The Golden King

Examine the image below. A man sits in the middle of a late fourteenth-century map. He is clearly a king. He wears a crown and holds a scepter. To Europeans, these are symbols of kings. The image was created by Abraham Cresques. He lived in Spain around the year 1375. Yet the king is African, not European. He is Mansa Musa I. He was the ruler of the state of Mali. He was possibly the wealthiest man of his time.

There were many West African states in this era. But Mali is the one that shows up in most textbooks. Mali emerged in a region that had given birth to many earlier states. As early as 300 CE, trade routes crossed the Sahara. They linked North Africa to the growing cities in West Africa. These cities had little centralized authority. That changed by 800 or 900 CE.

States and Trade in the Sahel to 1100 CE

The region south of the Sahara Desert was known as the Sahel. It was sometimes called the Western Sudan. This was mostly dry grassland. There were some wetter areas. Plus there were several lakes in an area known as the Chad Basin.¹ These wet areas could support large populations of people. That created a need for organization and governance. So different communities built states. The earliest we know of was Wagadu. It is usually called by the title of its ruler, Ghana. Many states in this region shared the same language. It is called Hausa.

These kingdoms had three major elements in common. We call these the Sahelian state model.

First, these states relied on long-distance trade. It is how they became wealthy. They controlled the gold trade. They also controlled the trade of kola nuts. (Kola has caffeine. It was one of the original ingredients in Coca-Cola!)

Second, these states all relied on wet, grain-producing centers. They had large populations. The states had little control over the people in the drier regions around them. Most of whom were nomadic herders. The big states couldn’t really rule them.

Finally, all of these states had to deal with religious diversity. Islam was a powerful force in the region. It was the religion of the traders from North Africa. Soon some West African merchants became Muslims as well. Most people followed local religions, though. A few rulers converted to Islam. But most kings did not. They were inclusive of other religions. This is known as religious pluralism. This is still a common characteristic of this region today.

From the decline of Wagadu to the rise of Mali

During the twelfth century, Wagadu (Ghana) began to decline. It lost its status as the biggest state in the region. There was a state to the south called Susu. It gained control over the gold and kola nut trade. The Susu were the great power of the region for a hundred years.

The Susu were defeated by a new power. It was the state of Mali. Mali was led by its first mansa (sultan, king, or emperor), Sunjata. Sunjata’s full name was Sogolon Mari Djata. “Sogolon” was actually his mother’s name. She may have been related to the rulers of Susu. She brought him support and followers. He may have been Muslim. However, he embraced local cultural and religious ideas. Sunjata defeated Susu around 1240. He built the long and lasting state of Mali. Eventually, Mali stretched more than a thousand miles east to west.

Was Mali was an empire? It is hard to say. Mali had a core of people who shared a language and culture. Around them were conquered people who did not. This suggests it may have been an empire. However, it was not very centralized. The different regions were fairly independent. This makes it seem less like an empire. But, Mali’s rulers got very rich by controlling the growing trade. This suggests that it was more like an empire. Mansa Musa, the man in the map at the top, became Mansa of Mali around 1312. He controlled so much wealth that a European map- maker, who had never met or seen him, drew him as a king.

African diversities

Most high schools cover Mali and the Sudanic African states. But they leave out many regions. These had states and complex systems of trade, too. In the forests to the south of the Sudanic zone, there were large kingdoms. These included Benin and the Yoruba and Igala states. In northeast Africa, the kingdom of Ethiopia grew very large. In Southeast Africa, extensive states existed alongside smaller societies. One of these large states was Great Zimbabwe. These kingdoms have often been ignored. But, historians are learning much more about them. It’s a great example of how history’s many narratives can grow and change based on who is telling the story.

1 A basin is an area where dry land dips down. It dips low enough to support lakes, rivers, or streams.