Page 24 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

Cha P ter 1

thE Ghana EmpirE

THE LAND OF MEDIEvALvALv GHANA LAY FAR INLAND FROM op p os it e
the Atlantic coast of West Africa, and about 100 miles north of the The Berber people known
Niger River in the sparse grasslands of the Sahel. One of the earliest of as Sanhaja competed with
the medieval empires of that region was the Ghana Empire. It came into the Soninke of ancient
existence some time after 500 c.e. and lasted until late in the 12th cen- Ghana for control of the
desert trade routes and
tury. (The name of the modern republic of Ghana was chosen in honor market cities.
of that ancient kingdom, but there is no direct relationship between
the two. Modern Ghana lies hundreds of miles to the southeast, on the
Atlantic coast.)
The dominant people of ancient Ghana were the Soninke. They
were the most northern of the Mande peoples, and they called their
area Wagadu. Some ancestors of the Soninke were probably among the
Stone Age farmers who began growing sorghum and millet in the Sahel
grasslands from 3000 b.c.e. to 1000 b.c.e.
By about 1000 b.c.e., the Soninke’s ancestors began establishing
small settled communities, and around 600 b.c.e. these grew into large
villages administered by chieftains. These early farmers were among
the first to take advantage of the iron-working technology that devel-
oped in West Africa by about 500 b.c.e. to 400 b.c.e.
The Soninke were in contact with the nomads of the Sahara, from
whom they acquired small horses brought from North Africa. The early
Soninke’s superior iron weapons and horses made it possible for them
to establish a kingdom. They gradually expanded their territories and
dominated neighboring rulers until, by the 10th century, the kingdom
had become an empire.

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