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22 - Early polities of the Western Sudan

from Part V - State formations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

Benjamin Z. Kedar
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
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Summary

This chapter examines Western Sudanic states and the role of oral traditions and recent interpretations of archaeological findings in West African history. It discusses the antiquity of both trans-Saharan trade and the trade-based polities of the Western Sudan. The first major West African state in this era was the kingdom of Wagadu/Ghana, which emerged in the Sahel, the semi-arid region between desert and savannah, from villages established during the period 500 to 700 CE. The Mande people's oral tradition, Mande Maana, which presents their own perceptions of the origins of the Mali Empire, is usually referred to outside the culture as the Sunjata Epic. By around 1300, Gao had become so prosperous that it attracted the attention of Mali's rulers and conquered by them. In the ninth to the eleventh centuries, the Kingdom of Takrur was the dominant power in the Senegal River Valley, competing for trade with Wagadu/Ghana.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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References

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