Major Trading States of Africa South of the Sahara: Ghana, Mali, Songhai

Three great empires dominated trans-Saharan trade (gold, salt, slaves, kola, textiles) between the 8th and 16th centuries:

1. Ghana (Wagadou) – ~8th–13th Century

• Core: SE Mauritania, W Mali.
• Wealth: Controlled Bambuk gold fields; taxed salt (Taghaza) & goods.
• Capital: Koumbi Saleh (dual city: Muslim traders / king's court).
• Decline: Almoravid invasion (1076), drought, trade route shifts.

2. Mali – ~13th–15th Century

• Founder: Sundiata Keita (Epic of Sundiata).
• Core: Upper Niger (Mali, Senegal, Guinea).
• Wealth: Gold (Bure, Bambuk), salt, agriculture (millet, rice, cotton).
• Mansa Musa (r. 1312–1337): Hajj with tons of gold → put Mali on world maps (Catalan Atlas). Timbuktu became scholarly center (Sankore University).
• Decline: Succession disputes, Tuareg raids, Songhai rise.

3. Songhai – ~15th–16th Century

• Founder: Sunni Ali (r. 1464–1492) – military expansion.
• Peak: Askia Muhammad (r. 1493–1528) – bureaucracy, Islamization, Timbuktu/Djenné scholarship.
• Extent: Atlantic to Lake Chad; Niger River core.
• Decline: Moroccan Saadi invasion (1591) with gunpowder; collapse into smaller states.

Common Threads

• Trans-Saharan Trade: Gold north, salt south; Islam spread with merchants.
• Urban Centers: Timbuktu, Gao, Djenné, Walata – commerce & learning.
• Administration: Provincial governors, tax system, professional army (Songhai).
• Writing: Arabic script (Ajami) for local languages; manuscripts survive.

These states were not isolated—they were nodes in a Afro-Eurasian network connecting Mediterranean, Middle East, and West Africa. Their legacy shapes West African identity today.