Editing Mali (section)

=== Before colonization ===
[[File:MALI empire map.PNG|thumb|left|The extent of the [[Mali Empire]]'s peak]]
[[File:Timbuktu-manuscripts-astronomy-mathematics.jpg|thumb|left|The pages above are from [[Timbuktu Manuscripts]] written in Sudani script (a form of [[Arabic]]) from the [[Mali Empire]] showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in [[Timbuktu]] alone.]]

The rock art in the [[Sahara]] suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, when the Sahara was fertile and rich in wildlife. Early ceramics have been discovered at the central Malian site of Ounjougou dating to about 9,400 BC, and are believed to represent an instance of the independent invention of pottery in the region.<ref>Eric Huysecom, M. Rasse, L. Lespez, K. Neumann, A. Fahmy, A. Ballouche, S. Ozainne, M. Maggetti, Ch. Tribolo, S. Sorian: The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC: new evidence from Ounjougou (Mali), in: Antiquity (2009), p. 906.</ref> Farming took place by 5000 BC and iron was used by around 500 BC.
In the first millennium BC, early cities and towns were created by Mande peoples related to the [[Soninke people]], along the middle Niger River in central Mali, including [[Dia, Mali|Dia]] which began from around 900 BC, and reached its peak around 600 BC,<ref name="Arazi">{{cite web |last1=Arazi |first1=Noemie |title=Tracing History in Dia, in the Inland Niger Delta of Mali -Archaeology, Oral Traditions and Written Sources |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1444342/1/U591645.pdf |website=University College London |publisher=Institute of Archaeology |access-date=4 November 2021 |archive-date=13 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213144217/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444342/1/U591645.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Djenne-Djenno]], which lasted from around 300 BC to 900 AD. Through approximately 6th century BC and 4th century BC, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in pack-animals, gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires.

There are a few references to Mali in early Islamic literature. Among these are references to "Pene" and "Malal" in the work of [[al-Bakri]] in 1068,<ref>al-Bakri in Nehemiah Levtzion and J. F. Pl Hopkins, eds and trans., ''Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History'' (New York and London: Cambridge University Press, 1981, reprint edn Princeton, New Jersey,: Marcus Wiener, 2000), pp. 82–83.</ref> the story of the conversion of an early ruler, known to [[Ibn Khaldun]] (by 1397) as Barmandana,<ref>ibn Khaldun in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds, and transl. ''Corpus'', p. 333.</ref> and a few geographical details in the work of [[al-Idrisi]].<ref>al-Idrisi in Levtzion and Hopkins, eds. and transl, ''Corpus'', p. 108.</ref>

Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled [[trans-Saharan trade]] in gold, salt, other precious commodities, and [[slaves]] majorly during the reign of [[Mansa Musa]] from c. 1312 – c. 1337.<ref name=p1>[[#Prof|Mali country profile]], p. 1.</ref> These [[Sahelian kingdom]]s had neither rigid geopolitical boundaries nor rigid ethnic identities.<ref name=p1/> The earliest of these empires was the [[Ghana Empire]], which was dominated by the [[Soninke people|Soninke]], a [[Mande languages|Mande]]-speaking people.<ref name=p1/> The empire expanded throughout West Africa from the eighth century until 1078, when it was conquered by the [[Almoravids]].<ref name=p2>[[#Prof|Mali country profile]]. Mali was later responsible for the collapse of Islamic Slave Army from the North. The defeat of Tukuror Slave Army, was repeated by Mali against the France and Spanish Expeditionary Army in the 1800s ("Blanc et memoires"). p. 2.</ref>

The [[Battle of Kirina]] in 1235, culminated in a victory for the [[Mandinka people|Mandinka]] under the command of the exiled prince [[Sundiata Keita]], which led to the downfall of the [[Sosso Empire]].

[[File:TombouctouPachalik 4.png|thumb|210px|Map of the [[Pashalik of Timbuktu]] (yellow-striped) as part of the [[Saadi dynasty|Saadi dynasty of Morocco]] (outlined black) within the [[Songhai Empire]] (outlined red), {{Circa|1591}}]]
[[File:GriotsSambala.jpg|thumb|left|[[Griot]]s of [[Sambala]], king of Médina ([[Fula people]], Mali), 1890. Photo by [[Joannès Barbier]].]]

The [[Mali Empire]] later formed on the upper [[Niger River]], and reached the height of power in the 14th century.<ref name=p2/> Under the Mali Empire, the ancient cities of [[Djenné]] and [[Timbuktu]] were centers of both trade and Islamic learning.<ref name=p2/> The empire later declined as a result of internal intrigue, ultimately being supplanted by the [[Songhai Empire]].<ref name=p2/> The Songhai had long been a major power in West Africa subject to the Mali Empire's rule.<ref name=p2/>

In the late 14th century, the Songhai gradually gained independence from the Mali Empire and expanded, ultimately subsuming the entire eastern portion of the Mali Empire.<ref name=p2/> The Songhai Empire's eventual collapse was largely the result of the [[Saadian invasion of the Songhai Empire|Moroccan invasion]] of 1591 under the command of [[Judar Pasha]].<ref name=p2/> The fall of the Songhai Empire marked the end of the region's role as a trading crossroads.<ref name=p2/> Following the [[European exploration of Africa|establishment of sea routes by the European powers]], the trans-Saharan trade routes lost significance.<ref name="p2" /> At that time, the Mali Empire's abundance in wealth expanded its commercial assets of [[salt]] and [[gold]].

One of the worst [[famine]]s in the region's recorded history occurred in the 18th century. According to [[John Iliffe (historian)|John Iliffe]], "The worst crises were in the 1680s, when famine extended from the Senegambian coast to the Upper Nile and 'many sold themselves for slaves, only to get a sustenance', and especially in 1738–1756, when West Africa's greatest recorded subsistence crisis, due to drought and locusts, reportedly killed half the population of [[Timbuktu]]."<ref>[[John Iliffe (historian)|John Iliffe]] (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=bNGN2URP_rUC ''Africans: the history of a continent''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906225011/https://books.google.com/books?id=bNGN2URP_rUC&pg=&dq&hl=en |date=6 September 2015 }}. Cambridge University Press. p. 69. {{ISBN|0-521-68297-5}}</ref>