Editing Guinea (section)

=== West African empires and kingdoms ===
{{main|Imamate of Futa Jallon|Wassoulou Empire}}

What is now Guinea sat on the fringes of various West African empires. The earliest, the [[Ghana Empire]], grew on trade and ultimately fell after repeated incursions of the [[Almoravids]]. It was in this period that Islam first arrived in the region by way of North African traders. The [[Sosso Empire]] came and stayed from 12th to 13th centuries; later, the [[Mali Empire]] came when [[Sundiata Keita|Soundiata Kéïta]] defeated the Sosso ruler [[Soumaoro Kanté|Soumangourou Kanté]] at the [[Battle of Kirina]] in {{circa|1235}}. The Mali Empire was ruled by [[Mansa (title)|Mansa]] (Emperors), including [[Musa I of Mali|Kankou Moussa]], who made a [[hajj]] to Mecca in 1324. After his reign, the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its [[vassal]] states in the 15th century.

The [[Songhai Empire]] expanded its power in about 1460. It continued to prosper until a civil war, over succession, followed the death of [[Askia Daoud]] in 1582. The empire [[Moroccan invasion of the Songhai Empire|fell to invaders]] from [[Morocco]] in 1591, but the kingdom later split into smaller kingdoms. After the fall of some of the West African empires, various kingdoms existed in what is now Guinea. [[Fulani]] Muslims migrated to [[Futa Jallon]] in Central Guinea, and established an Islamic state from 1727 to 1896 with a written constitution and alternate rulers. The [[Wassoulou Empire|Wassoulou or Wassulu Empire]] (1878–1898) was led by [[Samori Ture|Samori Toure]] in the predominantly [[Mandinka people|Malinké]] area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern [[Mali]] (Wassoulou). It moved to [[Ivory Coast]] before being conquered by the French.