Ghana Empire
- The Ghana Empire (c. 700 until c. 1240), properly known as Wagadou (Ghana or Ga'na being the title of its ruler), was located in the area of present-day southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. It is not geographically realted to Modern Ghana.
- The early history of Ghana is unknown. The Neolithic site of Dhar Tichitt in this area was settled by agropastoral communities around 2000 BC. Their settlements were generally situated on the cliffs and included stone building. These are the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in West Africa and the oldest of all stone base settlements south of the Sahara. They are thought to have been built by the Soninke people and were possibly the precursor of the Ghana empire. The area was abandoned around 500 BC probably because of the onset of more arid conditions. Hundreds of rock art images have been discovered, depicting various animals and hunting scenes. Archaeologists including P.J. Munson, Augustin F.C. Holl, and S. Amblard have found some evidence that millet was farmed seasonally as early as 2000 BC.
- Complex societies based on trans-Saharan trade with salt and gold had existed in the region since ancient times. There is evidence that North Africa had begun importing gold from West Africa before the Arab conquest in the middle of the seventh century. The earliest author to mention Ghana is the Persian astronomer Ibrahim al-Fazari who, writing at the end of the eighth century, refers to "the territory of Ghana, the land of gold". The Ghana Empire lay in the Sahel region to the north of the West African gold fields and was able to profit from controlling the trans-Saharan gold trade.
- 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.
- The archaeological ruins at Koumbi Saleh show remanents of the Ghana Emprie. The discovery in 1913 of a 17th-century African chronicle that gave the name of the capital as Koumbi led French archaeologists to the ruins at Koumbi Saleh. Excavations at the site have revealed the ruins of a large Muslim town with houses built of stone and a congregational mosque but no inscription to unambiguously identify the site as that of capital of Ghana. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the site was occupied between the late 9th and 14th centuries.
- Most of the information about the economy of Ghana comes from Al-Bakri. Al-Bakri noted that merchants had to pay a one gold dinar tax on imports of salt, and two on exports of salt. Other products paid 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 old Morocco also had their origins in the empire. The main centre of trade was Koumbi Saleh. The king claimed as his own all nuggets of gold, and allowed other people to have only gold dust. In addition to the exerted influence of the king onto local regions, tribute was also received from various tributary states and chiefdoms to the empire's periphery.
- 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 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.
Read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana_Empire
Archaeology and the prehistoric origins of the Ghana empire
Archaeological investigations in southern Mauretania have revealed a wealth of rather spectacular stone masonry villages which were occupied by prehistoric cultivators as early as 1000 B.C. It is argued that the inhabitants of these villages were Negro and very probably Soninke, and that the basic elements of their culture had developed without major influences from outside the area. The apparent sophistication and complexity of this cultural manifestation, combined with the close fit of developments in this area with Carneiro's theory of state formation, suggests that this prehistoric complex represented at least a powerful chiefdom which embodied many of the characteristics of subsequent West African states. The first demonstrable outside influences in the area began about 600 B.C. with the arrival of Libyco-Berbers from North Africa. Rather than causing still further cultural advances, the initial effect of this contact was the collapse of this sociopolitical organization. But with subsequent adjustment, plus the potential from trans-Saharan trade carried out by the North Africans, the basic, pre-existing pattern re-emerged, resulting eventually in a second and much more powerful African political organization in this area – the Ghana Empire.
Ancient Ghana
Despite its name, the old Empire of Ghana is not geographically, ethnically, or in any other way, related to modern Ghana. It lies about four hundred miles north west of modern Ghana. Ancient Ghana encompassed what is now modern Northern Senegal and Southern Mauritania.
Empire of Ancient Ghana
"Ghana" was the word that the Soninke people used for their king. It meant "Warrior King." People living outside of the empire used this word when referring to the region. The Soninke people actually used a different word when referring to their empire. They called it "Wagadu."
The Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire, called the Wagadou (or Wagadu) Empire by its rulers, was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, western Mali, and eastern Senegal. There is no consensus on when precisely it originated. Different traditions identify its beginnings between as early as 100 CE and the 9th century, with most scholars accepting the 8th or 9th century. Ghana’s economic development and eventual wealth was linked to the growth of regular and intensified trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, and ivory, which allowed for the development of larger urban centers and encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over different trade routes.
Koumbi Saleh
Koumbi Saleh, sometimes Kumbi Saleh is the site of a ruined medieval town in south east Mauritania that may have been the capital of the Ghana Empire.
OLD GHANA EMPIRE (WAGADOU)
Ghana, first of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (fl. 7th–13th century). It was situated between the Sahara and the headwaters of the Sénégal and Niger rivers, in an area that now comprises southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali. Ghana was populated by Soninke clans of Mande-speaking people who acted as intermediaries between the Arab and Amazigh (Berber) salt traders to the north and the producers of gold and ivory to the south. (The empire should not be confused with the modern Republic of Ghana.)
The untold heroics of the last ruler of ancient Ghana Empire before its tragic fall
Ghana Empire had a military strength in thousands which protected the empire for several years. Some scholars and analysts alike have put much blame on Tunka Manin’s inefficiency and inability to protect the empire but a closer look would reveal that not only did Tunka Manin tried his best, he was also one of the finest rulers produced in the ancient empire of Ghana. Unfortunately, not much has been done to document the heroic deeds of Tunka Manin just like several other heroes or heroines in the ancient times.
This page uses materials from Wikipedia available in the references. It is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
References