Tag: mali

history

Revisit: GAO, WEST AFRICA (CA. 1450- )

The city of Gao, situated near the north bend of the Niger River, served as the capital city of the Songhai state in West Africa from the 11th century until the fall of the Songhai Empire at the end of the 16th century.  Gao emerged as a powerful and wealthy political center located along the trans-Saharan trade routes and was a center for Islamic study in the 15th and 16th centuries. Archaeological evidence, such as … Continue reading Revisit: GAO, WEST AFRICA (CA. 1450- )

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Uncategorized

TIMBUKTU (CA. 1100- )

Located at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert and six miles north of the Niger River in the present-day nation of Mali, Timbuktu has been a centuries-old, significant city in West Africa.  In the 14th Century it became the commercial, religious and cultural center of the West African empires of Mali and Songhai.  With its population of traders, merchants and scholars, Timbuktu was known throughout western Africa … Continue reading TIMBUKTU (CA. 1100- )

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African American History

Revisit: MALI EMPIRE (CA. 1200-1545 )

The Mali Empire was the second of three West African empires to emerge in the vast savanna grasslands located between the Sahara Desert to the north and the coastal rain forest in the south. Beginning as a series of small successor trading states, Ancient Ghana, the empire grew to encompass the territory between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Chad, a distance of 2,600 miles (nearly … Continue reading Revisit: MALI EMPIRE (CA. 1200-1545 )

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African American History, Events

revisit: SONGHAI EMPIRE (CA. 1375-1591)

The Songhai Empire, the last of West Africa’s pre-colonial empires, emerged in Gao and expanded across the region. Under Sunni Ali Ber and Askia Muhammad Toure, it grew through conquest and trade. However, a civil war led to Moroccan conquest in 1591. Although the Moroccans withdrew in 1661, the empire could not be reestablished and fell to French colonial forces in 1901. Continue reading revisit: SONGHAI EMPIRE (CA. 1375-1591)

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