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Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire (called 'Ghana' in Arabic sources, possibly Wagadu locally) was one of the strongest political entities in the West African Sahel fr…
Timeline
- c. 900–1050Kumbi Saleh · MauritaniaThe empire, with the Soninke as its core population, accumulated wealth by controlling gold exports south of Gao and taxing trans-Saharan routes; Arab geographers such as al-Bakri recorded that its king possessed vast quantities of gold and a large cavalry.
- c. 1101–1110Ghana Empire heartland · SahelUnder pressure from Berber forces to the south, shifting trade routes, and centrifugal tendencies among its vassals, the empire's control over emerging nodes such as Timbuktu and Gao weakened; central authority declined while the trade-route tax system partly persisted.
- c. 1200–1240Kumbi Saleh · MauritaniaThe Mali Empire, founded by the Mandinka, gradually absorbed Ghana's vassals and eventually captured the capital, ending the Ghana Empire as an independent political entity; its trade network was inherited by Mali.
Sources
- Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History — N. Levtzion; J. F. P. Hopkins (1981)
- Ancient Ghana and Mali — Nehemia Levtzion (1973)