Lets Talk African History:"Sahel" West African Civilizations

[Jammer22]

@Sonni Thanks for the pics and knowledge.

I'm particulary interested in the region as well.

@KidStranglehold

I think I found something good.
I gave this book about Mande Blacksmiths a quick preview.


Seems very cool.

I noticed that among many groups in history, and even blacksmiths Tuareg would interact with, they all perceived blacksmiths as wizards or mages.

It should definitely help me gain some kind of insight into the going-ons of Jenne-Jenno.

Gonna add to the thread soon.

 

[Sonni]

last ancient city of Mauritania I had to present is Koumbi Saleh, the oldest one
Kumbi Saleh was the capital of the kingdom of Wagadou (who would later on become an empire known by Arabs and Europeans as Ghana) beginning from the fourth century. It was located in the south-east of what is currently Mauritania very close to the malian border.





According to the oral tradition of the Soninke founders of the Wagadou kingdom, it was founded in the third century BC. by a Soninke people that invaded from the East(Aswan in Egypt) and was led by a man named Dinga Cisse. They found there a local people named Kakolo(or Kagoro), dominated them and mixed with them. Within the Soninke ethnic group there is still a distinction between striclty soninke surnames and Kakolo surnames. Thereafter the kingdom of Ghana expanded to become an empire dominating the leaders of chiefdoms located nearby. According to the ''Tarikh al-Sudan'', Sudanese history in english, the Ghana empire was founded in the third century by the black Soninké cultivators. In 734, the first Arab-Berber merchants penetrate Ghana, where Soninke rulers are in power. The occupation of the Maghreb by the Arabs promotes trade in gold and other commodities between Ghana and Sijilmassa, and at the same time, its expansion and wealth.

At the end of the ninth century, the rulers of Ghana extended their authority and controlled an area roughly between the two northern loops of the Senegal River and the Niger Rivers. That means from the west where you have the gold producing region of Galam and the Tekrur(in current Senegal), to Djenne and Timbuktu(Mali) in the west, and to the north on certain Berber tribes of the Sahara.

 

[Sonni]

 

[Sonni]

 

[Sonni]

 

[Sonni]

In the tenth century, Aoudaghost Berbers revolted against the authority of the Tunka (king) of Ghana, who is put to death by the leader of the insurgents. But around 990, a successor to the king of Ghana takes back Aoudaghost and replaces it under the authority of a governor.

 

[Sonni]

Animism was the official religion of the ruling elite and the common people. The people of the Empire of Ghana had to worship the serpent Bida(google the legend of Bida if you want to know more about this). Islam was also tolerated and practiced by many foreigners from the Maghreb and some locals.

 

[Sonni]

According to Al-Bakri, the Ghana Army consisted of 200,000 soldiers, including more than 40,000 archers. It consisted of the Imperial Guard, but also many men from vassal territories. There were riders (horses there were "of a very small species") and there were also Berber warriors on camel.

 

[Sonni]

The capital Kumbi Saleh was split between soninke locals and arab-berber merchants and served as a deposit of gold, salt and other commodities in conjunction with North Africa. In the eleventh century, its population was around 30,000 people. Local traditions are unanimous in attributing the decline of the kingdom and the dispersion of its inhabitants to the south and to the east to droughts in Wagadou and famine which was the consequence of it.

 

[Sonni]

It is likely that these circumstances were indeed of much more influence on the end of the empire of Ghana than the successive attacks and looting first by the Almoravids under Abu Bakr Ben Omar who took the city in 1076 and occupied it about ten years, than by the king of Sosso, Soumangourou Kanté, in 1203 and finally by the king of Mali, Sundiata Keita who around 1240 made Ghana a province of Mali.

 

[Sonni]

After the 13th century a populous city and a flourishing Wagadou state survived the looting and defeat of neighbouring states, but not the lack of water and food.

 

[Sonni]

The site was also excavated in 1939 by Thomassey, Lazartigues Mauny and then again in 1960 by Serge Robert and Sophie berthier. It was listed in 2001 on the indicative list of The Unesco. The archaeological site of Kumbi Saleh was discovered in 1914 by Bonnel de Mezieres. He visited the site and found the remains of a great city corresponding exactly to that described by Bekri, with ruins of carved and sometimes culpted stone buildings.

 

[Sonni]

After the decline of Ghana a number of Soninke clans specialized in trade, Islamic scholarship and law and settled further south near the river Senegal or to current Mali and migrated all over the Sahel and Western Sudan to as far as Nigeria as merchants forming Islamic communities and converting locals. In these places the Soninke merchants were known as Dioula, Dyula, Wakore or Wangara.

 

[Sonni]

The country where Ghana was located is currently very arid. But numerous traces and very large old houses and graves show that the country was once populated, in part at least, sedentary and suggest that it was less dry than today and better fit for agriculture.

 

[Misreeya]

last ancient city of Mauritania I had to present is Koumbi Saleh, the oldest one
Kumbi Saleh was the capital of the kingdom of Wagadou (who would later on become an empire known by Arabs and Europeans as Ghana) beginning from the fourth century. It was located in the south-east of what is currently Mauritania very close to the malian border.





According to the oral tradition of the Soninke founders of the Wagadou kingdom, it was founded in the third century BC. by a Soninke people that invaded from the East(Aswan in Egypt) and was led by a man named Dinga Cisse. They found there a local people named Kakolo(or Kagoro), dominated them and mixed with them. Within the Soninke ethnic group there is still a distinction between striclty soninke surnames and Kakolo surnames. Thereafter the kingdom of Ghana expanded to become an empire dominating the leaders of chiefdoms located nearby. According to the ''Tarikh al-Sudan'', Sudanese history in english, the Ghana empire was founded in the third century by the black Soninké cultivators. In 734, the first Arab-Berber merchants penetrate Ghana, where Soninke rulers are in power. The occupation of the Maghreb by the Arabs promotes trade in gold and other commodities between Ghana and Sijilmassa, and at the same time, its expansion and wealth.

At the end of the ninth century, the rulers of Ghana extended their authority and controlled an area roughly between the two northern loops of the Senegal River and the Niger Rivers. That means from the west where you have the gold producing region of Galam and the Tekrur(in current Senegal), to Djenne and Timbuktu(Mali) in the west, and to the north on certain Berber tribes of the Sahara.

I have a question, was the Tekrur part of the Almoravids empire that conquered Spain, and then again i read the that almoravid empire territory was from present day Spain to modern day Senegal? I remembered reading about them in some website.