Middle Wagadu Empire

  General Description   The Kingdom of Ghana was the first documented empire of West Africa. Its dominant people, a northern Mande group known as the Soninke, called it ’Wagadu’, ^[1] and Berber traders from the Sahara referred to it as ’Awkar’. ^[2] Spreading east and north from the Senegal River into modern-day Mauritania and Mali, ^[3] this polity started growing as a confederation from the 6th century CE. ^[4] From the 8th century onwards, geographers from North Africa and Spain such as Ibn Hawqal began to document the existence of Ghana in Arabic texts, fantasizing about its gold and resources. ^[5] The polity reached its peak in the mid-11th century: ^{[6] [7]} at this stage, its influence spread over Awdaghust (or Aoudaghost) in the Sahara ^[8] and it encroached on the Niger Inland Delta. ^{[9] [10]}
Population and political organization
The Wagadu empire comprised four provinces administered by a central government. ^[11] The king exerted direct authority over his kingdom; he was also head of the traditional religion and was revered as a god. ^[12] Wagadu society was highly hierarchical, distinguishing between the elite warrior class and the rest of the population: professional artisans including smiths, weavers, dyers and shoemakers; farmers and herders; and slaves. ^[12] These groups were further subdivided along clan lines. ^[13]
This period was a prosperous one for the Sudanese region, which produced millet, maize, yam, groundnuts, cotton, indigo and other crops. ^[14] Linked into a thriving exchange sphere that stretched north to North Africa and the Mediterranean, ^[14] the Sudanese population exported gold, slaves, hides, and ivory and imported copper, silver beads, dried fruit and cloth. ^[14] All exports and imports were taxed by the centralized state. ^[13] Trading outposts in Awdhagust and other Saharan towns facilitated fruitful exchange with Berbers and other groups from further afield. ^[15]
Population estimates are difficult to obtain for ancient Ghana. However, it is worth noting that its capital, the thriving trading city of Kumbi Saleh, covered 250 hectares and had a population of 15,000-20,000 people at its peak. ^[16] Archaeological investigations at the site have revealed two-storey stone buildings which may have contained stores on the ground floor, narrow streets with densely packed houses, a mosque, and extensive cemeteries. ^[16]

[1]: (Conrad 2010, 23) David C. Conrad. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Revised Edition. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

[2]: (Davidson 1998, 26) Basil Davidson. 1998. West Africa before the Colonial Era. London: Routledge.

[3]: (Conrad 2005, 19) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.

[4]: Susan K. McIntosh and Roderick J. McIntosh. n.d. ’Jenne-jeno, an ancient African city’. Available online at http://anthropology.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=500.)

[5]: (Conrad 2005, 11) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.

[6]: (Davidson 1998, 34) Basil Davidson. 1998. West Africa before the Colonial Era. London: Routledge.

[7]: (Conrad 2010, 33) David C. Conrad. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Revised Edition. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

[8]: (Conrad 2010, 32-33) David C. Conrad. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Revised Edition. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

[9]: (Niane 1975, n.p.) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1975. Le Soudan Occidental au temps des grands empires XI-XVIe siècle. Paris: Présence africai­ne.

[10]: (Simonis 2010, 36) Francis Simonis. 2010. L’Afrique soudanaise au Moyen Age: Le temps des grands empires (Ghana, Mali, Songhaï). Aix-Marseille: CRDP de l’Académie d’Aix-Marseille.

[11]: (Conrad 2005, 18) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.

[12]: (Niane 1975, 32) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1975. Le Soudan Occidental au temps des grands empires XI-XVIe siècle. Paris: Présence africai­ne.

[13]: (Niane 1975, 33) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1975. Le Soudan Occidental au temps des grands empires XI-XVIe siècle. Paris: Présence africai­ne.

[14]: (Lapidus 2012, 589-90) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[15]: (Meideros 1980, 160) Francois de Meideros. 1980. ’Les peuples du Soudan: Mouvements de populations’, in Histoire Générale de l’Afrique, Vol. 3: L’Afrique du VIIe au XIe siècle, edited by M. El Fasi, 143-64. Paris: UNESCO.

[16]: (Reader 1998, 280) John Reader. 1998. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. London: Penguin Books.