Ghana Empire

Do not confuse this with the modern country Ghana.

Ghana Empire at its largest

The Ghana Empire was in what is now southeastern Mauritania, Western Mali, and Eastern Senegal. It is also sometimes called the Wagadu Empire. It started in around 100 CE and ended in mid-1000 CE. They had two sides; Muslim and Non-muslim what divided them was a 6 miles of informal market villages (street). Ghana sat on top of a gold mine trade routes and was a very wealthy empire of it's 900 years of development . Its capital was Koumbi Saleh. Surrounded Modern Northern Senegal. Southern Mauritania and south west Mali. Trade an taxation with neighboring nomads, city-states, chiefdoms in gold and salt eventually collapsed with north african imperial competition an change sahel climate. Leading to the Ghana Empire fracturing then occupation by opportunistic kafu(vassals city-states/town/villages) like the the Zosso an ultimately absorption into the rising Mali Empire once they militarily upheaved the Zosso in Battle of Kirina 1235 AD.

Ghana empire most noteable dynastic figure was named Dinga Cisse but there are several ruler named Dinga aswell as Cisse. So the Malian historians particularly of Soninke descent differentiate the dynastic Dinga an Cisse from the mythological Soninke founder of the Ghana Empire, by referring to said original founder as Dinga Cisse ""Ancient"" thought to traveled from the north east of the river Niger in the 6th through 3rd centuries B.C. but that up for further debate.