Portal:Pan-Africanism/Selected history/10
Ghana Empire Wagadou | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 700–c. 1240 | |||||||||
 The Ghana Empire at its greatest extent | |||||||||
| Capital | Koumbi Saleh | ||||||||
| Common languages | Soninke, Malinke, Mande | ||||||||
| Religion | African traditional religion, Islam | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Ghana | |||||||||
• 700 | Kaya Magan Cissé | ||||||||
• 790s | Majan Dyabe Cisse | ||||||||
• 1040–1062 | Ghana Bassi | ||||||||
• 1203–1235 | Soumaba Cisse | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Established | c. 700 | ||||||||
• Conquered by Sosso/Submitted to the Mali Empire | c. 1240 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1067 est. | 1,600 km2 (620 sq mi) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||
The Ghana Empire (c. 700 until c. 1240), (Ghana or Ga'na being the title of its ruler), was located in the area of present-day southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. Complex societies based on trans-Saharan trade with salt and gold had existed in the region since ancient times, but the introduction of the camel to the western Sahara in the 3rd century A.D. opened the way to great changes in the area that became the Ghana Empire. By the time of the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century the camel had changed the ancient, more irregular trade routes into a trade network running from Morocco to the Niger river. The Ghana Empire grew rich from this increased trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt, allowing for larger urban centres to develop. The traffic furthermore encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the different trade-routes.
When Ghana's ruling dynasty began remains uncertain; it is mentioned for the first time in written records by Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 830. In the 11th century the Cordoban scholar Abuof travelled to the region and gave a detailed description of the kingdom. He claimed that the Ghana could "put 200,000 men into the field, more than 40,000 of them archers", and noted they had cavalry forces as well.
As the empire declined it finally became a vassal of the rising Mali Empire at some point in the 13th century. When the Gold Coast in 1957 became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to regain its independence from colonial rule, it renamed itself in honor of the long-gone empire.