Ghana Empire

Coordinates: 15°40′N 8°00′W / 15.667°N 8.000°W / 15.667; -8.000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ghana Empire
غانا
Wagadou
واغادو
c. 100–300–c. mid-1200s
African traditional religion
Later Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
Ghana 
• 700
Kaya Magan Cissé
• 790s
Dyabe Cisse
• 1040–1062
Ghana Bassi
• 1203–1235
Soumaba Cisse
Historical era1st–3rd century–13th century
• Established
c. 100–300
• Conversion to
Sosso/Submitted to the Mali Empire
c. mid-1200s
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Tichitt culture
Djenné-Djenno
Sosso Empire
Today part of

The Ghana Empire (

Arabic: غانا), also known as simply Ghana,[1] Ghanata, or Wagadou, was a West African classical to post-classical era western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali
.

It is uncertain when Ghana's ruling dynasty began among historians. The first identifiable mention of the imperial dynasty in written records was made by

Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 830.[2] Further information about the empire was provided by the accounts of Cordoban scholar al-Bakri
when he wrote about the region in the 11th century.

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. In 1957, the British colony of the Gold Coast, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah named itself Ghana upon independence in honor and remembrance of the historic empire, although their geographic boundaries never overlapped.

Etymology

The word ghana means warrior or war chief, and was the title given to the rulers of the kingdom. Kaya Maghan (king of gold) was another title for these kings. The Soninke name for the polity was Ouagadou.[3]

Origin Historiography

Oral traditions

Soninke oral traditions, although they vary much amongst themselves, generally call their most ancient polity Wagadu, or the "place of the Wague", the term current in the 19th century for the local nobility. The legendary progenitory of the Soninke was a man named Dinga, who came "from the east" (possibly Aswan, Egypt[4]), after which he migrated to a variety of locations in western Sudan, in each place leaving children by different wives. In order to take power he had to kill a goblin, and then marry his daughters, who became the ancestors of the clans that were dominant in the region at the time. Upon Dinga's death, his two sons Khine and Dyabe contested the kingship, and Dyabe was victorious, founding Wagadu.[5]

The traditions of the

Hassaniya Arabs and Berbers in Mauritania maintain that the earliest occupants of areas such as the Adrar and Tagant were Black. These regions, part of the core of Wagadu, remained largely Soninke until at least the 16th century.[6]

Medieval Arab Writers and a Berber Origin

The earliest discussions of Ghana's origins are found in the Sudanese chronicles of

Abi Talib or through his son-in-law Ali.[12]

French colonial officials, notably

Fulbe (who actually co-founded the Takrur civilization).[13]

This idea of a foreign origin for Wagadu is generally disregarded by modern scholars. Levtzion and Spaulding, for example, argue that al-Idrisi's testimony should be looked at skeptically due to serious miscalculations in geography and historical chronology.[14] The archaeologist and historian Raymond Mauny argues that al-Kati's and al-Saadi's theories were based on the presence (after Ghana's demise) of nomadic Berbers originally from Libya, and the assumption that they were the ruling caste in an earlier age. Earlier accounts such Ya'qubi (872 CE), al-Masudi (c. 944 CE), Ibn Hawqal (977 CE), al-Biruni (c. 1036 CE), and al-Bakri (1068 CE) all describe the population and rulers of Ghana as "negroes".[15] Delafosse's works, meanwhile, have been harshly criticised by scholars such as Charles Monteil, Robert Cornevin and others for being "unacceptable" and "too creative to be useful to historians", particularly in relation to his interpretation of West African genealogies,[16][17][18][19]

Bambuk, Bure, Lobi, and Akan
.

Modern Archaeology and a Local Origin

Beginning in the mid 20th century as more archeological data became available, scholars began to favor a purely local origin for Ghana. These works bring together archaeology, descriptive geographical sources written between 830 and 1400 AD, the Tarikhs from the 16th and 17th centuries, and the oral traditions.[20] In 1969 Patrick Munson excavated at Dhar Tichitt (a site associated with the ancestors of the Soninke), which clearly reflected a complex culture that was present by 1600 BC and had architectural and material cultural elements similar to those found at Koumbi Saleh in the 1920s.[21]

The earliest proto-polity ancestral to Ghana likely arose from a large collection of ancient proto-

Dhar Walata has shown that, as the desert advanced, the local groups moved southward into the still well-watered areas of what is now northern Mali.[28]

Niger Bend Theory

Historian Dierk Lange has argued that the core of Wagadou was not Koumbi Saleh but in fact lay near Lake Faguibine, on the Niger Bend. This area was historically more fertile than the Tichitt zone, and Lange draws on oral traditions to support his argument, contending that dynastic struggles in the 11th century pushed the capital west.[29]

History

Rise of the Empire

A proposed founding date of c. 100 300 CE fits very well within what is known about the Wagadu state's control of the trans-saharan gold trade and the attendant time scale.[30] The introduction of the camel to the western Sahara in the 3rd century AD served as a major catalyst 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, irregular trade routes into a network running between North Africa and the Niger River. The Ghana Empire grew rich from this trans-Saharan trade in gold, textiles, foods, and salt, allowing for larger urban centers to develop. The traffic furthermore encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the different trade routes.[citation needed]

Information about the empire at its height is sparse. According to Kati's

Hijra and 24 more kaya (kings) ruled afterward.[31]

Written sources vague as to the empire's maximum extent, though according to

Kaniaga, Kaarta, and Khasso.[6] Diabe, supposedly the son of Dinga, is sometimes given credit for driving the Mandinka out of the Gajaaga.[33] Two other Soninke groups to the south, the Gaja and the Karo, were dominated by the Wagu.[34]

Imperial Decline and Resurgence

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 and fell. With the gradual drying of the Sahel, the all-important epicenters of trade began to most south to the

Senegal. This gradually strengthened Ghana's vassals while weakening the core.[35] Ghana Bassi died in 1063, and was succeeded by his nephew Tunka Manin. This may have created a succession dispute with Bassi's son Qanamar, providing an opportunity for the Almoravids to intervene in the empire, promoting pro-Islam candidates for the throne.[36]

A tradition in historiography maintains that Ghana fell when it was sacked by the Almoravid invasion in 1076–77, although Ghanaians resisted attacks for a decade,[37] but this interpretation has been sharply questioned by modern scholars. Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources.[38] Dierke Lange agrees but argues that this does not preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that Ghana's demise owed much to the latter.[39] Furthermore, the archaeology of ancient Ghana does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests.[40]

Sheryl L. Burkhalter (1992) suggested that there were reasons to believe that there was conflict between the Almoravids and the empire of Ghana.

pilgrimage to Mecca in 1394, according to which the power of Ghana waned as that of the "veiled people" grew through the Almoravid movement.[43]

Whether the Almoravids conquered Ghana or not, the country certainly did convert to Islam. Al-Idrisi, whose account was written in 1154, has the country fully Muslim by that date. His report does not give any reason to believe that the Empire was smaller or weaker than it had been in the days of al-Bakri, 75 years earlier, however. 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."

Kaniaga, Diarra, Diafunu and others.[45]

Sosso occupation and successor states

Map of successor states to the Ghana Empire

This resurgence did not last, however. By 1203, the Sosso rose against their masters and conquered Ghana.

Soumaoro Kante, succeeded him and forced the people to pay him tribute. The Sosso also managed to annex the neighboring Mandinka state of Kangaba to the south, where the important goldfields of Bure were located.[citation needed
]

In his brief overview of Sudanese history, Ibn Khaldun related that "the people of Mali outnumbered the peoples of the Sudan in their neighborhood and dominated the whole region." He went on to relate that they "vanquished the Susu and acquired all their possessions, both their ancient kingdom and that of Ghana."[47] 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. Delafosse assigned an arbitrary but widely accepted date of 1230 to the event.[48]

This tradition states that Ghana Soumaba Cisse, at the time a vassal of the

Sosso, rebelled with Kangaba and became part of a loose federation of Mande-speaking states. After Soumaoro's defeat at the Battle of Kirina in 1235 (a date again assigned arbitrarily by Delafosse), the new rulers of Koumbi Saleh became permanent allies of the Mali Empire. As Mali became more powerful, Koumbi Saleh's role as an ally declined to that of a submissive state.[49] According to a detailed account of al-'Umari, written around 1340 but based on testimony given to him by the "truthful and trustworthy" shaykh Abu Uthman Sa'id al-Dukkali, Ghana still retained its functions as a sort of kingdom within the empire, its ruler being the only one allowed to bear the title malik and "who is like a deputy unto him."[49]

Economy

Most of the information about the economy of Ghana comes from al-Bakri. He noted that merchants had to pay a tax of one gold dinar on imports of salt, and two on exports of salt. Other products had fixed dues; al-Bakri mentioned both copper and "other goods." Imports probably included products such as textiles, ornaments and other materials. Many of the hand-crafted leather goods found in present-day Morocco also had their origins in the empire.[50] al-Bakri also mentioned that Muslims played a central role in commerce and held court appointments.[51]

chiefdoms on the empire's periphery.[54] 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. These contributing factors all helped the empire remain powerful for some time, providing a rich and stable economy that was to last several centuries. The empire was also known to be a major educational hub.[citation needed
] Ghana grew rich from the Trans-Saharan Trade by trading gold, iron, salt and slaves.

Government

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. Al-Bakri, a Moorish nobleman living in Spain questioned merchants who visited the empire in the 11th century and wrote of the king:

He sits in audience or to hear grievances against officials in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials. Behind the king stand ten pages holding shields and swords decorated with gold, and on his right are the sons of the kings of his country wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold. The governor of the city sits on the ground before the king and around him are ministers seated likewise. At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree that hardly ever leave the place where the king is, guarding him. Around their necks they wear collars of gold and silver studded with a number of balls of the same metals.[55]

Ghana appears to have had a central core region and was surrounded by vassal states. One of the earliest sources to describe Ghana, al-Ya'qubi, writing in 889/90 (276 AH) says that "under his authority are a number of kings" which included Sama and 'Am (?) and so extended at least to the Niger River valley.[56] These "kings" were presumably the rulers of the territorial units often called kafu in Mandinka.

The Arabic sources are vague as to how the country was governed. Al-Bakri, far and away the most detailed one, mentions that the king had officials (mazalim) who surrounded his throne when he gave justice, and these included the sons of the "kings of his country" which we must assume are the same kings that al-Ya'qubi mentioned in his account of nearly 200 years earlier. Al-Bakri's detailed geography of the region shows that in his day, or 1067/1068, Ghana was surrounded by independent kingdoms, and Sila, one of them located on the Senegal River, was "almost a match for the king of Ghana." Sama is the only such entity mentioned as a province, as it was in al-Ya'qubi's day.[57]

In al-Bakri's time, the rulers of Ghana had begun to incorporate more Muslims into government, including the treasurer, his interpreter, and "the majority of his officials."[55]

Koumbi Saleh

  • Central mausoleum in 1951 (left) and 2007 (right)
    Central mausoleum in 1951 (left) and 2007 (right)
  • Column Tomb with remains of the corner columns still intact
    Column Tomb with remains of the corner columns still intact
  • Individual burial from the Column Tomb with isolated stele placed at the head
    Individual burial from the Column Tomb with isolated stele placed at the head
  • Western necropolis of Koumbi Saleh showing the density of funerary structures
    Western necropolis of Koumbi Saleh showing the density of funerary structures
  • Funerary complex of the Column Tomb[58]
    Funerary complex of the Column Tomb[58]
  • Central mausoleum (the qubba) of the Column Tomb
    Central mausoleum (the qubba) of the Column Tomb
  • Burial excavation showing the over-pit system and surface arrangements
    Burial excavation showing the over-pit system and surface arrangements

A 17th-century chronicle written in Timbuktu, the Tarikh al-fattash, gave the name of the empire's capital as "Koumbi".[7] According to the description of the town left by Al-Bakri in 1067/1068, the capital actually consisted of two cities 10 kilometres (6 mi) apart but "between these two towns are continuous habitations", so that they might be said to have merged into one.[55] The most common identification for this capital is the site of Koumbi Saleh on the rim of the Sahara desert.[59]

El-Ghaba

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". There was also one mosque for visiting Muslim officials.[55] (El-Ghaba, coincidentally or not, means "The Forest" in Arabic.)

Muslim district

The name of the other section of the city is not recorded. In the vicinity were wells with fresh water, used to grow vegetables. It was inhabited almost entirely by Muslims, who had with twelve

Jakhanke or Mandinka
. The separate and autonomous towns outside of the main governmental center is a well-known practice used by the Jakhanke tribe of the Mandinka people throughout history.

Archaeology

The Western Nile according to al-Bakri (1068)

Beginning in the 1920s, French archaeologists excavated the site of Koumbi Saleh, although there have always been controversies about the location of Ghana's capital and whether Koumbi Saleh is the same town as the one described by al-Bakri. The site was excavated in 1949–50 by Paul Thomassey and Raymond Mauny[61] and by another French team in 1975–81.[62] The remains of Koumbi Saleh are impressive, even if the remains of the royal town, with its large palace and burial mounds, have not been located.

Contested Identification

The Western Nile according to Muhammad al-Idrisi (1154)

A problem in the identification of Koumbi Saleh as the Wagadou capital is that al-Idrisi, a twelfth-century writer, described Ghana's royal city as lying on a riverbank, a river he called the "Nile." This followed the geographic custom of his day, which confused the Niger and Senegal Rivers and believed that they formed a single river often called the "Nile of the Blacks". Whether al-Idrisi was referring to a new and later capital located elsewhere, or whether there was confusion or corruption in his text is unclear. However, he does state that the royal palace he knew was built in 510 AH (1116–1117 AD), suggesting that it was a newer town, rebuilt closer to the Niger than Koumbi Saleh.[44]

Demographics

The empire was populated by ancient Mande tribes and would come under unity through the Soninke tribe of the greater Mande ethnic group, with its citizens living in deeply established patrilineal/paternal clans and family structures.[1]

List of rulers

Soninke rulers ("Ghanas") of the Cisse dynasty

Almoravid occupation

Sosso rulers

  • Kambine Diaresso (sometimes also written as Jarisso): 1087–1090
  • Suleiman: 1090–1100
  • Bannu Bubu: 1100–1120
  • Magan Wagadou: 1120–1130
  • Gane: 1130–1140
  • Musa: 1140–1160
  • Birama: 1160–1180

Rulers during Kaniaga occupation

  • Diara Kante: 1180–1202
  • Soumaba Cisse as vassal of Soumaoro Kanté: 1203–1235

Ghanas of Wagadou tributary

See also

References

  1. ^
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    . Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  2. ^ al-Kuwarizmi in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, p. 7.
  3. ^ Willie F. Page; R. Hunt Davis, Jr., eds. (2005), "Ghana Empire", Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, vol. 2 (revised ed.), Facts on File, pp. 85–87
  4. . Retrieved 13 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Levtzion 1973, pp. 16–17.
  6. ^ a b c Kane, Oumar (2004). La première hégémonie peule. Le Fuuta Tooro de Koli Teηella à Almaami Abdul. Paris: Karthala. p. 57-60. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Houdas & Delafosse 1913, p. 76.
  8. ^ Levtzion 1973, p. 19: "It is disputed as to the tribe to which these kings belonged; some say they were Wa'kore [Soninke], others say they were Wangara [Malinke] which appears improbable. Others say they were Sanhaja which seems to me most likely … The nearest to the truth is that they were not black."
  9. ^ Houdas & Delafosse 1913, p. 78
  10. ^ Houdas & Delafosse 1913, p. 78, translation from Levtzion 1973, p. 19
  11. ^ Levtzion 1973, p. 19: "Mali is the name of an extensive territory lying in the far west [of the Sudan] to the direction of the Ocean. It was Kaya-Magha who founded the first kingdom in that region. His capital was Ghana, an important town in the country of Baghana. It is said that their kingdom was in existence before the hijra, and that twenty-two kings reigned before it and twenty-two afterwards, making forty four in all. In origin they were white, though we do not know to whom they trace their origin. Their subjects, however, were Wa'kore [Soninke]."
  12. ^ al-Idrisi in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, p. 109, and ibn Sa'id, p. 186.
  13. ^ Delafosse 1912, pp. 215–226 Vol. 1.
  14. ^ a b Levtzion & Spaulding 2003, p. 27.
  15. ^ Mauny 1954, p. 204.
  16. ^ Monteil, Charles (1966). "Fin de siècle à Médine (1898-1899)". Bulletin de l'IFAN. série B. 28 (1–2): 166.
  17. ^ Vidal, Jules (1924). "La légende officielle de Soundiata, fondateur de l'Empire manding". Bulletin du Comité d'Études Historiques et Scientifiques de l'AOF. 8 (2): 317–328.
  18. ^ African Studies Association, History in Africa, Vol. 11, African Studies Association, 1984, University of Michigan, pp. 42-51.
  19. ^ Cornevin, Robert, Histoire de l'Africa, Tome I: des origines au XVIe siècle (Paris, 1962), 347-48 (reference to Delafosse in Haut-Sénégal-Niger vol. 1, pp. 256-257)
  20. ^ Mauny 1961, pp. 72–74, 508–511.
  21. ^ Munson 1980, p. 458.
  22. ^ Arazi, Noemie. "Tracing History in Dia, in the Inland Niger Delta of Mali -Archaeology, Oral Traditions and Written Sources" (PDF). University College London. Institute of Archaeology.
  23. ^ MacDonald, K.C. Before the Empire of Ghana: Pastoralism and the Origins of Cultural Complexity in the Sahel. pp. 71–103.
  24. ^ Mcintosh, Susan Keech; Mcintosh, Roderick J. (February 1980). "Jenne-Jeno: An Ancient African City". Archaeology. 33 (1): 8–14.
  25. ^ Munson 1980, p. 465.
  26. ^ Levtzion 1973, pp. 8–17.
  27. ^ Munson 1980, p. 466.
  28. ^ Kevin McDonald, Robert Vernet, Dorian Fuller and James Woodhouse, "New Light on the Tichitt Tradition" A Preliminary Report on Survey and Excavation at Dhar Nema," pp. 78–80.
  29. ^ Lange 1996b, p. 161.
  30. ^ Ehret 2016, p. 300.
  31. ^ Hunwick 2003, p. 13 and note 5.
  32. ^ al-Bakri in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and trans. Corpus, p. 73.
  33. ^ Fall 2021, p. 28.
  34. ^ Fall 2021, p. 32.
  35. ^ Fall 2021, p. 26.
  36. ^ Lange 1996b, p. 165-6.
  37. ^ For example, Levtzion, Ghana and Mali, pp. 44–48.
  38. ^ Masonen & Fisher 1996.
  39. ^ Lange 1996a, pp. 122–159.
  40. ^ Insoll 2003, p. 230.
  41. ^ "Listening for Silences in Almoravid History: Another Reading of "The Conquest that Never Was" Camilo Gómez-Rivas
  42. ^ "Law and the Islamization of Morocco under the Almoravids" Camilo Gómez-Rivas
  43. ^ a b ibn Khaldun in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and trans. Corpus, p. 333.
  44. ^ a b al-Idrisi in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, pp. 109–110.
  45. ^ Lewicki 1971, p. 503.
  46. ^ Lewicki 1971, p. 504.
  47. ^ ibn Khaldun in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, p. 333.
  48. ^ Delafosse 1912, p. 291 Vol. 1.
  49. ^ a b al-'Umari in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and trans. Corpus, p. 262.
  50. ^ Chu, Daniel and Skinner, Elliot. A Glorious Age in Africa, 1st ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965.
  51. .
  52. .
  53. ^ al-Bakri in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and trans. Corpus, p. 81.
  54. ^ "The Story of Africa- BBC World Service". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  55. ^ a b c d al-Bakri (1067) in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, p. 80.
  56. ^ al-Ya'qubi in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and trans. Corpus, p. 21.
  57. ^ al-Bakri in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and trans., Corpus, pp. 77–83.
  58. ^ Capel, Chloe (2021). "Le Tombeau à Colonnes de Koumbi Saleh (Mauritanie – xie-xiie siècle)". REMMM: 237–262.
  59. ^ Levtzion 1973, pp. 22–26.
  60. ^ al-Bakri, 1067 in Levtzion and Hopkins, Corpus, pp. 79–80.
  61. ^ Thomassey & Mauny 1951.
  62. ^ Berthier 1997.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

15°40′N 8°00′W / 15.667°N 8.000°W / 15.667; -8.000