Precursor polity of the Ghana Kingdom

Timeline

1. c. 600–650Sahel, upper Senegal River · West AfricaDriven by trade interests, the Soninke clans formed a unified kingship; "Ghana" meant "king of warriors," and rulers bore the title "Kaya Maghan" or similar, beginning to levy tolls on trade routes.
2. 650–700Capital at Kumbi · West AfricaThe polity controlled southern gold-mining areas and nodes of trans-Saharan trade routes to the north, accumulating wealth through taxes on gold, slaves, and salt, maintaining cavalry and palace guards, and receiving regular tribute from vassal tribes.
3. c. 680–700West Africa–North Africa trade interface · SahelArab merchants and geographers began to record this land of gold; the polity transitioned from its "precursor" stage into what later generations called the Ghana Empire, becoming a Sahel power known to the Islamic world.