Later 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] The polity reached its peak in the mid-11th century: ^{[3] [4]} at this stage, its influence extended east and north from the Senegal River into modern Mauritania and Mali ^[5] and it was encroaching on the Niger Inland Delta. ^{[6] [7]} However, from the late 11th century CE the Ghana Empire began to decline due to a combination of environmental, social and political factors. As the desert expanded into previously productive agricultural land, ^[8] the Sosso people took control of a large region above the Upper Niger River ^[9] and the city of Walata grew in influence, taking over as the main southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade. ^[8] The empire of Ghana officially converted to Islam in 1075‒77 CE to foster political and commercial ties with Almoravid newcomers, ^[10] while traditional religion retained its prominence in the hinterland and among the non-elite classes. ^[11] The consensus within modern scholarship is that the relationship between the Soninke and the Almoravids was generally cordial and fruitful, that the Wagadu capital had been host to an important Muslim community in the centuries before the Almoravids arrived, and that the Wagadu conversion to Islam was in fact a gradual affair. ^[12] Ghana recovered part of its power in the 12th century. ^[9] Ultimately, however, the shift in the regional balance of power led many of the Soninke to relocate to more prosperous areas, ^[13] contributing to the spread of Islam in other areas of the Sudan. ^[12]
Population and political organization
The Wagadu empire comprised four provinces administered by a central government. ^[14] The king exerted direct authority over his kingdom; he was also head of the traditional religion and was revered as a god. ^[15] 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. ^[15] These groups were further subdivided along clan lines. ^[16]
This period was a prosperous one for the Sudanese region, which produced millet, maize, yam, groundnuts, cotton, indigo and other crops. ^[17] Linked into a thriving exchange sphere that stretched north to North Africa and the Mediterranean, ^[17] the Sudanese population exported gold, slaves, hides, and ivory and imported copper, silver beads, dried fruit and cloth. ^[17] All exports and imports were taxed by the centralized state. ^[16] Trading outposts in Awdhagust and other Saharan towns facilitated fruitful exchange with Berbers and other groups from further afield. ^[18]
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. ^[19] 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. ^[19]

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

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

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

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

[7]: (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.

[8]: (Conrad 2010, 39) David C. Conrad, 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Revised Edition. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

[9]: (Conrad 2005, 12) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.

[10]: (Al-Zuhri c. 1130-1155 CE in Levtzion and Spaulding 2003, 24-25) Nehemia Levtzion and Jay Spaulding, eds. 2003. Medieval West Africa: Views from Arab Scholars and Merchants. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener.

[11]: (Lapidus 2012, 590) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[12]: (El Fasi and Hrbek 1980, 100) Mohammed El Fasi and Ivan Hrbek. 1980. ’Étapes du développement de l’Islam et de sa diffusion en Afrique’ in Histoire Générale de l’Afrique, Vol. 3: L’Afrique du VIIe au XIe siècle, edited by M. El Fasi, 81-116. Paris: UNESCO.

[13]: (Conrad 2005, 31) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.

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

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

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

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

[18]: (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.

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