants and scholars, with twelve mosques.[Source 6] The capital is believed to have been Koumbi Saleh.[Source 7]

How it ended

From the 12th century Ghana weakened as the Sahel dried.[Source 8] Around 1200 the Sosso rose against it and took its lands.[Source 9] In the 13th century, what remained of Ghana became part of the new Mali Empire.[Source 10]

military defeat, The Sosso, then the Mali Empire. Weakened as the Sahel dried; its lands taken by the Sosso around 1200; what remained joined Mali in the 13th century.

Where: The western Sahel, between the Sahara and the forests

Today: Mauritania and Mali

Capital: Believed to be Koumbi Saleh, in today's Mauritania

Its people

Soninke. The people of the Ghana Empire, which they called Wagadu.

Sources

  1. 1.Scholarly. Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara (inside the exhibition) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
  2. 2.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Ghana Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  3. 3.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Ghana Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  4. 4.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Ghana Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  5. 5.Scholarly. Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara (inside the exhibition) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
  6. 6.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Ghana Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  7. 7.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Ghana Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  8. 8.Scholarly. Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara (inside the exhibition) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
  9. 9.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Ghana Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  10. 10.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Ghana Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).

the 1230s to the 1600s Proven

Mali Empire

The empire of the Malinke in West Africa, founded by Sundiata Keita in the 13th century and rich in gold, whose ruler Mansa Musa made the famous pilgrimage of 1324.[Source 1]

Mali rose in the 13th century among the Malinke, a Mande people.[Source 2] Its founder, Sundiata Keita, defeated Sumanguru, king of the Sosso, who had taken the lands of the old Ghana Empire.[Source 3]

Mali's wealth came from gold. Gold dust was traded for salt from the Sahara.[Source 4]

Its most famous ruler, Mansa Musa, reigned from 1312 to 1337.[Source 5] In 1324 he made the pilgrimage to Mecca. He spent and gave away so much gold in Cairo that its value there fell.[Source 6] Under his rule Timbuktu became part of Mali and a great center of trade and learning.[Source 7] Around 1352 the traveler Ibn Battuta visited Mali.[Source 8]

Its rulers, in order

How it ended

By the 15th century Mali was in decline.[Source 9] The rising Songhai Empire took Timbuktu around 1468 and, in time, most of Mali's lands. A much smaller Mali lasted into the 17th century.[Source 10]

military defeat, The Songhai Empire. In decline by the 15th century; Songhai took Timbuktu around 1468 and, in time, most of its lands.

Where: West Africa, along the upper Niger

Today: Mali and neighboring West African countries

Its people

Malinke. The Mande people who founded the Mali Empire; Mali and Manden are names of the same land.

Sources

  1. 1.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  2. 2.Scholarly. Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara (inside the exhibition) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
  3. 3.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  4. 4.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  5. 5.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  6. 6.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  7. 7.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  8. 8.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  9. 9.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  10. 10.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).

Reigned 13th century Proven

Sundiata Keita

The founder of the Mali Empire, in the 13th century.[Source 1]

Sundiata Keita led the Malinke against Sumanguru, king of the Sosso, who had taken the lands of the old Ghana Empire. He defeated him and founded the Mali Empire.[Source 2]

Kingdom: Mali Empire

Sources

  1. 1.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  2. 2.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).

Reigned 1312 to 1337 Proven

Mansa Musa

Ruler of Mali from 1312 to 1337, whose pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 carried so much gold that its value fell in Cairo.[Source 1]

Mansa Musa ruled Mali from 1312 to 1337.[Source 2] In 1324 he made the pilgrimage to Mecca. In Cairo he spent and gave away so much gold that its value there fell.[Source 3]

Under his rule Timbuktu became part of Mali and a great center of trade and learning.[Source 4]

Kingdom: Mali Empire

Sources

  1. 1.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  2. 2.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  3. 3.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  4. 4.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Mali Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).

the 1460s to 1591 Proven

Songhai Empire

The empire of the Songhai people on the Niger, ruled from Gao, which rose in the 1460s, took Timbuktu from Mali, and fell to a Moroccan army in 1591.[Source 1]

The empire took its name from the Songhai people, and its capital was Gao.[Source 2]

Its rise began under Sunni Ali, who reigned from 1464 to 1492.[Source 3] Around 1468 his forces took Timbuktu, and in the 1470s they took Djenne, another great trading city.[Source 4]

After him, in the 1490s, Askia Muhammad took power and founded a new line of rulers. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca.[Source 5] Timbuktu remained a center of Islamic learning.[Source 6]

Its rulers, in order

How it ended

In 1591 an army sent by Ahmad al-Mansur, the sultan of Morocco, crossed the Sahara. Its soldiers carried firearms, and they defeated the Songhai.[Source 7] That defeat ended the empire.[Source 8]

military defeat, Morocco (Ahmad al-Mansur). A Moroccan army armed with firearms defeated the Songhai in 1591.

Where: West Africa, along the middle Niger

Today: Mali and Niger

Capital: Gao

Its people

Songhai. The people who gave the Songhai Empire its name and its ruling elite.

Sources

  1. 1.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  2. 2.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  3. 3.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  4. 4.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  5. 5.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  6. 6.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  7. 7.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  8. 8.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).

Reigned 1464 to 1492 Proven

Sunni Ali

The ruler who built the Songhai Empire, reigning from 1464 to 1492.[Source 1]

Sunni Ali reigned from 1464 to 1492 and made Gao the capital of the empire.[Source 1] Around 1468 his forces took Timbuktu, and in the 1470s they took Djenne.[Source 2]

Kingdom: Songhai Empire

Sources

  1. 1.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  2. 2.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).

Reigned the 1490s Proven

Askia Muhammad

The ruler who took power in Songhai in the 1490s and founded a new line of rulers.[Source 1]

Askia Muhammad took power in the 1490s, after the reign of Sunni Ali.[Source 1] He made the pilgrimage to Mecca.[Source 2]

Kingdom: Songhai Empire

Sources

  1. 1.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).
  2. 2.Reference. Mark Cartwright, Songhai Empire (World History Encyclopedia, 2019).