The Rise and Fall of the Ghana Empire

Ghana is one of the earliest known Negro empires in recorded history. It was a West African empire located in the area of present-day southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. It was first mentioned by an Arab geographer Al-Fasawi in AD 773 in his book Al-Maswidi where he referred to it as a land of good. Ghana is also found on in the 9th century. The Arab traveler Al-Bakr writing in AD 1067 made it known that the name Ghana was the title of the Soninke kingdom called Awka. This means warchief. It was the visiting Arabs and peoples from other parts of Sudan who reverted the kingdom by the title of its kings and by the 9th century Awka was popularly known as Ghana. It is not yet certain when Ghana was founded but from Arab sources particularly the Tariq as-Sudan it appears to have been founded by a Soninke dynasty between 300 to 300 AD. The Ghana empire was situated on the grassland north of the headwaters of the river Senegal and Niger. Its capital Kumbizeo is said to have been founded by Kayamaga who is reputed to have overthrown the immigrant minority ruling classes of white about 770 AD and established the Soninke dynasty by 1000 AD. The empire has extended its west to the river Senegal, south to the Bamboo region, east to the Niger and north to the upper strands of the Portuguese on the southern edge of the Sahara desert. By the middle of the 11th century, when Ghana was at the zenith of its imperial expansion, its controlled area covering most of the modern state of Senegal, Mali and Montenegro, a territory of roughly 650,000 square kilometers with populations of several million people. At the height of its power in the 11th century, Al-Bakr says that the king could put 200,000 warriors and more than 40,000 archers on the field at short notice. This colossal military machine was made up of mainly able-bodied men recruited when necessary for the provinces. The king possessed bodyguards of about a thousand trained soldiers. In addition to its size, the Ghana empire army had a cavalry wing mounted on horses obtained through trade with North Africa. The army fought with metal weapons like spears, sword and iron-tipped arrows, which were yet unknown to other western African people with whom Ghana had military encounters. The Ghana empire's wealth came principally from the Trans-Saharan tribe. Merchants from North Africa flocked to its famous market to obtain gold, slaves, ivory, kola nuts, honey, gums, ostrich feathers, and cotton, and they brought into Ghana salt, copper, brocade, horses, and other commodities. Ghana's chief export was gold, which was mined in the Wangara country to the south of the empire. Ghana's weight came not only from trade but also from agriculture. The country was bountifully favored in the production of food crop and this made it self-sufficient in food, which is a very important economic asset. Although little or nothing is known of the lives of several of its rulers, it can be safely assumed that the ruling house produced a number of equal men of the caliber of Kayamaga, who contributed in no small measure to the rise and greatness of the empire. The decline of the empire has been attributed to certain inherent weaknesses. One such weakness was political instability arising from the lack of a stable and well-defined system of association to the throne. Another source of weakness resulted from the social and cultural heterogeneity of the empire, that is, it embraced people of different languages and cultures. Among them are the Susu, Tekro, the Mande-speaking people, and the Babas of Odogast. These conquered people, with no deep political, social, and economic attachment to the Soninke empire of Ghana, were always struggling to regain their independence. When that opportunity arrived with the capture of Kumbizil by the Amurabi in 1076 AD, they seized it and became free. The empire of Ghana could, perhaps, and would continue to survive in spite of eternal strife, but for certain external factors, hastened its decline and precipitated its fall. One such factor was the increasing pressure of repeated attacks by the Saanja Babas from the Sahara region. They wished to recapture the capital, Odogast, seized by Ghana in 998 and regain control of the trans-Saharan trade. So, in 1054 AD, under the Amurabi leadership, the Babas recaptured Odogast and launched a systematic attack on the empire that culminated in the capture of Kumbizil in 1076 AD, under their leader, Abu Beki. Although the Amurabi conquest was short-lived, as they finally withdrew in 1087 AD, and Ghana regained its independence and Kumbizil was rebuilt. But the damage had already been done, and the effect of the empire was devastating. The immediate political effect was the disintegration of the empire as the Tekro, Kanyanga, and many other peoples revolted and became independent. The final collapse of the empire was brought about by two fresh invasions. In 1203, Kumbizil was destroyed by Sumanguru, the Sosu king of Kanyanga, and the Soninke were reduced to submission. Following this, the Muslim merchants and scholars of Kumbizil emigrated to Walata and other parts of Western Africa. In 1235 AD, Sumanguru's tirannical rule was brought to an end when he was defeated by Sundiata Keita, the ruler of Kangaba, a former vassal state of Ghana. Sundiata Keita marched Ghana with Kangaba, which rose to become the great and powerful Mali Empire. In 1957, the Gold Coast became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from colonial rule. It renamed itself Ghana, in honor of the Longon Empire. Thank you for watching!