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690
Ghana: Beginning of the Empire's Golden Age
An influential warrior tribe called the Soninkes took power away from Berber tribesmen and ended Berber rule in Ghana. Even later in the century when trade routes opened up and Islam asserted influence, the Empire of Ghana continued some of its Soninke religious practices, especially in rural areas away from city centers. -
1050
Barmandana Converts to Islam
Kangaba was a small kingdom founded by the Keita family in the 11th century. The kingdom was situated between the Niger and Senegal rivers. Their first ruler, Barmandana, converted to Islam in 1050 AD. This is important because the Kangaba empire preceded the Empire of Mali, whose ruling class also practiced Islam. They united communities that suffered at the hands of slave-traders from neighboring lands. -
Period: 1054 to 1087
The Almoravids
A sect of the Berbers, called the Almoravids, was a tribe with militant expansion methods. They conquered the city of Audaghost in 1054, and the Ghana capital Kumbi in 1076, defeating the Soninke Army. Their presence dispersed Soninke warriors and spread Islam throughout the region.The group left Ghana around 1087 when their leader Abu Bakr ibn Umar died. -
Period: 1201 to 1399
Kingdom of Kongo
At some point in the 13th or 14th century, the Kingdom of Kongo was founded by Bantu-speaking people (some Bantu-speaking people were part of the Mali empire), known as the Bakongo. They are believed to have been the first empire in the interior of West Africa to have contact with Europeans.The kingdom was formed by Lukeni lue Nimi when he took the title manikongo, or king of Kongo. -
1203
Decline of Ghana
By this time Ghana was made up of small city-states, less centralized than before. The small Kaniaga kingdom that grew in the northern regions of Ghana attacked, ending the reign of Ghana in West Africa. Following its fall, remnants of the Ghana empire were controlled by the Soso, the founding tribe of Kaniaga. -
Period: 1203 to 1234
The Soso's Short-Lived Rule
After the dissolution of the Ghana empire, the slave-raiding Soso united under their leader Sumangure Kante. Sumanguru, intent on expanding his empire, executed 11 sons of Nare Fa Maghan, ruler of neighboring Kangaba. The Soso seized girls from the royal line for work as concubines, ignoring existing marriage arrangements. Sumanguru also imposed burdensome taxes. Frustrated by the inaction of their king Dankaran-Tuma, the Kangabans initiated a revolt against their Soso overlords. -
1234
Sundiata Returns to Kangaba
The Epic of Sundiata is a semi-mythical tale passed down orally by West African storytellers and musicians. As his story goes, he was the 12th son of Maghan Kon Fatta, spared by Sumanguru because of a disability as a child. In the epic, Sundiata and Sumanguru are opposing magical forces. When Sundiata's brother, Dankaran-Tuma, king of Kangaba, fled and left his people, Sundiata returned and stormed Kangaba, seizing his brother's abandoned throne. -
1235
Sundiata Keita Defeats Sumanguru; Founds Mali
Though the lines are often blurred between fact and fiction, the legend states that Sumanguru was furious Sundiata had challenged his authority. Both sides mobilized armies and fought in 1235 at the town of Kirina along the Niger. Sundiata emerged victorious, and liberated the states held by the Soso during their reign. He conquered territories in every direction, including gold-bearing fields. His victory is considered the founding of the Empire of Mali. -
Period: 1235 to 1255
Mali Under Sundiata
Sundiata ushered in peace and prosperity. Although Sundiata was a Muslim himself, he let the people retain their traditional Mande beliefs. He expanded the empire into the floodplains of the Niger and established an agricultural economy. The military forces he established kept trade routes safe, and so attracted traders and merchants to the region. -
1255
Sundiata Dies
Sundiata morphed the Kangaba kingdom into one of the most powerful in medieval West Africa, the Empire of Mali. He built a new capital at Niani, which is often called Mali and is the city Ibn Buttuta reportedly visited on his travels. The city soon attracted Muslim traders and scholars and became a political and commercial center. Upon his death in 1255, the new federation of kingdoms he integrated were forced to exist without Sundiata for the first time in the Empire's existence. -
Period: 1299 to
Ottoman Empire
At the end of the 13th century, the Muslim kingdom called the Otttoman empire developed in Anatolia. The Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 and renamed it Istanbul, meaning "City of Islam." The Ottomans conquered the Middle East and much of Northern Africa, influential in the Islamization of the Sudanic empires. The Ottoman empire was in decline by the 1600's. -
Period: 1312 to 1337
Reign of Mansa Musa
The grandnephew of Sundiata, Mansa Musa, was the most legendary king of Mali. He doubled the empire's territory, making it as large as Western Europe. He transformed Timbuktu into an intellectual and economic center, and under his leadership the empire became very wealthy. Following his pilgrimage, news of the emperor's great wealth attracted merchants and scholars from around the world, making Mali an even more successful trading economy. -
1324
Mansa Musa Pilgrimage
Mansa Musa is famous for his pilgrimage to Mecca. He brought a large group of followers, reportedly including sixty thousand bearing supplies, 500 slaves holding gold staffs, 500 maids, and one hundred camels. He stopped in Cairo along the way and spent so much gold he disrupted gold markets for a decade. When he returned, he built Islamic Mosques and universities modeled after those he had seen during his pilgrimage. His antics intrigued traders and scholars, whom then traveled to Mali. -
1464
Sunni Ali Succeeds Sulaiman Dama
Sunni Ali of the Sunni dynasty is known as the founder of the Songhay (or Songhai) empire that followed the Empire of Mali. His father, Madogo, was the tenth king of Gao, a province under the Mali empire. By the time Ali succeeded the fourteenth king, Sulaiman Dama, the Mali empire was weak. He filled the power vacuum in the Niger Basin, freeing Gao from Mali and laying the foundation for the Songhay empire. -
Period: 1466 to 1473
Siege of Djenne
After taking power, Ali waged war against the city of Djenne. The city was reportedly assaulted by Mali 99 times and never overtaken. Sunni Ali, pioneering naval warfare on the Niger, used four hundred naval boats to end his seven year siege. He did not destroy the city, unlike Timbuktu. -
1468
Sunni Ali Conquers Timbuktu
in 1467, Sunni Ali aligned with Omar Muhammad Naddi, then governor of Timbuktu, against the Tuaregs. In 1468, he turned on Omar, who fled the city and left it to Ali. He systematically destroyed Timbuktu over a two-year period and killed many scholars. -
1482
Portuguese Enter Western Africa
Diogo Cão explored the Congo River in 1482 and came into contact with the Kingdom of Kongo. When they arrived in 1485, the Kongo was in a struggle over succession. Cão supported one contender and established an alliance between the Portuguese crown and the Kongo government. The Portuguese traded military assistance for slaves, which Portugal eventually sent to Brazil for plantation work. -
1491
Nzinga a Nkuwu Converts to Christianity
Diogo Cão had a secondary mission for his travels; spreading Christianity at the behest of Portugal. Portugal hoped to convert the Africans they traded with to Christianity. In an effort to please them, king of Congo, Nzinga a Knuwu, became a Christian. He adopted the name João I in honor of the Portuguese king. He faced resentment from traditionalist advisors, and eventually recanted Christianity later in life. -
1492
Sunni Ali dies
Sunni Ali drowns while crossing a river during one of the many military campaigns he waged as ruler of Songhay. -
1506
Nzinga a Nkuwu dies
There is a struggle for power when he dies. His son, Nzinga Mbemba, defeated his half-brother to assume the throne. Using his baptized name, Mbemba became known as Afonso I and launched a Catholic dynasty, even adopting Portuguese clothing and manners.
