32 / 80
C
omplex societies inhabited
the mid-Niger and Senegal
valleys from about 200 BC. Trade
across the Sahara enabled the
development of great empires, the
best-known of these being Ghana,
Mali, and Songhai.
The Ghana Empire, ca. 750–1076
The first and largest of the great
medieval empires in West Africa, the
Ghana
empire
, as Europe and
Arabia referred to it, on account of
the title of its emperor, was known
to its own citizens, a Mandé
subgroup known as the Soninke, as
Wagadou, reaching the height of its
power in about 1000 AD.
The Soninke were mixed
farmers, raising animals and
growing millet in an area that is now
south-eastern Mauritania, western
Mali, and eastern Senegal. Within
their territory were gold mines and
the rich floodplains of the Niger
river. The empire came into being
due to changes in the economy of
the Sahel, which allowed more
32
WEST AFRICA
Words to Understand
Empire:
An extensive group of states or countries ruled over
by a single monarch.
Ethnic:
Relating to races or large groups of people who have the
same customs, religion, origin, etc.
Mandinka:
A West African ethnic group living mainly in Senegal,
Gambia, and Sierra Leone.