The history of West Africa is a tapestry woven with threads of ancient empires, vibrant cultures, and transformative events. Often overlooked in mainstream media, the region's rich past deserves recognition and understanding. This article aims to provide a concise yet comprehensive overview of West African history, focusing on the empires and kingdoms that flourished between 600 and 1800 C.E. (current era), while also touching on earlier and later periods.
Map of Africa, showing what is considered politically as West Africa, and other countries not considered politically as Western Africa, but geographically part of West Africa.
A Glimpse into Pre-Colonial Africa
Before delving into the specifics of West Africa, it's essential to acknowledge the broader context of African history. Human origins trace back to East Africa, and the earliest known historical records come from Egypt. African history is intertwined with the Middle East and Southern Europe. The Bantu Expansion saw a major migration from central Africa to sub-Saharan Africa, leaving a linguistic mark across the continent. Islam spread from Arabia throughout Africa during the Middle Ages, influencing the religious landscape.
Empires and Kingdoms of West Africa
Before European exploration and colonization, Africa had built up multiple civilizations of its own. In this section, we will explore the empires and kingdoms of West Africa.
The Ghana Empire (c. 3rd - 11th Century CE)
The first major empire to emerge in West Africa was the Ghana Empire. It was smaller than the other two empires which will be discussed later (as they formed after the Ghanaian empire). The empire was situated with the Sahara desert to the north and the rainforests to the south, in the area where Mauritania and Mali meet today. The empire was mostly composed of the Soninke people, who spoke the Mande language. They had a well-trained army, occupied camels which they used for the transport of goods and people, which is how the Soninke people started to thrive. The Ghana empire flourished due to its wealth; (West Central) Africa is well-known for its diamonds, copper and gold.
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Extent of Ghana Empire
Its decline began when their capital was sacked by the Almoravids of North Africa, as the rulers of the Ghana empire tried to gain access to trade by Saharan commercial centres. Eventually, the development of new trade routes towards the east started becoming a significant threat, and drought started to sweep over the lands. As Islam had begun to spread throughout this period, there were also multiple civil wars due to the religious difference between the Muslim and animist followers.
The Mali Empire (c. 13th - 17th Century CE)
The rise of the Mali Empire is a story of resilience. After the dissolution of the Ghana empire, there were particular states that wanted to take advantage of this collapse, such as the Kingdom of Susu. After overcoming his disabilities, Sundiata surrounded himself with mercenaries and rose to power by initiating brutal wars on his neighbours. The richest man in the history of the world actually grew rich due to the gold trade that surged during the time of the Mali Empire. His name was Mansa Musa, and he was the ninth king (mansa) of the Empire, from 1312 to 1337.
Mansa Musa expanded the Mali territory to include Timbuktu, and influenced the growth of the city, eventually making it a scholarly centre in Africa, specifically for Islam. It supported an important book trade and was home to the campuses of Sankore Madrasah, an Islamic university.
Extent of Mali Empire
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The Songhai Empire (c. 15th - 16th Century CE)
The Songhai Empire existed before the Mali Empire fell, unlike how the Mali Empire only grew after the collapse of the Ghana Empire. The Songhai Empire had its base in what is now central Mali, but took advantage of the weakening of the Mali Empire and also conquered several of the latter’s territories. Under the leadership of Sonni Ali (r. 1464-1492), the Songhai of Gao formed the Songhai Empire, which would fill the vacuum left by the Mali Empire's collapse. In 1545 to 1546, the Songhai Empire took Niani.
Extent of Songhai Empire
Mansa Musa, one of the wealthiest people who ever lived - Jessica Smith
The Kingdom of Benin (c. 13th - 19th Century CE)
The Kingdom of Benin was situated in a forest area in what is now southern Nigeria. The Kingdom was established through quite an interesting way: before the formation of the Benin Kingdom, the Edo people were ruled by a dynasty of semimythical kings, also known as the ogisos. Taking matters into their own hands, the people invited Prince Oranmiyan from Ife (a town in south-western Nigeria) to rule over them. His son, Eweka, is regarded as the first oba, or king, of Benin.
Late in the 13th century, royal power began to manifest itself under the oba Ewedo and was more firmly asserted under the most famous oba, Ewuare the Great (reigned c. 1440-80). He was described as a great warrior and magician, and helped expand the territory from the Niger River delta to what is now Lagos in the west. Fun fact: Lagos was founded by a Benin army and continued to pay tribute to the oba of Benin until the end of the 19th century.
Another important name is Ozulua the Conqueror (reigned c. 1481- c. 1504), who enjoyed good relations with the Portuguese and sent ambassadors to their king. His son, Esigie (reigned c. early to mid-16th century), maintained these good relations. Through these relations, they traded in ivory, palm oil and pepper with the Portuguese, as well as with the Dutch. The Benin people served as a link with tribes in the interior of western Africa.
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The Kingdom eventually started to weaken due to succession struggles between members of the royal dynasty, resulting in civil wars. Human sacrifices only stopped after Benin City (the Kingdom’s capital) was burned down in 1897 by the British. The demise of the last remaining parts of the Benin Kingdom evolved into British Nigeria.
Smaller Political States (14th - 18th Century)
From the 14th through the 18th century, three smaller political states emerged in the forests along the coast of Africa below the Songhai Empire. The uppermost groups of states were the Gonja or Volta Kingdoms, located around the Volta River and the confluence of the Niger, on what was called the Windward Coast, now Sierra Leone and Liberia. Most of the people in the upper region of the Windward Coast belonged to a common language group, called Gur by linguists. They also held common religious beliefs and a common system of land ownership.
Below the Volta lay the Asante Empire in the southeastern geographical area of the contemporary nations of Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and modern Ghana. By the 15th century the Akan peoples, who included the Baule, and Twi-speaking Asante, reached dominance in the central region. Akan culture had a highly evolved political system. One hundred years or more before the rise of democracy in North America, the Asante governed themselves through a constitution and assembly. Commercially the Asante-dominated region straddled the African trade routes that carried ivory, gold and grain. As a result, Europeans called various parts of the region the Ivory Coast, Grain Coast and Gold Coast.
Asante Empire
The transatlantic slave trade was fed by the emergence of these Volta Kingdoms and the Asante Empire. Just below the Gold Coast lay the Bights of Benin and Biafra. Oral history and findings in archeological excavation attest that Yoruba people have been the dominate group on the west bank of the Niger River as far as their historical memory extends and even further into the past.
The 12th century found the Yoruba people beginning to coalesce into a number of territorial city-states of which Ife, Oyo, and Benin dominated. Old loyalties to the clan or lineage were subordinated to allegiance to a king or oni. The Oni was chosen on a rotating basis by the clans. Below him was an elected state hierarchy that depended on broad support from the community. The people were subsistence farmers, artisans, and long distance traders in cloth, kola nuts, palm oil, and copper.
Dahomey, or Benin, created by the Fon ruling dynasty, came to dominance in the 17th century and was a contemporary of the Asante Empire. As early as the 17th century the Oyo kingdom had an unwritten constitution with a system of political checks and balances. Dahomey, located in Southern Nigeria, east of Yorubaland and west of the Niger River also claimed to have obtained kingship from the Yoruba city of Ife.
Relatively few Yoruba and Fon people, the two principal ethnic groups in the Oyo kingdoms, were enslaved in North America. Most were carried to Santa Domingo (Haiti) and Brazil. The Ibo people, the third principal group found around the Bight of Biafra in the southeastern part of the region, predominated among those enslaved in the Chesapeake region during the late 17th and early 18th century. Later in the 18th century Africans, whom the Europeans called the “Congos,” i.e.
The Trans-Saharan Trade
Between the eighth and 16th centuries, West Africa experienced a dynamic period of cultural, intellectual and economic growth. This was, in large part, thanks to the success of the extensive Trans-Saharan trade routes. Crossing over the vast Sahara Desert, these routes connected the Mediterranean with the West African savannah, which enabled sub-Saharan Africa to trade its much-coveted metals, ivory and salt. More than economic gain, they also allowed people to escape conflict, and, in the process, spread customs, traditions and languages.
The bustling activity along the Trans-Saharan routes helped fuel economies beyond the continent as the network reached places as far as the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
The Wealthiest Man in History
With some of the largest gold mines in the world, West Africa has long attracted gold-seekers from across the globe. There is no better representation of the abundance of gold in West Africa during this time than the figure of Mansa Musa. The ruler of the Mali Empire in the 14th century may well have been the wealthiest person to have ever lived. When adjusted for today’s inflation, his net worth is estimated to have stood at an eye-watering $400 billion.
During a now-legendary trip to Mecca, multiple accounts talk of Mansa Musa bringing so much gold to Cairo and handing it out so generously that he single-handedly crippled Egypt’s economy. It took more than a decade for the country to recover, while West Africa became widely known as the ‘Land of Gold’.
Early Iron Age
For the majority of the world, the general evolution in metallurgy meant graduating from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, then to the Iron Age. In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, however, stone was directly followed by iron. There is even the possibility that sub-Saharan Africa was the first part of the world to enter the Iron Age, with some evidence suggesting that iron production began as early as 2000 BC. In West Africa, it is likely that advances in iron were able to come around so quickly due to the historical prominence of pottery. Iron is smelted from the same type of clay used for making pots, meaning that West African people had long been familiar with the material as well as with the high-heat fires needed for the process.
The Yorùbá People
Given its important role in the development of West African societies, it is no wonder that the making of iron was often seen as a venerated act. This is especially true for the Yorùbá people, who associated iron with cultural and spiritual power.
As masters of the transformative process that is converting iron ore into objects such as weapons, essential tools and prestige items, blacksmiths were believed to be imbued with supernatural powers, and they formed secretive guilds to keep the knowledge among themselves. Reverence for blacksmiths can be seen across many different West African cultures.
As one of the oldest occupants of West Africa, they have a long history of conquering neighbouring peoples and absorbing them. Most other West African tribes can point to at least one aspect of their culture that originated with the Yorùbá.
The belief system commonly referred to as ‘Ifá’ was brought to the New World by enslaved peoples in the 19th century, and has since spread throughout the Americas. It even influenced the creation of similar yet distinct religions, such as Santería in Cuba or Candomblé in Brazil.
Ifá 'Mythology'
For all the millions of practitioners of Ifá, many may not know that central figures in the religion were once living people. The deities are called òrìṣàs, and a few have become so popular that they are known by people who do not even practise a variation of the Yorùbá religion, such as Ṣàngó, Ọbàtálá and Odùduwà.
However, many òrìṣàs were real people. Ṣàngó was the fourth ruler of the Ọ̀yọ́ Empire, one of the most prominent kingdoms in Yorùbá history, which saw its peak around the 17th century. Following his death, it was said he became one with the skies as the god of thunder, lightning, and fire.
Similarly, Odùduwà was a great military leader in the late-10th century and the founder of the Ife Empire, arguably the most influential civilisation in Yorùbá history. For years, he was at war with a man named Ọbàtálá, and ultimately emerged victorious.
The deification of important figures is how the Yorùbá tribe preserves their memory. The analysis of the religion can therefore offer valuable insight into Yorùbá history.
West Africa in the Ancient World (8000 BCE - 700 CE)
The area of West Africa lies in the continental area west of longitude 20 degrees east between 5 and 20 degrees north latitude. About one-third of West Africa is part of a vast continental platform with an average elevation of about 1,300 feet (400 meters). The major rivers are the Niger, Senegal, Gambia, and Volta. The climate is tropical with a rainy and dry season. The shifting weather patterns have changed the ecology of West Africa, causing the Sahara to dry up and often reducing rainfall in the Sahel and savanna areas south of the Sahara.
West Africa contains deserts, savannas, and rain forests. During ancient times, the varied economies of the region were based on agriculture in the coastal and part of the savanna areas. Cattle herding was rare in the coastal areas because of the tsetse fly but was carried out in the savanna areas, where the tsetse fly was absent. The population was concentrated in villages, towns, and cities surrounded by farming areas.
Political structures varied from powerful rulers or powerful secret societies to groups in which individuals play a greater part in decision making. Religion was concerned with the control of spiritual forces, and in most West African cultures, the ancestor was an important link with the spirit world. Masks and figures were used as a means to make contact with the spiritual forces. The use of masks can be traced back to about 6000 b.c.e., as shown on rock paintings. Masks were often controlled by secret societies and used to bring fertility, protection, and other benefits to the community. These secret societies often functioned as the social control element in cultures without powerful rulers. In these cases, masks and sometimes figures were used in police and judgment functions.
Early History
Archaeological excavations in Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal dated about 8000 b.c.e. yielded arrow points, barbs, and knives with blades slotted into shafts. These microliths aided in hunting efforts. During this period, the economy of West Africa was based on hunting and gathering.
Between 8000 and 3000 b.c.e., the Sahara was fertile and supported lush vegetation and animals. Around 8000 b.c.e., engravings of the hippopotamus, buffalo, giraffe, elephant, antelope, and other large animals indicate the people’s interest in hunting. By 6000 b.c.e., the ecology was changing, and cattle herding became the way of life. Along with paintings of their herds, the artists depicted ritual dances and the use of masks that are similar to those still used in the West African cultures south of the Sahara. By 2000 b.c.e., the Sahara could no longer support herds of animals, and the people began to move south into the area of West Africa. People in the savanna areas just south of the Sahara continued to be cattle herders.
Many West African peoples have traditions telling of their movement from the north, west, or east into the area they now occupy. Stone axes are found throughout West Africa. Excavations in forested areas of southeast Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria indicate that ground and polished stone axes were being used at about 5000-4000 b.c.e. This indicates a use of these tools for cutting and clearing forested areas and the possible beginnings of agriculture. Pottery was also found in these excavations.
There is indication that the people living on the plains near the bend of the Niger River began to cultivate red-skin rice, millet, and sorghum from indigenous food plants by 4000 b.c.e. The use of stone axes shows that agriculture was being practiced just as early in the rain forest areas. Millet and sorghum do not grow well in rain forest areas, but the early domestication of a local wild species of yam and the use of oil-palm nuts provided the basic crops. Red-skin rice was brought down and cultivated in the southwest coast areas sometime after 3000 b.c.e.
Northeast of the bend of the Niger River in Mali’s Tilemsi Valley, excavations have revealed settlements dated between 2010 and 1670 b.c.e. that produced pottery decorated with roulette and dragged-comb designs. These sites also had anthropomorphic and zoomorphic terra-cotta (fired-clay) figures and clay cylinders.
Later Settlements
In the late second millennium b.c.e., the Western Mande, living west of the Joliba River, were in contact with Mediterranean Bronze Age cultures. Around 1000 b.c.e., the Northwestern Mande acquired horses and began state building, which led to the conquest of lands and people. By 500 b.c.e., they had begun to work iron, and the people in the Guinea forest area fled from their southward movement. About 300 c.e., the Soninke established the empire of Ghana (Wagadu) and began to run into conflict with the Berbers in the north. By the third century b.c.e., there is archaeological evidence of the working of iron by the Nok culture in northern Nigeria.
The Nok culture created terra-cotta figures of people and animals in a highly developed technique of hollowed forms with holes for the escape of gases as the pieces were being heated. The tradition of creating terra-cotta sculptures continued until about 875 c.e. Dates ranging from the sixth millennium b.c.e. from Nok sites indicate an early and continuous occupation going back far earlier in time.
Just south of Lake Chad and north of the area occupied by the Nok people, excavations have revealed the Sao culture, with pottery dating as early as 550 b.c.e. More highly decorated pottery was produced between 50 and 700 c.e., along with animal and stylized human forms. This indicates a settled community continuing over a long period of time.
Humans were also the subject of art in the southeastern area of Nigeria, where the Bakor clan of the Ejagham were carving stone monuments as symbolic portraits of important clan leaders and other important individuals in the culture.
The stimulus for a stronger political structure was often trade. With a strong leader, trade transactions could be better controlled. The area south of Lake Chad was on an important trade route from east to west south of the Sahara. A little farther to the south of Lake Chad and east of the Nok area is the site that served as the cradle of the Bantu languages between 3000 and 1000 b.c.e. The Bantu languages eventually spread throughout Central Africa.
Key periods in West African History
- Prehistory: Early human settlements and development of agriculture.
- Iron Age: Emergence of ironworking technology and its impact on societies.
- Period of Major Polities: Flourishing of empires and kingdoms like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.
- Colonial Period: European exploration, colonization, and its consequences.
- Post-Independence Era: Formation of current nations and challenges faced after independence.
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