Editing History of Africa (section)

==== The western Sahel and Sudan ====

===== c. 1250–1500 =====
Mali continued its expansion after the death of Sundiata. [[Uli I of Mali|His son]] conquered [[Gajaaga]] and [[Takrur]], and brought the key [[trans-Saharan trade|Saharan trading centres]] under his rule. The cessation of his reign culminated in a destructive civil war, only reconciled with a [[Mansa Sakura|militaristic coup]], after which [[Gao Empire|Gao]] was conquered and the [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]] subdued, cementing [[Mali Empire|Mali]]'s dominance over the [[trans-Saharan trade]].<ref name="Niane 1984">{{cite book |last=Izard |first=Michel |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000184287 |title=General History of Africa: Volume 4 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |year=1984 |chapter=The peoples and kingdoms of the Niger Bend and the Volta basin from the 12th to 16th century}}</ref>{{rp|pages=126–147}} In the 13th century [[Al-Hajj Salim Suwari]], a Soninke Islamic scholar, pioneered the [[Al-Hajj Salim Suwari#Suwarian tradition|Suwarian tradition]] which sought to tolerate [[Traditional African religions|traditional religions]], gaining popularity among West African Muslims.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ngom |first1=Fallou |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Go__DwAAQBAJ&dq=suwarian+tradition&pg=PA266 |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Islam in Africa |last2=Kurfi |first2=Mustapha H. |last3=Falola |first3=Toyin |date=2020-09-26 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-45759-4 |language=en}}</ref> [[Mossi people|Mossi]] oral traditions tie the origins of the [[Mossi Kingdoms]] (located south of the [[Niger River]]) to the [[Mamprusi kingdom|Mamprusi]] and [[Kingdom of Dagbon|Dagomba]] kingdoms in the [[Guinean forest–savanna mosaic|forest regions]], involving the [[Dagomba people|Dagomba]] princess [[Yennenga]].<ref name="Niane 1984" />{{Rp|page=217, 224}} [[Ouagadougou]] and [[Yatenga Kingdom|Yatenga]] were the most powerful.

In 1312 [[Mansa Musa]] came to power in [[Mali Empire|Mali]] after [[Atlantic voyage of the predecessor of Mansa Musa|his predecessor had set out on an Atlantic voyage]]. Musa supposedly spent much of his early campaign preparing for his infamous ''[[hajj]]'' or pilgrimage to [[Mecca]]. Between 1324 and 1325 his entourage of over 10,000, and hundreds of camels, all carrying around 12 tonnes of gold in total,{{sfn|Gomez|2018|p=106}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Samuel|first=isaac|title=The myth of Mansa Musa's enslaved entourage|url=https://www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-myth-of-mansa-musas-enslaved|access-date=2024-08-12|website=africanhistoryextra.com|language=en}}</ref> travelled 2700 miles, giving gifts to the poor along the way, and fostered good relations with the [[Al-Nasir Muhammad|Mamluk sultan]], garnering widespread attention in the [[Muslim world]]. On Musa's return, his general reasserted dominance over [[Gao Empire|Gao]] and he commissioned a large construction program, building [[mosque]]s and [[madrasa]]s, with Timbuktu becoming a centre for trade and [[Islamic sciences|Islamic scholarship]], however Musa features comparatively less than his predecessors in [[Mandingo people|Mandinka]] [[oral tradition]]s than in modern histories.<ref name="Niane 1984" />{{rp|pages=147–152}} Despite [[Mali Empire|Mali's]] fame being attributed to its riches in gold, its prosperous economy was based on [[Arable land|arable]] and [[pastoral farming]], as well as crafts, and they traded commonly with the [[Akan people|Akan]], [[Dyula people|Dyula]], and with [[Benin Empire|Benin]], [[Ife Empire|Ife]], and [[Kingdom of Nri|Nri]] in the [[Guinean forest–savanna mosaic|forest regions]].<ref name="Niane 1984" />{{rp|pages=164–171}}

Amid a [[Mansa Sulayman|Malian mansa's]] attempt to coerce the empire back into financial shape after the lacklustre premiership of [[Maghan I|his predecessor]], Mali's northwestern-most province broke away to form the [[Jolof Empire]] and the [[Serer history|Serer kingdoms]]. [[Wolof people|Wolof]] tradition holds that the empire was founded by the wise [[Ndiadiane Ndiaye]], and it later absorbed neighbouring kingdoms to form a confederacy of the Wolof kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Jolof|Jolof]], [[Cayor]], [[Baol]], and [[Waalo]], and the Serer kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Sine|Sine]] and [[Kingdom of Saloum|Saloum]]. In [[Mali Empire|Mali]] after the death of [[Musa II (mansa)|Musa II]] in 1387, vicious conflict ensued within the [[Keita dynasty]]. In the 14th century [[Yatenga Kingdom|Yatenga]] attacked and sacked [[Timbuktu]] and [[Oualata]].<ref name="UNESCO" />{{Rp|page=80}} The internal conflict weakened [[Mali Empire|Mali's]] central authority. This provided an opportunity for the previously subdued [[Tuareg people|Tuareg tribal confederations]] in the Sahara to rebel. Over the next few decades they captured the main trading cities of Timbuktu, Oualata, [[Néma|Nema]], and possibly [[Gao]], with some tribes forming the north-eastern [[Sultanate of Agadez]], and with them all usurping Mali's dominance over the [[trans-Saharan trade]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ly-Tall|first=Madina|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000184287|title=General History of Africa: Volume 4|publisher=UNESCO Publishing|year=1984|chapter=The decline of the Mali empire}}</ref>{{rp|pages=174}}

In the 15th century, the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]], following the development of the [[caravel]], set up [[Factory (trading post)|trading posts]] along the Atlantic coast, with [[Mali Empire|Mali]] establishing formal commercial relations, and the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] soon following. In the early 15th century [[Kingdom of Diarra|Diarra]] escaped Malian rule.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ajayi|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwestafr0000ajay_q6f4/page/130/mode/2up|title=History of West Africa|last2=Ade|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1976|isbn=978-0-231-04103-4}}</ref>{{rp|pages=130}} Previously under Malian suzerainty and under pressure from the expansionist [[Jolof Empire]], a [[Tenguella|Fula chief]] migrated to [[Futa Toro]], founding [[Empire of Great Fulo#Tenguella (1464–1512)|Futa Kingui]] in the lands of [[Kingdom of Diarra|Diarra]] circa 1450.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} [[Yatenga]] capitalised on Mali's decline and conquered [[Sultanate of Massina|Macina]], and the old province of [[Ghana Empire|Wagadu]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} Meanwhile [[Gao]], ruled by the [[Sonni dynasty]], expanded, conquering [[Mema]] from [[Mali Empire|Mali]],{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} and launched a ''[[jihad]]'' against [[Yatenga Kingdom|Yatenga]],<ref name="UNESCO" />{{Rp|page=81}} in a struggle over the crumbling empire.