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March 15th, 2010, 11:02 PM PerfectionsArchitect Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 23
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Old Ghana and Ghana Empire 1600 B.C.to 300 bc - 400 A.D. to 1079 A.D. The Sahara is in the past was not a dry and barren desert that just nomadic people roam around aimlessly .From ancient times It has been the home to a few but not to well known civilizations, Relative examples are the Soninke of the Ghana civilization and Sao Civilization. The Ghana civilization has its roots with the Soninke people who are known to have built the most ancient urban cultured hubs in Africa today. They are over a four hundreds settlements that date back to 2000 BCE to 300 BCE. One of the most well known locations are Tachitt Walata,Tagnant Cliffs, Augadouhst, and .Kumbi Saleh. The Soninke refer to their ancient civilization as Ghanta or Wagadu quite often. From 2000 BCE to 300 BCE it prospered until it was invaded by Berber tribes most likely the Zenata causing a brief dark age for nearly several centuries. The Soninke would regain their land taken in the 3rd century AD after they sack Akwar from the Berbers, to be ruled by the Cisse (king)Kaya Maja.
The ''Soninke'' people were very skilled artisans, craftsman, workers, agrarian laborers, and even superb wordsmith whose oral griots are mimicked by other local tribes such as the ''Mende''. Soninke are thought to be one of the first people to utilize and capitalize on the use of ''ironware'' in the ''Sahelian West Africa region''. It is believed by most archeologist and scholars that they are the main tribe responsible for the most remarkable settlements in West Africa that date back to the Second millennia bce. The reasons as to why the Soninke people were the first to create a hierarchy system of government within the region of Sahel is not certain, but they are definitely elements that can be deduced and negated . What is known is that the Soninke were the first in the Sahelian West Africa, who wielded the use of iron better than most of their near by tribes. They were not only able to conquer the nearby tribes, but they were also able to gain an upper hand due to their use of iron works . Their applied their iron usage for tilling the soil in agrarian production. Crops such as millet and sorghum are one of the many crops many neighboring tribe purchased from the ''Soninke''. The ''Soninke'' yielded a surplus in these crops which boosted their economic foothold in the region. The Soninke were excellent blacksmith, and the Bamana blacksmith of ''Mandinke Tribe'' , which was a subordinated tribe presided over by the Soninke ,are known to be astounded metallurgist who sold their ironware in bustling markets around the outposts of the Empire of Ghana. The original name for Soninke is ''Serahule'' or Serahli, or ''Serakole''. The name Soninke is actually a religious meaning for follower of ''Sunni Islam'', which is due to their strong influence of Islam in their society today. The Soninke belong to a group of tribes called the ''Mande'' tribes or Mandinka tribes. ''Mandinka tribes'' would not only give rise to the Ghana Empire but they also gave rise to the Mali Empire. The Soninke called their land ''Wagadu'' or ''Ghanata''. The name ''Ghana ''has two meanings ''warrior King''
or ''King of Gold''. An ordinary ''Soninke family'' consisted of a man, his wife or wives, their children, and their relatives. A big family was referred to as a clan, each family had a griot who would tell the stories or history of their families if they were wealthy. The Soninke people believed in a main god that created everything as most African religions do, but they believe in spirits that occupy both living and non-living things, which could be good or evil. But what cannot be missed is the citizens of Ghana including the Soninke and, their kin tribes Mandinke, as well as other tribes who were subjects ,all believed in their God King. The subjects of ''Ghana'' , fervently praised their God King. The throne of the King was called Dinga Cisse after one of its first emperors . The Ghana King adorned himself with necklaces around his neck, bracelets, and a cap embedded with gold wrapped in a fine turban. His court consisted of domed pavilion which had ten horses covered with gold embroidered materialism and on his right he had the sons of the vassal kings , wearing splendid garments with their hair plaited with gold .At the door of his pavilion were excellent dogs of a breed that had gold & silver collars. ''Ibn Hawkal'' wrote the emperor posses great wealth of gold that have been extracted since the early times, the king was so wealthy they kept a thousand horses. According to AL Barki the king's palace was made of many dome shaped dwellings, surrounded by enclosures like that of the defensive wall of city. One of the king's mansions had a gold balcony, and its mansions was filled with numerous sculptures and paintings. It took a large duration of time for the Soninke people to develop dominion over other tribes and retain authority over the surrounding lands. But it is known the Soninke were the first to organize a complex society and social system with hierarchy in Second millennia BCE. This society included laborers, herdsman, craftsman, and a judicial system. A glimpse of the Pre Ghana Era- can be seen throughout Southern Mauritania settlements in Tagant Cliffs and Tichitt Walata . These people had a rather stable and peaceful civilization from 1600 BCE to 300BCE. It was until later that Berber tribes most likely Zenata had incursions with the Soninke people which forced them to become displaced and lose their dominion over their lands, but their civil society remained intact, as it always has even until this day.
Ancient Settlements of Tichitt Walata and Tagant Cliffs http://www.mauritania.mr/fnsva/tichit09.jpg http://www.mauritania.mr/fnsva/tichit10.jpg http://www.mauritania.mr/fnsva/tichit08.jpg
Audaghost or Tegadaoust http://www.mauritania-jp.com/pic/oudagost1.jpg
The Soninke later returned to their original land in 300 A.D. and defeated the proto-Zeneta Berber tribes, at Akwar and exercised rulership in the land. The contemporary date for the Ghana Empire is 7th century AD, but according to Timbuktu book named Tarikh as- Sudan,the Empire of Ghana had 22 kings before the muslim common era ,which brings it back to the 3rd century A.D. , if we symmetrically round of each kings period of power. The name of the king who sought to defeat the Proto Zenata Berbers is ''Dinga Cisse'' or ''Dyabe Cisse''.To ensure stability it is said that ''Dinge Cisse'' married the daughters of 3 Berber kings. It is also said by many oralist that Dinge Cisse came from far away land. The Ghana Empire became very prominent and expanded from the 4th century AD onward. It became prominent for a variety of reasons, one of them was that the Wagadu Emperor and his vassal kings ability to properly moderate the ''Trans-Sahara trade'' booming market . The Ghana Empire was primarily located in the Sahel, which was between the Savannah of Sub-Sahara Africa and the Desert of the Sahara. All traders and merchants who sold goods within in the empire were protected, and ensured security if they sold within the borders, this is why the empire had attracted many journeymen and merchants , it was very dangerous to sell goods in the Sahara due to rogue nomadic tribes who salvaged and plundered any caravan traveling the vast desert. Many traders were ensured security in the territory of the empire, and so they went. But the traders had to pay taxes to the government, they also had to pay tariffs, to the king. Huge quantities of merchandise were sold within the empire like gold, livestock, Morroccan leather, weavers, and elaborate jewelry. They were many markets within the empire examples are Kumbi Saleh, these cities had shops of local potters, craftsmen, weavers, sandal makers. Kumbi Saleh was also had a huge garden in the middle. There were also shops for iron smiths and copper smiths who sold jewelry in these cities. Ghanas economy was also based on Gold Trade. There were only a few tribes who were assigned to gold mining. One of them was called the ''Wangara ''were the primary extractors of gold. They kept their mining
locations secret for fear of tough tribes commadeeering the secret mine and to lessen competition of other tribes to the Wangara extracting it. They of coursed paid large amounts of gold tributes to the Emperor. They were also the tribes of Sosso and Manlinke in who also participated in gold mining.The king only reserved the gold for himself, if the value of gold would've decreased throughout his empire if he chose to make it a public possession. Al-Hamdani describes Ghana as having the richest gold mines on Earth. Soninke Women http://www.diawara.org/album/galleri...me_Soninke.jpg Area of Ghana Empire http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gha...ghan_d1map.jpg Ghana Empire gains its wealth by taxing the all traders who sell within Ghana. If a traders enter the territory of the Empire of Ghana they will have to leave their iron, peacock, feathers, salt or any commodity at one post in return for goods that are sold there. A traveler could then trade his own item for a commodity he ventured of to Ghana for, without going to far within the empire if he chose to do so. The interesting part is that if textiles where brought in from the North they will be distributed in a rationed manner respectively throughout the kingdom. Traders and merchants would sometimes bring commodities of their kingdom own ''royal treasury'', they would often leave surplus amount of goods within Wagadu due to it being trade centers were all kingdoms traded within the territory. Merchants usually came to Wagadu (Empire of Ghana) to sell textiles, camels and salt. Salt was usually sold for gold, and was even worth more than gold within the empire, salt was used as the main currency. Slaves were also sold excessively during the reign of the Ghana Empire. The Empire of Ghana also taxed its vassals extensively and other tributary chiefdoms who bordered the fringes of the empire. The Empire of Ghana secured its territory with its strong army. According to ''Al Barki'' wrote in 1067 Emperor could disperse of 200,000 warriors and 40,000 cavalry men at any given time. Wagadu had gained more territory from 7th century to 11century. The Soninke people had many advantages over the armies of the neighboring territories. One of them was iron weapons and swords, and distinct superb disciplined military, with great attack formations. But the ''Soninkes'' primary advantage was their iron made weapons against the opposing tribes ivory and wood weapons. Their strategy was to defeat a clan or village allow the local ruler to remain in power, if he pledged allegiance to Ghana. Other times the king directly ruled over the conquered peoples without an intermediary or vassal. All conquered tribes or people were expected to provide soldiers for the army. Ghana had an estimated control of 800,000 km2 (308,882 sq mi) of land area at its apex.
The Empire of Ghana was called that for the reason that Ghana means king in the Soninke language, Islamic and European scholars named it after the king because it seemed the king controlled everything. Indeed the king of Ghana was very powerful but not a tyrant. The King's power was moderately regulated by those who were in charge of taxes, army, justice, and other duties. The central government of the empire had a long list of advisers. They local courts of chiefs and first officers decided that matters of local affairs, which were following the mandates of the higher imperial court of the emperors and nobles. The ''Soninke'' people who dominated the government, had a 3 class caste system, the ''Hooro'' being the first, the ''Naxamala'' would be the second class caste ,and the last were ''komo'' who were slaves. Each one of these class systems had sub-divisions also. The ''Hooro'' also called ''free men'', were ruling class that administered authority. One ﾃ｢竄ｬﾅ田lass of ''Hooro'' the ''Tunnkalemmu'' were appointed to carry out authority across local courts and had the right to reward or punish. After the Tunnkalemmu were the ''mangu''. The ''Mangu'' are the advisers of the princes. When they are also problems between different princes the ''mangu ''played as mediators. In most cases the ''mangu'' are the chief of the Army for the princes since they are called the princes ''right hand'' man. The second level of the caste system would be the ''naxamala'' who were called the dependent men. The''Tago'' which were blacksmith held the highest power. After the blacksmith ''Tagu'' were the ''Sakko'', who also were the masters of the wood who had great knowledge of the forest. Third to come of ''Naxamala''were the ''Jaroo'', who were somewhat like entertainers who sang and spoke anything they want, they were solely responsible for being orators and no one else but them could be orators. The last subdivision class of ''Naxamala'' were the'' Garanko'' who were responsible for making leather and other woven goods. The last class of the 3 caste were the ''Komo'' who were slaves, and were often times harshly treated and used to work in for their masters, they were usually used to work in farming. The Empire of Ghana's power began to disintegrate in 1059 AD. The causes of the decline, was the Emperor and his chiefs began to overtax the region ,the Sahara desert began to expand affecting the crop production of the lands, which resulted in most of its citizens becoming dependent on food from the outside. This caused a decrease in the surplus of food from the Wagadu famers, which in turn caused trade of cattle and crops to declined dramatically. The Ghana Empire also had very volatile subjects in its kingdom, one of them was the Berber tribe ''Zenata'' . They were great enemies of Wagadu before they came into power but they were pacified as a result, of them being main tribe that brought most of the salt into the empire. But the Zeneata had defected to Almoravids who were Berber muslims encroaching from the North. The muslim religion also became a threat as it began to get a stronger influence in the kingdom which caused tribes disbelief of the Semi-Divine King(Ghana).The emperor was also not able to exercise his authority over distant sources of that supplied gold, copper, and silver as his resources began to decrease due to his territory retracting in area. So the King of Ghana decided to make a deal with the Soso a Sonay speaking
tribe(believed to be an offshoot of the Soninke)and Manlinke people who lived in area where the Emperors authority was weak. The Soso and Manlinke tribe that were initially supposed to mine and extract gold on the behalf of the Emperor. The Soso tribe then double crossed the Ghana emperor and strategically and made initiative to make a hoard of the resources for themselves, the manlinke followed suit with this tactic. The Soso and Manlinke of course renounced any allegiance under the Ghana king. Finally the ''Almoravids'' descended unto the territories of Ghana Empire and the Ghana Empire army and the Almoravids fought for 5 years from 1062. They both fought for 5 more years until the Almoravids gained control of the empire in 1067. Abu Bakr ibn Umar would eventually hold down all resistance, and his cousin Yusef ibn Tashifin (who was half Soninke according to some sources ) would eventually rule the region with an iron fist. The Soninke attempted to resist the Almoravids for 10 years but were not successful, and the Soninke were finally constrained to a smaller kingdom in 1077. In 1203 AD the ''Kante clan'' a Mande tribe conquered every other Mande tribe including the Soso an Manlinke, Samunguru Kante a powerful leader eventually destroyed what was left of the remnants of the Ghana Kingdom. But although the kingdom was gone the Soninke were still able to keep their traditions together. The Soninke and the Ghana Empire legacy would live on as the ruler Askya Muhhamd I also called Askya the Great, of the Songhai Empire ,was half Soninke inheriting his lineage from his father. Askya Muhhamad would be one of the greatest emperors in African history ruling over one of the biggest amount of territory known in Africa. March 15th, 2010, 11:17 PM
#2 Do you have any map of the historical empire?
BUTEMBO21 Mutu ya Chuma.
It would be good to see, their territories compare to today. __________________ City of Week. LUBUMBASHI
Join Date: May 2008 Location: Butembo Posts: 16,457
RD CONGO
March 16th, 2010, 12:51 AM popa1980 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,486
#3 I think it was around the siz of Spain or France. Modern Ghana has no relation to Ancient Ghana but some of the Akan do claim ancestry- at least the royal court of the Asante bears some resemblance to that described of old Ghana.
March 16th, 2010, 01:01 AM popa1980 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,486
#4 "The King gives an audience to his people, in order to listen to their complaints and set them right…he sits in a pavilion around which stand 10 horses with gold embodied trappings. Behind the king stand 10 pages holding shields and gold mounted swords; on his right are the sons or princes of his empire, splendidly clad and with gold plaited in their hair. Before him sits the high priest, and behind the high priest sit the other priests…The door of the pavilion is guarded by dogs of an excellent breed who almost never leave the king's presence and who wear collars of gold and silver studded with bells of the same material"
March 16th, 2010, 01:08 AM PerfectionsArchitect Registered User
#5 Quote:
Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 23
Originally Posted by BUTEMBO21 Do you have any map of the historical empire?
It would be good to see, their territories compare to today. The Area of the empire is in the link called the Area of Ghana empire I posted above. As for the ancient settlements of Tichitt-Walata they are dispersed sparsely throughout the Sahara and Sahel.
March 16th, 2010, 01:08 AM PerfectionsArchitect Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 23
#6 Quote: Originally Posted by popa1980 I think it was around the siz of Spain or France.
Modern Ghana has no relation to Ancient Ghana but some of the Akan do claim ancestry- at least the royal court of the Asante bears some resemblance to that described of old Ghana. Of course I never said it did.
August 22nd, 2010, 05:33 PM Hadrami Registered User
#7 Quote: Originally Posted by popa1980
Modern Ghana has no relation to Ancient Ghana but some of the Akan do claim ancestry
Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 610
Exactly. There is absolutely no link between Ancient Ghana and Modern ghana. + the real name of the ancient Ghana Empire was "Wagadu". "Ghana" was the name of the sovereign of the empire
August 22nd, 2010, 05:38 PM
#8
Hadrami Registered User
Quote: Originally Posted by BUTEMBO21 Do you have any map of the historical empire?
It would be good to see, their territories compare to today. The empire covered South-east Mauritania and Western Mali
Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 610 August 23rd, 2010, 02:34 AM Shaka-M-14 Registered User
#9 Quote: Originally Posted by Hadrami The empire covered South-east Mauritania and Western Mali
Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 1,163 aren't the people of Ghana today migrants from ancient Ghana(or whatever you prefer to call it) __________________ don't go with the flow, make the waves.
Support the Ghana Subforum!
August 23rd, 2010, 12:42 PM
#10
Hadrami Registered User
Quote: Originally Posted by Shaka-M-14 aren't the people of Ghana today migrants from ancient Ghana(or whatever you prefer to call it)
Once again "Ancient Ghana" and "modern Ghana" are not related. Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 610
Nkrumah was fascinated with this african empire and chose to name his independent country after this ancien black empire. The descendants of the "Ancient Ghana empire" or "Wagadu" are the Soninké people. Present in Senegal, Mali, Mauritania and Gambia. They are peasants or businessmen and 100% muslim.
August 23rd, 2010, 01:00 PM
#11 Everything in the south of the moorish empire was refered to as Ghana ! ... and i think nowadays it's the actual region of west africa ! __________________
aminechangchun 阿明 长春
“I hope they serve beer in hell ! ”
Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Casablanca/China/卡萨布兰卡/ 中国 Posts: 1,627 August 23rd, 2010, 01:44 PM Hadrami Registered User
#12 Quote: Originally Posted by aminechangchun Everything in the south of the moorish empire was refered to as Ghana ! ... and i think nowadays it's the actual region of west africa ! Wrong.
Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 610
Ghana empire was the name given to Wagadu empire by the Moors (Arabs-berbers). The Moors called the West-African Sahel - "Bilad as-Sudan".
August 23rd, 2010, 01:49 PM aminechangchun 阿明 长春
#13 And where is the Wagadu empire !? isn't it the actual ghana !? Bilad a sudan wasn't an empire , it was just a region ! __________________
“I hope they serve beer in hell ! ” Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Casablanca/China/卡萨布兰卡/ 中国 Posts: 1,627 August 23rd, 2010, 02:07 PM
#14
Hadrami Registered User
Quote: Originally Posted by aminechangchun And where is the Wagadu empire !? isn't it the actual ghana !?
Bilad a sudan wasn't an empire , it was just a region ! Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 610
I never said Bilad As Sudan was an empire. I said it was the name given by the Moors to the West African Sahel. Ghana (Wagadu) was just one of the empires of the Sahel and was never the name given by the Moors to the entire West-Africa region.
August 23rd, 2010, 04:24 PM popa1980 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,486
#15 Quote: Originally Posted by Hadrami Wrong.
Ghana empire was the name given to Wagadu empire by the Moors (Arabs-berbers). The Moors called the West-African Sahel - "Bilad as-Sudan". Ghana was the name given to the emperors which became erroneously used as the nation.
August 23rd, 2010, 04:25 PM
#16 Interestingly, the court of the Ashanti in Ghana bears very similar to that of Ancient Ghana.
popa1980 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,486 August 23rd, 2010, 05:14 PM Hadrami Registered User
#17 Quote: Originally Posted by Hadrami the real name of the ancient Ghana Empire was "Wagadu". "Ghana" was the name of the sovereign of the empire Quote:
Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 610
Originally Posted by popa1980 Ghana was the name given to the emperors which became erroneously used as the nation.
Yeah like i said before in this thread. August 23rd, 2010, 05:32 PM TshabalalaGH Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: NYC Posts: 117
#18 Actually some present day Ghanians did in fact emigrate from Ancient Ghana. The name "Danso" is synonymous with Ghanaians and Gambians. __________________
While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of man's humanity to man. - Maya Angelou
August 23rd, 2010, 05:43 PM
#19
Hadrami Registered User
Quote: Originally Posted by TshabalalaGH Actually some present day Ghanians did in fact emigrate from Ancient Ghana. The name "Danso" is synonymous with Ghanaians and Gambians.
Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 610
This is no hard evidence. I'm a descendant of Ancient Ghana and never heard of Soninkés migrating to Ghana. There are Englishmen and Senegalese that share the name Wade, does that mean they have common ancestors ? No it's just coincidence !!
August 23rd, 2010, 05:50 PM
#20
TshabalalaGH Registered User
Quote: Originally Posted by Hadrami This is no hard evidence. I'm a descendant of Ancient Ghana and never heard of Soninkés migrating to Ghana.
There are Englishmen and Senegalese that share the name Wade, does that mean they have common ancestors ? No it's just coincidence !! Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: NYC Posts: 117
There's also an American with the name Seamus O'Doherty and I'm damn well sure there is an Irishman with that name too. What are the odds than this American has Irish ancestry? Akans in modern Ghana have strong links with Ghanaian Empire and there is anecdotal evidence. Not sure why you're so quick to write off any connection modern Ghana has with ancient Ghana. Why, do we give Ancient Ghana a bad name? It happened buddy. You can deny all you want __________________
While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of man's humanity to man. - Maya Angelou Last edited by TshabalalaGH; August 23rd, 2010 at 05:59 PM.
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