IIIᵉ siècle – XIIᵉ siècle
Western Sudan and Sahel
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Ghana was an early Sudanic state associated with the Sahel and the trans-Saharan trade system. Its political development is presented as connected both to the pressure of Saharan nomads and to the expansion of commerce linking northern markets with gold-producing regions farther south. The polity may have consolidated authority in response to Sanhāja pressure, while its towns served as commercial entrepôts and political centres. Its capital is believed to have stood at Koumbi-Saleh, where archaeological traces indicate denser former settlement than the modern landscape suggests.
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Le récit
By the end of the eighth century, Ghana was known in the Muslim world as “the land of gold.” In the second half of the ninth century it was described as one of the two powerful kingdoms of the Western Sudan, the other being Kawkaw, with each ruling over vassal chiefdoms. Ghana’s gold mines attracted merchants from the Maghrib, who exchanged salt, cloth, and other goods for gold.
The kingdom was connected to a wider commercial system crossing the Sahara. In the first half of the tenth century, al-Mas'udi reported that Sudanese gold was minted at Sijilmasa, at the northern edge of the Sahara. Ibn Hawqal’s visit to Sijilmasa in 951 impressed him with the growing volume of trade carried across the desert, and the routes connected Ghana not only with the Maghrib but also with Egypt.
By the middle of the eleventh century, Ghana had increased its political and military power and developed its governmental and administrative systems. The pages place this development at a moment of impending confrontation between the Almoravids of the Sahara and the Sudanese kingdom of Ghana. Al-Bakri’s account, written in 1067–8 and based on written and oral information, is presented as one of the most detailed descriptions of Ghana at this stage.
Al-Bakri described Ghana’s capital as two towns situated in a plain. The Muslim town contained mosques, including one used for Friday prayer, and wells of sweet water near which vegetables were cultivated. Six miles away stood the royal town, called al-Ghaba, with houses between the two settlements, a palace, conical huts, and an enclosure resembling a wall.
The royal town also contained a mosque near the royal court of justice, where Muslims arriving on missions prayed. This arrangement suggests a capital organized around distinct Muslim and royal spaces rather than a single compact settlement. The account combines commercial, religious, agricultural, and political features within one urban landscape.
IIIᵉ siècle – XIIᵉ siècle
Western Sudan and Sahel
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Ghana was an early Sudanic state associated with the Sahel and the trans-Saharan trade system. Its political development is presented as connected both to the pressure of Saharan nomads and to the expansion of commerce linking northern markets with gold-producing regions farther south. The polity may have consolidated authority in response to Sanhāja pressure, while its towns served as commercial entrepôts and political centres. Its capital is believed to have stood at Koumbi-Saleh, where archaeological traces indicate denser former settlement than the modern landscape suggests.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
By the end of the eighth century, Ghana was known in the Muslim world as “the land of gold.” In the second half of the ninth century it was described as one of the two powerful kingdoms of the Western Sudan, the other being Kawkaw, with each ruling over vassal chiefdoms. Ghana’s gold mines attracted merchants from the Maghrib, who exchanged salt, cloth, and other goods for gold.
The kingdom was connected to a wider commercial system crossing the Sahara. In the first half of the tenth century, al-Mas'udi reported that Sudanese gold was minted at Sijilmasa, at the northern edge of the Sahara. Ibn Hawqal’s visit to Sijilmasa in 951 impressed him with the growing volume of trade carried across the desert, and the routes connected Ghana not only with the Maghrib but also with Egypt.
By the middle of the eleventh century, Ghana had increased its political and military power and developed its governmental and administrative systems. The pages place this development at a moment of impending confrontation between the Almoravids of the Sahara and the Sudanese kingdom of Ghana. Al-Bakri’s account, written in 1067–8 and based on written and oral information, is presented as one of the most detailed descriptions of Ghana at this stage.
Al-Bakri described Ghana’s capital as two towns situated in a plain. The Muslim town contained mosques, including one used for Friday prayer, and wells of sweet water near which vegetables were cultivated. Six miles away stood the royal town, called al-Ghaba, with houses between the two settlements, a palace, conical huts, and an enclosure resembling a wall.
The royal town also contained a mosque near the royal court of justice, where Muslims arriving on missions prayed. This arrangement suggests a capital organized around distinct Muslim and royal spaces rather than a single compact settlement. The account combines commercial, religious, agricultural, and political features within one urban landscape.
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