West African Kingdoms

  • 1500 BCE

    Ghana Empire

    Ghana Empire
    Complex societies had existed in the region.
  • 1464 BCE

    Songhai

    Songhai
    Songhai, the last of these three great empires, remained, and it started under the control of the Mali Empire.
  • Period: 1464 BCE to 1591 BCE

    Songhai

    Songhai, the last of these three great empires, remained. It started under the control of the Mali Empire.
  • Period: 1230 BCE to 1600 BCE

    Mali Empire

    The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka.
  • Period: 1200 BCE to 1500 BCE

    Mali Empire

    Mali came next and lasted.
  • 1000 BCE

    Iron Technology

    Iron Technology
    Iron technology spreads to the rest of Africa.
  • 800 BCE

    The Religion of Islam

    The Religion of Islam
    The religion of Islam begins to spread through Africa.
  • 800 BCE

    Songhai

    Songhai
    The Songhai are thought to have settled at Gao.
  • 500 BCE

    Evidence of Iron

    Evidence of Iron
    Evidence of iron smelting in Nigeria and central Niger.
  • 300 BCE

    Ghana Empire

    Ghana Empire
    Ghana was the first of the three early African empires.
  • 2 BCE

    Ghana Empire

    Ghana Empire
    The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali.
  • Period: 300 to

    The First African Empire

    Ghana was the first of the three early African empires.
  • Period: 970 to 1054

    Ghana's Decline

    Ghana had forced Awdaghast in the desert to accept its rule.
  • 1067

    The Capital

    The Capital
    The capital was actually two cities six miles apart but “between these two towns are continuous habitations”, so that they might be said to have merged into one.
  • 1067

    Ghana

    Ghana was surrounded by independent kingdoms, and Sila, one of them located on the Senegal River was “almost a match for the king of Ghana.”
  • 1076

    Ghana Fell

    Ghana Fell
    Ghana fell when it was sacked by the Almoravid movement.
  • 1100

    Songhai Empire

    It was established as the capital, during the reign of Dia Kossoi.
  • 1300

    Military

    Military
    The Mali Empire was able to project its power throughout its own extensive domain and beyond.
  • Period: 1300 to 1400

    Military

    The number and frequency of conquests indicate the Kolonkan mansas inherited and or developed a capable military.
  • 1340

    Ghana Incorporation

    Ghana was incorporated into the Empire of Mali, according to a detailed account of al-‘Umari.
  • 1400

    In the 14th century

    Mali was the source of almost half the Old World’s gold exported from mines in Bambuk, Boure and Galam.
  • Songhai Fall

    Songhai Fall
    Judar proceeded to sack Gao destroying the Songhai as a regional power, and having control of the region.
  • The Battle of Tondibi

    The Battle of Tondibi
    When the Emperor met Judar, Songhai forces, were routed by a cattle stampede triggered by the Saadi’s gunpowder weapons.
  • Mahmud's Death

    Mahmud IV died. Oral tradition states that he had three sons who fought over Manden’s remains.
  • The Collapse

    The Collapse
    The realm remained under Mandinka control.
  • Artifact 1: Folio from a Qur'an, sura 5:13-15

    Artifact 1: Folio from a Qur'an, sura 5:13-15
    It's of an ink, color, and gold on parchment. By the thirteenth century, different regions throughout the Islamic world had developed their own scripts. In north Africa and Islamic Spain, the so-called maghribi, or Western style, became predominant and changed little over the centuries.
  • Artifact 2: Ritual wine container (fanghu) with interlaced dragons

    Artifact 2: Ritual wine container (fanghu) with interlaced dragons
    It's made of bronze. The person who made this artifact was Charles Vignier (1863-1932), with a method of acquisition unknown.
  • Artifact 3: Bottle of Cizhou type

    Artifact 3: Bottle of Cizhou type
    It's a stoneware with white slip and iron glaze. It was a wine bottle with a full, pear-shaped body tapering to a long, waisted neck ending in a flared mouth with lipped rim. The vessel sits on a splayed, slightly stepped foot that is unglazed on the bottom except where trimming has left a thin strip of glaze on the underside edge.
  • Artifact 4: Figure

    Artifact 4: Figure
    It's a ceramic figure seated cross-legged, with the upper arms missing.
  • Artifact 5: Processional cross

    Artifact 5: Processional cross
    Its provenance is from Rémy Audouin collection, Paris. Cast copper alloy cross with openwork design and engravings of four archangels on its arms. Their bodies form a maltese cross ending in a hollow shaft for mounting on a pole during religious processionals.