The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou, flourished between AD 300 and 1200. At its height between AD 750 and 1000, it was one of the richest empires in Africa.
Map of the Ghana Empire at its greatest extent.
The Empire was located in the western part of the Sahel region. It was also the largest and most powerful empire in the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.
Origins and Early Development
The Sahel region seemed incapable of sustaining life at first glance. Thanks to the Senegal, Gambia, and Niger rivers, people had inhabited this region for thousands of years. The first settlers of the Ghana Empire were hunter-gatherers who settled in to farm the land. The small settlement grew into a village where the people made a living by planting crops, mining, and trading with other tribes.
The earliest proto-polity ancestral to Ghana likely arose from a large collection of ancient proto-Mande agro-pastoralist chiefdoms that were spread over the western-most portion of the Niger River basin for over a millennium roughly spanning 1300 BCE - 300 BCE. Munsun theorized that, around 700 BCE Libyco-Berbers raiders destroyed this burgeoning state. Their opening of a trade route north, however, eventually changed the economic calculus from raiding to trade, and the native Soninke reasserted themselves around 300 BCE.
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The introduction of the camel to the western Sahara in the 3rd century A.D. and pressure from the nomadic Saharan Sanhaja served as major catalysts for the transformative social changes that resulted in the empire's formation. By the time of the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century, the camel had changed the ancient, more irregular trade routes into a trade network running from Morocco to the Niger River.
Rise to Power and Prosperity
The Ghana Empire first appeared on the records of learned men such as al-Khwarizmi and al-Fazari who called it “the land of gold.” The most important source of information on the Ghana Empire was the historian al-Bakri who visited its capital, Koumbi Saleh. In his records of the Ghana royal court, al-Bakri told his audience that the king wore many gold jewelry. The abundance of gold in the Ghana Empire was the reason behind their wealth. It also fueled the gold and salt trade that thrived in the region during the Medieval Period.
Ghana was one of the earliest and most important empires of West Africa, controlling trans-Saharan trade from its capital, Kumbi, and lasting nearly five hundred years. The introduction of the camel allowed trans-Saharan trade to increase the quantity of goods that were transported in and out of the El-Ghaba forest region.
The route taken by traders of the Maghreb to Ghana started in North Africa in Tahert. Trade came down through Sjilmasa in southern Morocco. From there, the trail went south and inland, running parallel with the coast, continuing southeast through Awdaghust, and terminating in Kumbi, the royal capital of Ghana.
Trade and Economy
Berber merchants were the Ghana Empire’s best trading partners as they brought in salt that was important to the Sahel region. Salt was such a prized product for its people that they taxed a donkey-load of salt at one dinar when it entered the empire. Another two dinars were required each time it was sent out of the empire. The Ghana Empire traded with the Berbers for hundreds of years.
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Most of the information about the economy of Ghana comes from al-Bakri. The main centre of trade was Koumbi Saleh. The king claimed as his own all nuggets of gold, and allowed other people to have only 'gold dust'. In addition to the influence exerted by the king in local regions, tribute was received from various tributary states and chiefdoms on the empire's periphery. The introduction of the camel played a key role in Soninke success as well, allowing products and goods to be transported much more efficiently across the Sahara.
The Rise and Fall of the Ghana Empire: A Story of Wagadu Kings and Wealth
Society and Culture
Kingship was based on matrilineal descent, and traditionally passed to the son of the king's sister. Testimony about ancient Ghana depended on how well disposed the king was to foreign travelers, from whom the majority of information on the empire comes. Islamic writers often commented on the social-political stability of the empire based on the seemingly just actions and grandeur of the king.
Ghana appears to have had a central core region and was surrounded by vassal states. The Arabic sources are vague as to how the country was governed. According to al-Bakri, the major part of the city was called El-Ghaba and was the residence of the king. It was protected by a stone wall and functioned as the royal and spiritual capital of the Empire. It contained a sacred grove of trees in which priests lived. It also contained the king's palace, the grandest structure in the city, surrounded by other "domed buildings".
In the vicinity were wells with fresh water, used to grow vegetables. It was inhabited almost entirely by Muslims, who had with twelve mosques, one of which was designated for Friday prayers, and had a full group of scholars, scribes and Islamic jurists. Because the majority of these Muslims were merchants, this part of the city was probably its primary business district. It is likely that these inhabitants were largely black Muslims known as the Wangara and are today known as Jakhanke or Mandinka.
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Decline and Fall
Given the scattered nature of the Arabic sources and the ambiguity of the existing archaeological record, it is difficult to determine when and how Ghana declined. With the gradual drying of the Sahel, the all-important epicenters of trade began to move south to the Niger river and west to the Senegal.
New gold mines began to be worked at Bure which was out of reach of the king of Ghana and broke his control on the trade. There were also long droughts that weakened the empire’s ability to sustain its farms and herds. New trade routes began to open up to the east. Almoravids conquered the capital city, Kumbi, in 1076 CE.
A tradition in historiography maintains that Ghana was conquered by the Almoravid dynasty in 1076-77, but this interpretation has been sharply questioned by modern scholars. In fact, he describes its capital as "the greatest of all towns of the Sudan with respect to area, the most populous, and with the most extensive trade."
According to much later traditions, from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Diara Kante of Sosso took control of Koumbi Saleh and established the Diarisso dynasty. His son, Soumaoro Kante, succeeded him and forced the people to pay him tribute. According to a modern tradition, this resurgence of Mali was led by Sundiata Keita, the founder of Mali and ruler of its core area of Kangaba. After Soumaoro's defeat at the Battle of Kirina in 1235, the new rulers of Koumbi Saleh became permanent allies of the Mali Empire.
After centuries of prosperity, the empire began its decline in the second millennium, and would finally become a vassal state of the rising Mali Empire at some point in the 13th century. Despite its collapse, the empire's influence can be felt in the establishment of numerous urban centers throughout its former territory.
Key Figures in Ghana Empire History
Here's a table highlighting some key figures in the history of the Ghana Empire:
| Name | Role | Time Period |
|---|---|---|
| Dinga Cisse | Considered the first ruler of the Ghana Empire. | Early origins of the empire |
| Kaya Maghan Cissé | Ghana ruler | 700 |
| Dyabe Cisse | Ghana ruler | 790s |
| Ghana Bassi | Ghana ruler | 1040-1062 |
| Soumaba Cisse | Ghana ruler | 1203-1235 |
| Sumanguru | Chief of the Susu, conquered Kumbi in 1203 | Late 12th - Early 13th Century |
| Sundiata Keita | Founder of the Mali Empire, defeated Sumanguru in 1235 | c. 1215 - c. 1255 |
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