Ancient Ghana was the first known great kingdom in West Africa (not to be confused with modern Ghana). The kings of Ancient Ghana ruled from 300 AD and its capital was Kumbi-Saleh. Prehistoric Ghana, however, flourished from around 1100 BC when large stone masonry villages were built adjacent to Kumbi-Saleh. Ancient Ghana was rich in Gold and it is said that the King of Ancient Ghana was the richest king on the face of the earth.
Old Djenne was another great city of Ancient Ghana and dated back to 250 BC. By 500 AD it had a population of 20,000 (a much larger population than London at that time). Old Djenne was a major trading point for gold, salt, ceramics, copper, iron and a great variety of foodstuffs.
The Empire of Mali, led by Sundiata Keita, conquered the Kingdom of Ancient Ghana. The early history of Mali began before 1050 AD. Baramandanah was the first king to be converted to Muslim. He urged his successors to take on the Muslim religion. King Mansa Musa inherited the Malian throne in 1312. Also known as Mansa Abubakari II, he was one of the richest men who ever lived. He launched four hundred ships with men and provisions to explore the Atlantic Ocean. Abubakari II subsequently left Mansa Musa I in charge of the empire and led a fleet of two thousand ships across the Atlantic.
Malians visited the Americas in 1311 (one hundred and one years before Christopher Columbus). Written records, excavated artefacts, skeletons and West African head sculptures in ancient Central and South American Indian cultures are evidence of African presence and influence in Pre-Columbian Americas.
The Songhai Empire was the last of the great West African empires. Songhai took over from Mali and dominated West Africa in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Timbuktu became a great city for learning during the Malian Kingdom, where scholars learnt Koranic theology, law, astronomy, mathematics and other subjects. It had many universities, mosques and monuments built of cut stone and was at its peak during the Songhai Empire.
In 1590, the Moroccan army with the assistance of Queen Elizabeth I of England, who supplied men and weapons; and Spanish soldiers, set out across the Sahara to invade Songhai. They had large stocks of guns, ammunitions and cannons, which were superior to the arms that Songhai possessed.
The Moroccan army sacked, pillaged and burnt the major cities of Songhai to the ground. They damaged all the wells and destroyed all the crops, which led to hunger, famine and a plague that decimated the population and brought an end to West Africa? s golden age.
