Editing Sahel (section)

===Sahelian kingdoms===
{{main|Sahelian kingdoms}}
{{Further|Trans-Saharan trade|Islamization of the Sudan region}}
[[File:Geschichte des Kostüms (1905) (14580574910).jpg|thumb|1905 depiction of ethnic groups in the Sahel]]

The Sahelian kingdoms were a series of monarchies centered in the Sahel between the 9th and 18th centuries. The wealth of the states, like the legendary [[Mali Empire]] at the time of [[Mansa Musa]], came from controlling the [[trans-Saharan trade]] routes across the desert, especially with the [[Maghreb]]. Their power came from having large [[pack animal]]s like camels and horses that were fast enough to keep a large empire under central control and were also useful in battle. All of these empires were quite decentralized with member cities having a great deal of autonomy.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} 

The larger [[Sahelian kingdoms]] emerged from 750 AD and erected several large cities in the [[Niger River|Niger valley]] region, including [[Timbuktu]], [[Gao]] and [[Djenné]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Chirikure |first=Shadreck |title=Precolonial Metallurgy and Mining across Africa |date=2018-02-26 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780190277734.013.148 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.148 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4}}</ref>

Due to the [[forest-savanna mosaic|wooded areas]] to their south, the Sahelian states were hindered from expanding into the north Akan state of the [[Bono state|Bonoman]] and [[Yoruba people]]s, as mounted warriors were all but useless in the forests. In addition, the horses and camels were susceptible to the humidity and diseases of the tropics.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hunwick|first=John O.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kdEsWyzLnD8C|title=Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Saʿdi's Taʾrīkh Al-Sūdān Down to 1613, and Other Contemporary Documents|date=2003-01-01|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-12822-4|language=en}}</ref>