Soninke Wangara

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Wangara (also known as Wakore, Wankori, Ouankri, Wangarawa, Dyula, Jula, Jakhanke, Jalonke) are a subgroup of the Soninke who later became assimilated (at varying degrees) merchant classes that specialized in both

Macina, Hausa Kingdoms & the Pashalik of Timbuktu. Wangara also describes any land south of Timbuktu and Agadez. The Bilad-Al-Sudan
or Bilad-Al-Tibr, "Land of Black" or "Gold."

History & Origin

Peter Bakewell described the Wangara as, "

Jenne, controlling the gold trade between Jenne and the Bono State goldfields.[2] They were noted for their honesty and industry.[3]

A Malian source, cited in the

Malinke
kinsmen by claiming the latter to be princes and warriors and the former "traders who carry gold dust from country to country as the courtiers of princes".

Located in the Lakes Region at the eastern end of the "country of Wanqara" was Tiraqqa or Tombouze, a predecessor of

Tadmakka
in the 10th and 11th centuries—and a dependency of Ghana. Al-Idrisi describes it as "one of the towns of Wanqara"—large, well populated, and unwalled—and relates that it was "subject to the ruler of Ghana, in litigation."It remained an important mart until the 13th century, at which time Timbuktu replaced it.

Not only were they gold merchants, they exercised a virtual monopoly of the world-system's gold trade. Al-Idrisi describes their land as having "flourishing towns and famous strongholds. Its inhabitants are rich, for they possess gold in abundance, and many good things are imported to them from the outermost parts of the earth... "

They descend from

Dhar Néma
.

Punic travelers like Hanno the Navigator. If true, trade with Carthage possibly started as early as the 6th century B.C. Well before the known start of Ghana in 300B.C.-300A.D. It is very possible that the decline of Carthage after the Punic Wars left the Soninke clans cut off & tradeless as Carthage kept their source of African gold secret. (A tradition the Wangara would continue). No matter the historical fact eventually the power vacuum created was filled by Ghana-Berber trade. "The Carthaginians also tell us that they trade with a race of men who live in a part of Libya beyond the Pillars of Hercules
. On reaching this country, they unload their goods, arrange them tidily along the beach, and then, returning to their boats, raise a smoke. Seeing the smoke, the natives come down to the beach, place on the ground a certain quantity of gold in exchange for the goods, and go off again to a distance. The Carthaginians then come ashore and take a look at the gold; and if they think it represents a fair price for their wares, they collect it and go away; if, on the other hand, it seems too little, they go back aboard and wait, and the natives come and add to the gold until they are satisfied. There is perfect honesty on both sides; the Carthaginians never touch the gold until it equals in value what they have offered for sale, and the natives never touch the goods until the gold has been taken away."

Gold Trade

Though the Wangarans kept the location a secret to protect their monopoly, the general area of the Akan goldfields was known by the sixteenth century. In his Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis (1505–1508),

Bighu. Abul Qasim ibn Mohammed al-Ghassani in 1586 described Bighu as a place where "mines of gold and gold dust" were found. Sultan Muhammed Bello had an 1824 map with Bono state, Elmina, and Bighu clearly marked.[3]

In ancient Ghana by tradition all gold nuggets belonged to the King, leaving the gold dust for the trade.[4][5]

It made them rich & loyal. The tradition continued with Ghana being absorbed by the King of Mali Sundiata Keita and again with the Songhai under Askia the Great. Then the Pashalik of Timbuktu. Followed by the Fulani Jihad States. The tradition ended with the colonisation of Africa by Europe.

It was the gold mined in Wangara that paid the tribute demanded from

Moriscos by the Spanish crown during the Reconquista
. When Europe found a much larger source of gold in the Americas many African states began to decline. Becoming the main importer of slaves instead of gold.

In the closing years of the 18th and the opening years of the 19th century, the discoveries of Friedrich Hornemann, Mungo Park and others revived the stories of Wangara and its richness in gold. Geographers of that period, such as James Rennell, shifted the Wangara country far to the east and confused Idrisi's description with accounts which probably referred to Lake Chad.[6]

Today, many West African gold mines are rife with foreigners, corruption & human rights abuses. Have little oversight and zero trickle down to the people. Essentially dismantling any control of the gold trade Wangarans may have had left.

Expansion

Between the 12th and 14th centuries, the Wangara extended their trade networks eastwards towards the

Almohad political and social hegemonies and commercial activity in the Maghreb and Andalusia
(9th–15th century) and, in part, an effort to consolidate Ghana's political interests in the southern Sahara. After many years of assimilating with local populations many Wangara communities identified more as a social class of their own than just ethnically Soninke.

Into Yorubaland

During the reign of

Esin Imale
, "Religion of the Malians" or "Hard Knowledge". After a 2nd wave of Songhai speaking Wangara and a 3rd wave by Muslim Fulani, many Yoruba subgroups such as the Ijesa, Oyo, Ilorin, Egba & Ijebu had sizable Muslim communities by the 19th century.

Into the Atlantic Coast

By the 16th Century, improved sailing techniques and better ships began to cause the slow decline of the long dominant

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade fueled intertribal rivalries making matters worse. In 1505 A.D., a number of Mali Empire clans called the Mane people
migrated from the Niger river to Atlantic coast in a supposed dispute turned exile of a noblewoman named "Mabete Macarico" of the Camara Clan by the Mansa (Emperor) when she addresses his incompetence. By 1570 A.D., the Mane people assimilated all the native inhabitants of modern Sierra Leone & Liberia to varying degrees. Whether it be linguistically, religiously or culturally. It is through here and Senegambia that the Wangara began to acquire firearms and more easily accessible goods.

Into Mossiland

Paradoxically, the infiltration of Wangara traders (also known as Marka or Yalsé) into

Songhay
usurpation in last consequence.

The Mossi (who were hostile to Islam) in earlier times raided the northern markets for trade goods, especially salt, but later permitted

Muslim traders from these areas to import the desired goods into their own country. The survival of the Songhay kingdom in the eastern Gourma following the Moroccan
conquest of 1592, could be explained as a consequence of the gradual and peaceful penetration of the Wangara into these eastern regions: Gourma (with Boulsa, Bilanga), Dendi and Borgou.

Into Hausaland

The relevant sources, the Kano Chronicle and one used by Ibrahim b. Mhd. n.Idris b.Husai, dated to 1061 (1650/51), mention that the Wangarawa—as many as 160 people—emigrated under the leadership of Shaikh Abderrahman surnamed Za(gha)iti and came to Kano and introduced Islam, according to the first source in Yaji's time (1349–1385), according to the second under Mohamad Rumfa (AH 867–904, 1463–99), after having left Mali in 835 AH (1433 AD).

The surname, derived from "Zagha" or "Zeghai", may point to the town of

Zagha (Zare- or Sare-) in the Macina or Lake region south of Timbuktu. These Wangara left during a time of great insecurity due to Mossi incursions and moved to greater Songhay protection, adopted the Songhay language, and perhaps intensified the commercial contacts between Songhay and Hausa. In their eastern migration, it is believed that the Wangara split up in two groups in Gobir, one going to Kano and the other going to the Aïr. There are documented Wangara communities in Kano, Katsina and in the Borgou
.

While there, they established "kingship" with royal councils of indigenous priestchiefs from among the members of local lineages. A certain Mohamed Korau, a Wangara, elected in 1492/3, became the first Muslim Sarkin Katsina.

Into the Volta Basin

The Volta basin has been important for the Wangara in several respects: it comprised some of the main gold-producing areas (Lobi, Banda) while being linked to others (in the

Zongo
linguistic and economic spheres.

In contemporary

Dagbon & Bono people
. Macina Fulani also maintained a presence.

Into the Eastern Sudan

While the Wangara themselves were only able to build communities as far east as

Habesha was said to have arrived in Manding by following the Niger River through this path. Traveling parallel to the Muslim Conquest
in the north. Finally settling in Kangaba as Prince and vassal of the Ghana Empire. Which would later combine into the Mali Empire under the rule of the same descendants.

Into the Americas

There are two instances of a Wangara presence in the Americas. One being the possible success of Emperor

Abu Bakr II of Mali two voyages across the Atlantic Ocean in the 14th century and the more proven recordings of black Muslim "Moors
" in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

Mansa Musa during his Hajj in Egypt told of his predecessor Abu Bakr II. Who abdicated his throne to explore the ends of the earth to never return. First sending a fleet of 400 ships and then later personally leading another consisting of 2,000. Proof of his success is scarce & any African admixture in modern Native populations would be indistinguishable from slaves brought later by Europeans. Although some Native art with debatably African features in the form of stone structures & tablets. Copper-gold speartips of possible African origin in the Caribbean. Clothing styles similar to Muslim headwear by some early encountered tribes. Even the attestment of Europeans themselves of seeing black Natives darker than the rest. Christopher Columbus himself wrote of his 3rd voyages mission to confirm reports of "canoes of the coast of Africa ready to sail". None have been confirmed but the matter has still been up for debate among historians.

Many slaves in the

Bamileke, Sara, Nupe, Arma Moors, Tuareg, Borgu, Gur
and Zongo.

Notable Leaders

M Lamine Drammeh

References

  1. ISBN 978-3-11-080068-5
    .
  2. ^ Effah-Gyamfi, Kwaku (1979), Traditional history of the Bono State Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.
  3. ^ a b Wilks,Ivor. Wangara, Akan, and Portuguese in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (1997). Bakewell, Peter (ed.). Mines of Silver and Gold in the Americas. Aldershot: Variorum, Ashgate Publishing Limited. pp. 1–39.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ISBN 9781610396356
    .
  5. ISBN 9780230308473
    .
  6. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wangara". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 303.

Sources

  • Massing, Andrew W. "The Wangara, an Old Soninke Diaspora in West Africa?" Cahiers D'Études Africaines 158 (2000): 281–308. Print.
  • Wilks, Ivor. "Wangara." Encyclopedia of Islam. 2nd ed. Vol. XI. N.p.: n.p., 2002. 137–38. Print.
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