The Empire of Ghana is one of the earliest known political formations in West Africa. Within the context of a growing trans-Saharan trade, Arabic sources begin to mention “Ghāna,” the name of a ruler as well as of the city or country he ruled, in the 9th century. Repeatedly named in connection with fabulous riches in gold, Ghāna had acquired a preeminent role in the western Sahel and was a leader among a large group of smaller polities. Ghāna’s influence waned, and by the mid-14th century its ruler had become subordinate to the Empire of Mali. Over the course of a complex history of research, the Empire of Ghana became equated with the Soninké people’s legend of Wagadu and the archaeological site of Kumbi Saleh in southern Mauritania was identified as its capital. Yet between historical sources, oral traditions, and archaeological finds, little is known with certainty about the Empire of Ghana. Most questions on this early West African empire remain unanswered, including its location, development, the nature and extent of its rule, and the circumstances of its demise.
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The Empire of Ghana
Nikolas Gestrich
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The Empire of Mali
Sirio Canós-Donnay
The Mali Empire is one of the largest and most widely known precolonial African states. It has featured in films, video games, works of fiction, and its memory is still a profound force in the articulation of social and political identities across Mande West Africa. Founded in the 13th century in the south of modern Mali, it quickly grew from a small kingdom to a vast empire stretching from the Senegambia in the west to Ivory Coast in the south. Before its disintegration in the late 16th century, its connections to distant trade networks stretched from Europe to China and its rulers became famous across the Old World for their wealth. In the absence of indigenous written histories, knowledge of the Mali Empire has been based on a complex combination of oral traditions, medieval Arabic chronicles, European accounts, oral histories, and archaeology. Through a critical analysis of these sources, it has been possible to learn much about Mali’s history, including aspects its social organization, political structure, belief systems, and historical evolution. However, there is much we still do not know, including the location and nature of its capital(s).
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Warfare among Yoruba in the Nineteenth Century
Aribidesi Usman
One cannot discuss the 19th-century Yoruba warfare without emphasizing some of the pre-19th-century events that led to the wars. Military aggression among Yoruba in the 19th century was an escalation of the political and economic turmoil in Yorubaland during the previous century. Critical questions are: What caused warfare in Yorubaland in the 19th century or earlier? Did the wars lead to socio-political changes in Yorubaland? Yoruba wars can be identified with three, though not widely distinct, periods: 1750 to 1837, 1837 to 1878, and 1878 to 1893. In the first period, Nupe intensified their raids in northern Yoruba as the constitutional crisis in Old Oyo began to distract the administration and reduced Old Oyo’s control in the north. In the south, Yoruba were gripped by the Owu-Ife war and, later, the Ijebu-Ife-Old Oyo military coalition against Owu. The second period began with the collapse of Old Oyo and the struggle for leadership among the successor states of Ibadan, Ijaye, and Ilorin. The third and last period of warfare saw a military alliance against Ibadan. The oppressive regime of Ibadan led to a revolt among the subjugated towns that formed the Ekitiparapo confederacy.
Warfare and military threat in Yorubaland have led to aggregated communities, the manufacturing of weapons of war, the construction of fortifications, and the abandonment and settlement relocation. Warfare in Yorubaland gave rise to both conqueror states and small, fragmented, conquered polities. Constant military pressure from north and south transformed Old Oyo into a militant state. The collapse of Old Oyo in the 19th century ushered in a long period of Yoruba internecine warfare. The unrest destroyed many royal households, which gave able warriors opportunities to gain wealth and power.
