Page 21 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

Empir E s of m E di E v al w E st africa

people of the Kingdom of Gao—which would eventually become the
Songhay Empire.
Among the many other peoples of the Mali Empire were non-
Mande ethnic groups who were identified with particular occupa-
tions. For example, the Dogon, Senufo, and many others were farmers.
Nomadic cattle herders following the seasonal rains to find grass for
their herds were called Fula. The Bozo and Somono were river special-
ists who built boats and canoes for fishing and transporting goods and
people.
The dominant people of the Songhay Empire were known as Song-
hay. They spoke the Songhay language, which was not part of Mande
culture.
With the decline of the Mali Empire and the rise of the Songhay
Empire, the populations of a large part of the former Mali Empire
became subjects of the Songhay rulers. Songhay also included many
culture groups who had lived east of Mali and whose descendants now
live in modern Burkina Faso, Benin, and Niger.
In addition to those groups already mentioned, many other cultures
and ethnic groups lived in the Ghana, Mali, and Songhay Empires. His-
torians cannot be certain that the cultural differences seen today existed
back in the 10th through 16th centuries. But the ancestors of the ethnic
groups that are known today did live in these great medieval empires.

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