West Africa (964 – 1107 CE): Ghana’s Zenith, Sahelian Towns, and Forest Gateways

Geographic and Environmental Context

West Africa includes Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria (western and central).

• The Sahelian belt (Senegal–Niger valleys) anchored kingdoms like Ghana (Wagadu) and Takrur.

• The Niger Bend and inner Niger delta supported riverine farming, fishing, and trade, with towns such as Gao rising to prominence.

• The forest–savanna frontiers of modern Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana served as entry points for gold, kola, and ivory into Sahelian networks.

• In the east, Hausaland (northern Nigeria) consolidated into a mosaic of town-based polities linked to desert and savanna routes.

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• The Medieval Warm Period (c. 950–1250) brought more stable rainfall to the Sahel, supporting millet, sorghum, and livestock across wide zones.

• Flood-recession agriculture in the inner Niger delta flourished, producing cereals, vegetables, and fish surpluses.

• Periodic dry years still occurred, but ecological diversity across Sahel, savanna, and forest buffered subsistence.

Societies and Political Developments

• Ghana (Wagadu):

  • Reached its peak by the late 10th–11th centuries, ruling from Koumbi Saleh, with dual cities for indigenous and Muslim merchant populations.

  • Controlled the Awdaghust–Sijilmāsa caravan axis, extracting tribute and tolls on gold, salt, copper, and slaves.

  • Kings of Ghana patronized indigenous rituals but hosted Muslim scholars and traders, balancing dual authority.

• Takrur (Senegal valley):

  • Consolidated as a kingdom rivaling Ghana; rulers adopted Islam earlier than Ghana’s kings, fostering closer ties with North African merchants.

• Gao (Songhay ancestors):

  • Emerged as a rival Sahelian power on the eastern Niger; by the 11th century, Gao was a recognized kingdom with a Muslim ruling elite, noted in Arabic sources.

• Forest–savanna margins:

  • Mande-speaking traders and Akan ancestors channeled gold (Bambuk, Bure), kola nuts, and ivory northward.

  • Lineages in Upper Guinea and the Gold Coast consolidated towns, creating durable supply networks.

• Hausaland:

  • Urban communities at Kano, Katsina, Zaria grew into organized towns, each with ruling dynasties and fortified walls.

  • Early Hausa polities integrated farming, craft, and caravan trade.

• Benin region:

  • Edo-speaking communities clustered around chiefs; early forms of the Benin polity emerged in the 11th century.

Economy and Trade

• Gold–salt trade: Ghana mediated the movement of gold from Bambuk/Buré to Sijilmāsa and beyond, while Saharan salt moved south.

• Copper and iron: copper from Takedda and Air supplied smiths; local ironworking thrived in savanna belts.

• Agriculture: millet and sorghum in Sahel; African rice in Upper Guinea; yams and oil palm in forest margins.

• Livestock: cattle, sheep, and goats grazed in the Sahel; horses (imported from the Maghreb) became symbols of elite power.

• Slaves: captured in frontier wars, traded north across the Sahara, and incorporated into Sahelian households.

• Craft production: raffia cloth, iron tools, wooden sculptures, and leatherwork enriched markets.

Subsistence and Technology

• Farming systems: intensive irrigation and flood-recession farming in Senegal and Niger valleys.

• Pastoralism: transhumant cycles linked Sahel pastures with riverside gardens.

• Iron technology: bloomery furnaces supplied hoes, axes, spearheads, and ornaments.

• River transport: dugout canoes on the Senegal, Gambia, and Niger moved goods and people.

• Caravan technology: camels carried gold, salt, ivory, and textiles across the Sahara in organized trains.

Movement and Interaction Corridors

• Awdaghust ⇄ Sijilmāsa ⇄ Koumbi Saleh: Ghana’s critical trans-Saharan axis.

• Niger Bend ⇄ Gao ⇄ Air: eastern routes carrying copper, salt, and slaves.

• Senegal River ⇄ Takrur ⇄ Atlantic littoral: opening Sahelian trade toward the ocean, centuries before European contact.

• Forest tracks ⇄ Sahel towns: Mande and Akan traders linked forest resources to Sahel markets.

• Hausaland ⇄ Air ⇄ Sahara: Hausa towns connected to Saharan gateways for copper and textiles.

Belief and Symbolism

• Indigenous religions: earth shrines, ancestral spirits, and sacred groves legitimized land and kingship.

• Islam:

  • Spread among merchants, scholars, and some rulers (notably Takrur and Gao).

  • Muslim quarters in Ghana’s Koumbi Saleh flourished, while Ghana’s kings retained indigenous rituals.

• Symbolic economy: horses, gold ornaments, and elaborate burials marked elite power.

• Festivals synchronized agricultural and trading calendars, reinforcing community bonds.

Adaptation and Resilience

• Ecological complementarity: gold from forests, grain from Sahel, salt from Sahara ensured resilience.

• Political dualism: rulers balanced indigenous ritual authority with Muslim merchant literacy and diplomacy.

• Caravan redundancy: shifting routes ensured continuity even when climate or politics disrupted one path.

• Lineage networks: in forest and savanna, kin-based alliances stabilized trade and subsistence.

Long-Term Significance

By 1107 CE, West Africa stood at a high point of Sahelian power and trans-Saharan integration:

• Ghana (Wagadu) controlled the gold–salt axis at its zenith.

• Takrur rose in the Senegal valley as an Islamic kingdom.

• Gao emerged as a Muslim-led Sahelian power.

• Forest frontiers provided gold, kola, and ivory through Mande traders.

• Hausaland and Benin laid the foundations of durable polities.

This era established West Africa as a pivot of Afro-Eurasian trade, blending indigenous traditions with the growing influence of Islam, and setting the stage for the decline of Ghana and the rise of Mali in the 13th century.

The Mossi tribe enters the Upper Volta region around this time, and begins to assert their authority in the region.

West Africa (1108 – 1251 CE): Ghana’s Decline, Sundiata’s Revolution, and Benin’s Consolidation

Geographic and Environmental Context

As above.

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• Generally favorable rains, with localized dry spells.

• Flood-recession agriculture in the Inland Delta remained productive.

Societies and Political Developments

• Ghana (Wagadu) declined under internal fissures, shifting trade, and pressure from nomads and rival states.

• In the upper Niger, Sundiata Keita forged the Mali polity (crowned after the Battle of Kirina, c. 1235), uniting Mande chiefdoms and seizing the goldfields’ arteries.

• Gao persisted as a Songhay kingdom; Takrur remained an Islamic river state.

• Hausaland: city-states expanded walls, markets, and dynastic courts.

• Benin region: Ogiso-era town clusters consolidated toward the early Oba monarchy.

Economy and Trade

• Mali’s control of Bambuk–Buré gold routes shifted the balance from Ghana; salt from Taghaza/ Taoudenni supplied the Sahel.

• Caravans: copper from Takedda, textiles from Ghadames–Ghat, and horses from the Maghreb flowed south; gold, slaves, ivory, and kola moved north.

• Agriculture: Sahel grains; Inland Delta rice and fish; forest yams and oil palm.

Subsistence and Technology

• Irrigation and floodplain management in Inland Delta; iron hoes and sickles increased yields.

• Camel logistics refined; caravanserais multiplied along trunk routes.

Movement and Interaction Corridors

• Upper Niger trunk (Niani–Kangaba) under Mali;

• Gao–Air–Takedda copper axis;

• Senegal–Takrur routes to the Atlantic edge;

• Hausa corridors through Kano and Katsina toward the Sahara.

Belief and Symbolism

• Islamic courts in Mali, Gao, Takrur sponsored mosques and jurists; indigenous rites persisted in rural hinterlands.

• Griots preserved royal epics (e.g., Sundiata), legitimating rule.

Adaptation and Resilience

• Political succession from Ghana to Mali preserved caravan security.

• Ecological spread—Sahel grains + floodplain rice + forest kola—hedged climate risk.

Long-Term Significance

By 1251, Mali had supplanted Ghana; Gao, Takrur, Hausa, and Benin matured—setting up a 14th-century boom in gold, cities, and Islamic learning.

West Africa (1252 – 1395 CE): Mali’s Gold Age, Songhay’s Ascent, and Hausa–Benin City Networks

Geographic and Environmental Context

As above.

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• The onset of the Little Ice Age (~1300) introduced greater rainfall variability in the Sahel; core river basins and floodplains remained productive.

• Caravan viability continued with route adjustments to oasis conditions.

Societies and Political Developments

• Mali Empire reached its zenith: Mansa Musa (r. 1312–1337) centralized power, reformed finances, and performed the celebrated hajj (1324–1325), projecting Malian prestige across the Islamic world; Mansa Sulayman (r. 1341–1360) maintained stability.

• Songhay at Gao expanded autonomy under the Sonni dynasty (pre-Sunni Ali), positioning for later takeover of the Niger Bend.

• Hausa city-states (e.g., Kano, Katsina, Zaria) entrenched urban courts, craft guilds, and caravan diplomacy.

• Jolof confederation rose in Senegambia (mid-14th c.), shaping Atlantic-edge politics.

• Benin Kingdom consolidated the Oba monarchy (late 13th–14th c.), strengthening city walls, palace rituals, and regional trade.

Economy and Trade

• Gold from Bambuk–Buré and Wangara networks sustained Mali’s coin and credit circuits;

• Salt from Taghaza fed the Sahel; copper from Takedda supplied smiths; horses from the Maghreb armed elites.

• Agriculture: Sahel grains; Inland Delta rice/fish; forest kola, pepper, and palm products.

• Urban craft: cloth weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, and manuscript culture in Sahelian towns.

Subsistence and Technology

• Floodplain irrigation and rice paddies in the Inland Delta; millet–sorghum rotations across the Sahel; orchard and garden plots near cities.

• Camel caravans optimized with relay oases; riverine canoes moved grain and fish.

Movement and Interaction Corridors

• Niani–Timbuktu–Gao trunk within Mali; Gao–Air–Takedda; Takrur–Senegal; Hausa–Saharan routes through Air and Ajjer into the Maghreb; Benin–Nupe forest–savanna corridors to the Niger.

Belief and Symbolism

• Islam deepened in courts and trading towns (mosques, jurists, scholars); Timbuktu and Walata matured as centers of learning.

• Indigenous ritual remained strong in rural communities (earth shrines, rainmaking).

• Court pageantry—gold regalia, horse trappings—signaled sovereignty; griots preserved dynastic memory.

Adaptation and Resilience

• Route redundancy across Sahara and Sahel hedged against drought/war.

• Plural economies—grain, rice, fish, gold, salt, kola—spread risk.

• Urban institutions—guilds, mosques, market courts—stabilized exchange; kin/clan systems secured rural production.

Long-Term Significance

By 1395, West Africa was a constellation of powerful states and city networks—Mali at its height, Songhay rising, Hausa and Benin consolidating, Jolof emerging—bound into Afro-Eurasian circuits by gold, salt, and scholarship, and resilient enough to carry this prosperity into the 15th century.

West Africa (1396–1539 CE): Empires, Gold, and the Atlantic Turn

Geographic & Environmental Context

The subregion of West Africa includes the Sahelian and savanna zones stretching from the Senegal and Niger River basins across modern Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, as well as the forest and coastal belts of modern Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. Anchoring landscapes included the Niger River’s inland delta, the Sahel’s grasslands, the forested Guinea coast, and the Atlantic seaboard with its lagoons and estuaries.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

The Little Ice Age brought modest cooling and rainfall variability. Sahelian zones experienced alternating drought and recovery, testing herders and farmers. Savanna and forest belts enjoyed relatively stable rainfall, sustaining yam and oil palm cultivation. Along the coast, seasonal monsoons shaped farming cycles, while the Atlantic upwelling enriched marine fisheries.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Sahel and savanna: Millet, sorghum, and rice supported large populations, with cattle, sheep, and camels managed in mixed herding systems.

• Forest belt: Yams, kola, palm oil, and plantains anchored subsistence, complemented by hunting and river fisheries.

• Urban centers: Timbuktu, Gao, Jenne, and other cities combined farming hinterlands with trade, scholarship, and crafts.

Technology & Material Culture

Iron smelting and blacksmithing flourished, supplying weapons, hoes, and ritual objects. Sahelian architecture—mud-brick mosques and palaces—defined skylines (Djinguereber Mosque, Askia’s Tomb). In the forest, the Benin court produced brass and ivory works. Textiles, leatherwork, and gold jewelry circulated widely. Manuscripts in Arabic script preserved Islamic scholarship in Timbuktu and other cities.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Trans-Saharan routes: Caravans carried gold, kola, and captives north in exchange for salt, horses, and luxuries.

• River corridors: The Niger River served as an east–west artery for goods and ideas.

• Atlantic seaboard: Portuguese ships reached Senegal in the mid-15th century, later tapping the Gambia and Gold Coast, inaugurating direct Atlantic trade while older Saharan links persisted.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

Islam flourished in Sahelian capitals: mosques, Qur’anic schools, and zawiyas anchored faith and learning. Oral traditions of griots preserved epics and genealogies. In the forest zone, ritual kingship, sacred groves, and ancestral veneration structured societies. Festivals, drumming, and praise-songs reinforced political legitimacy.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

Agricultural diversification and transhumance buffered environmental stress. Tribute and trade redistributed surpluses in lean years. Coastal chiefdoms exploited fisheries and mangroves. Spiritual rituals reinforced cohesion under climate pressure.

Transition

By 1539 CE, the Songhai Empire dominated the Niger bend; Benin flourished as an artistic and political power; and coastal polities engaged Portuguese traders. Gold, ivory, kola, and enslaved captives linked West Africa to both Saharan and Atlantic networks, reshaping its place in the wider world.

Two different subtribes of the Mossi people, the Yonyonse and the Ninsi, inhabit the central plateau of what is today Burkina Faso.

They have been in constant conflict until 1441 when Wubri, a Yonyonse hero and an important figure in Burkina Faso’s history, leads his tribe to victory.

He now renames the area from “Kumbee-Tenga”, as the Ninsi had called it, to “Wogodogo”, meaning "where people get honor and respect."

The structures of this and similar Mossi states seem to have been erected about the fifteenth century by relatively small bands of immigrants who eventually merged with the autochthonous Gur-speaking inhabitants of the Volta basin.

Their success in conquering and organizing the Gur villages into kingdoms seems to have been due to their possession of cavalry, which subsequently will remain a badge of royalty and of aristocracy.

Disputes over succession had weakened the Mali Empire in the decades following the death of Musa II, mansa of the state from 1374 to 1387, and in the 1430s Songhai, previously a Mali dependency, had gained independence under the Sonni Dynasty.

Around thirty years later, Sonni Sulayman Dama attacked Mema, the Mali province west of Timbuktu, paving the way for his successor, Sonni Ali, to turn his country into one of the greatest empires Saharan Africa has ever seen.

Sonni Ali has reigned from 1464, after the death of Sulayman Dama.

Like Songhai kings before him, Ali is a Muslim.

In the late 1460s, he conquers many of the Songhai's neighboring states, including what remains of the Mali Empire.

Sonni Ali is considered the empire's most formidable military strategist and conqueror.

Under his rule Songhai will reach a size of over 1,400,000 square kilometers.

During his campaigns for expansion, Ali has conquered many lands, repelling attacks from the Mossi to the south and overcoming …

…the Dogon people to the north.

The principal Dogon area is bisected by the Bandiagara Escarpment, a sandstone cliff of up to five hundred meters (sixteen hundred and forty feet) high, stretching about one hundred and fifty kilometers (ninety miles).

To the southeast of the cliff, the sandy Séno-Gondo Plains are found, and northwest of the cliff are the Bandiagara Highlands.

Historically, Dogon villages were established in the Bandiagara area in consequence of the Dogon people's collective refusal to convert to Islam a thousand years ago.

Dogon insecurity in the face of these historical pressures had caused them to locate their villages in defensible positions along the walls of the escarpment.

The other factor influencing their choice of settlement location was water.

The Niger River is nearby and in the sandstone rock, a rivulet runs at the foot of the cliff at the lowest point of the area during the wet season.

Among the Dogon several oral traditions have been recorded as to their origin.

One relates to their coming from Mande, located to the southwest of the Bandiagara escarpment near Bamako.

According to this oral tradition, the first Dogon settlement was established in the extreme southwest of the escarpment at Kani-Na.

Over time, the Dogon had moved north along the escarpment, arriving in the Sanga region in the fifteenth century.

Other oral histories place the origin of the Dogon to the west beyond the river Niger, or tell of the Dogon coming from the east.

It is likely that the Dogon of today combine several groups of diverse origin who migrated to escape Islamization.

It is often difficult to distinguish between pre-Muslim practices and later practices, though Islamic law classifies them and many other ethnicities of the region, (Mossi, Gurma, Bobo, Busa and the Yoruba) as being within the non-canon dar al-harb and consequently fair game for slave raids organized by merchants.

As the growth of cities has increased, the demand for slaves across the region of West Africa has also increased.

The historical pattern has included the murder of indigenous males by Islamic raiders and enslavement of women and children.

Timbuktu, located at the junction of trade routes on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert just north of the Niger River, founded in the eleventh century by Tuaregs as a seasonal settlement, had become a permanent settlement early in the twelfth century and, after a shift in trading routes, had flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and enslaved people.

It became part of the Mali Empire early in the fourteenth century.

In the first half of the fifteenth century, the Tuareg tribes had taken control of Timbuktu for a short period.

Sonni Ali annexed Timbuktu to his expanding Songhai Empire in 1468, after Islamic leaders of the town requested his assistance in overthrowing marauding Tuaregs who had taken the city following the decline of Mali.

The invasion of Sonni Ali and his forces causes harm to the city of Timbuktu, and he is described as an intolerant tyrant in many African accounts.

The Islamic historian Al-Sa'df expresses this sentiment in describing his incursion on Timbuktu: “Sunni Ali entered Timbuktu, committed gross iniquity, burned and destroyed the town, and brutally tortured many people there. When Akilu heard of the coming of Sonni Ali, he brought a thousand camels to carry the fuqaha of Sankore and went with them to Walata.....The Godless tyrant was engaged in slaughtering those who remained in Timbuktu and humiliated them.“ (The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol 5: University Press, 1977, pp 421)

Sonni Ali conducts a repressive policy against the scholars of Timbuktu, especially those of the Sankore region who are associated with the Tuareg.

Timbuktu will develop into an important intellectual and cultural center as well as a commercial hub.

Sonni Ali, setting his sights on the wealthy and renowned trading town of Djenné (also known as Jenne), meets stark resistance.

The first direct mention of Djenné in European sources is in connection with the fourteenth century trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves, during which Timbuktu had been the major southern terminus.

In a letter written in Latin in 1447 by Antonio Malfante from the Saharan oasis of Tuwat to a merchant in Genoa, Malfante reports on what he had learned from an informant about the trans-Saharan trade.

He lists several 'states' including one called 'Geni' and describes the Niger River: "Through these lands flows a very large river, which at certain times of the year inundates all these lands. This river passes by the gates of Thambet [Timbuktu]....There are many boats on it, by which they carry on trade."(Crone, G.R., ed. (1937), The Voyages of Cadamosto and other documents on Western Africa in the second half of the fifteenth century, London: Hakluyt Society; pp. 87-88)

After a persistent seven-year siege, Sonni Ali is able to forcefully incorporate it into his vast empire in 1473, but only after having starved its citizens into surrender.