Decline of the Mali Empire (1390s)

Timeline

1. 1391–1395Niani (imperial capital) · MaliAfter Mansa Musa (d. c. 1337), the Mali throne changed hands frequently; court factional struggles weakened central control over provincial governors, and local magnates and military leaders grew increasingly powerful.
2. 1393–1398Timbuktu · MaliTuareg nomadic forces intensified raids on Sahara trade routes, northern strongholds such as Timbuktu were plundered, and the empire struggled to maintain effective protection of the trans-Saharan gold-salt trade corridors.
3. 1396–1400Gao · MaliSonghai forces in the key Niger River city of Gao gradually threw off Mali suzerainty; tax collection and troop levies failed on the empire's eastern edge, and the political center of West Africa began shifting toward Songhai.