Editing History of Ghana (section)

== Early history ==
{{Further|Early history of Ghana}}

[[File:Akan face.jpg|thumb|A 16th–17th-century [[Akan people|Akan]] Terracotta, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York]]

[[File:A local bullet proof.jpg|thumb|A military regalia of the [[Kingdom of Dagbon]], known locally as Gbagno]]

By the end of 16th century, most of the ethnic groups constituting the modern [[Ghanaian people|Ghanaian]] population had settled in their present locations. Archaeological remains found in the coastal zone indicated that the area had been inhabited since the [[Bronze Age]] (ca. 2000 BC), but these societies, based on fishing, had left few traces. Archaeological work also suggests that central Ghana north of the forest zone was inhabited as early as 3,000 to 4,000 years ago.<ref name="pc">McLaughlin & Owusu-Ansah (1994), "The Pre-Colonial Period".</ref>

These migrations resulted in part from the formation and disintegration of a series of large states in the [[western Sudan]] (the region north of modern Ghana drained by the [[Niger River]]).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gunn|first=Harold|date=3 February 2017|title=Peoples of the Middle Niger Region Northern Nigeria|doi=10.4324/9781315282299|isbn=9781315282299}}</ref> Strictly speaking, ''Ghana'' was the title of the king, but the [[Arabs]], who left records of the kingdom, applied the term to the King, the capital, and the state.<ref>{{Citation|title=King, Justin Matthew, (born 17 May 1961), Vice Chairman, Terra Firma Capital Partners, since 2015|date=1 December 2007|work=Who's Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u10000220}}</ref> The 9th-century [[Berber people|Berber]] historian and geographer [[Al Yaqubi]] described ancient Ghana as one of the three most organized states in the region.<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Nehemia Levtzion|last1=Levtzion|first1=Nehemia|title=Ancient Ghana and Mali|date=1973|publisher=Methuen & Co Ltd|location=New York|isbn=0841904316|page=3}}</ref>

Its rulers were renowned for their wealth in gold, the opulence of their courts, and their warrior/hunting skills. They were also masters of the trade in gold, which drew North African merchants to the western Sudan.<ref>{{Citation|title=25. The True Function for Which Rulers Were Created|work=A Knight's Own Book of Chivalry|year=2005|pages=76–79|place=Philadelphia|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|doi=10.9783/9780812208689.76|isbn=978-0-8122-0868-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Njiraini|first=John|date=30 April 2016|title=Is Africa the new face of rising wealth and opulence?|journal=Africa Renewal|volume=29|issue=1|pages=28–29|doi=10.18356/87f27ce9-en|issn=2517-9829}}</ref> The military achievements of these and later western Sudanic rulers, and their control over the region's gold mines, constituted the nexus of their historical relations with merchants and rulers in North Africa and the [[Mediterranean]].<ref name=pc />

[[File:Kumasi.png|thumb|Palace of [[Ashanti people|Ashanti]] King Kwaku Dua of Kumasi, Kumasi, 1887]]
Ghana succumbed to attacks by its neighbors in the 11th century, but its name and reputation endured. Although none of the states of the western Sudan controlled territories in the area that is modern Ghana, several kingdoms that later developed such as [[Bonoman]], were ruled by nobles believed to have immigrated from that region. The [[trans-Saharan trade]] that contributed to the expansion of kingdoms in the western Sudan also led to the development of contacts with regions in northern modern Ghana, and in the forest to the south.<ref name=pc /><ref>{{Citation |last=Malwal |first=Bona |title=Northern Sudan and South Sudan: Denying the South Autonomy Led to Independence, 1947–2011 |date=2015 |work=Sudan and South Sudan |pages=31–65 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |doi=10.1057/9781137437143_3 |isbn=978-1-349-49376-0 |author-link=Bona Malwal}}</ref>

The growth of trade stimulated the development of early Akan states located on the trade route to the goldfields, in the forest zone of the south.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ptak|first=Roderich|date=1992|title=The Northern Trade Route to the Spice Islands : South China Sea – Sulu Zone – North Moluccas (14th to early 16th century)|journal=Archipel|volume=43|issue=1|pages=27–56|doi=10.3406/arch.1992.2804|issn=0044-8613}}</ref> The forest itself was thinly populated, but Akan-speaking peoples began to move into it toward the end of the 15th century, with the arrival of crops from South-east Asia and the New World that could be adapted to forest conditions. These new crops included [[sorghum]], bananas, and [[cassava]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schneider|first=Caroline|date=March 2015|title=New deep-furrow drills could help more Pacific Northwest farmers move to conservation tillage|journal=Crops & Soils|volume=48|issue=2|pages=18–19|doi=10.2134/cs2015-48-2-3|bibcode=2015CrSo...48Q..18S |issn=0162-5098}}</ref> By the beginning of the 16th century, European sources noted the existence of the gold-rich states of Akan and [[Twifo Praso|Twifu]] in the [[Ofin River Valley]].<ref name=pc />

The Mole-Dagbon Kingdoms are the earliest political kingdoms of Modern Ghana. Found by [[Na Gbewa|Naa Gbewaa]], numerous kingdoms such as the [[Kingdom of Dagbon]], [[Mamprusi people|Gmamprugu]], [[Nanumba people|Nanung]] and others emerged. These kingdoms are spread across the [[Upper East Region]], [[Upper West Region]], [[North East Region, Ghana]], and [[Northern Region (Ghana)]] of Ghana. The [[Kingdom of Dagbon]] resisted slavery and colonisation fiercely, preferring trade in commodities than humans. As a result, the Kingdom has been significantly influenced by Islam due to trade with neighbouring Kingdoms under the rulership of [[Ya-Na|Yaa Naa]] Zangina. European and colonial influence was more in Southern and Central Ghana.