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Chapter 55: Emergent Kingdoms of the Savannah
Continuing further westwards along the southern edge of the Sahara, we can view a significant change compared to the previous century. There has been a significant rise in the number of new states emerging in the region.
The region of Lake Tchad, home of the Kanem peoples would be transformed into the Zaghawa Empire, and would expand greatly to incorporate the lands of the Lake Tchad basin(1). By this time we can see the establishment of a Donatist diocese in Njimi; this is however as of yet still not connected to a wide-scale conversion to Christianity.
The southwestern neighbours of the Zaghawa are the Kotoko; a people who established themselves a kingdom in the northern reaches of the Adamaus mountains and the upper reaches of the Benue river. Not much else is known about them, except that they consider themselves to be the heirs of the Sao civilization and their language called Lagwan is a Chadic language of the same stock as Hausa of the Afro-Asiatic group.
The Hausa further westwards, are organized into a handful of city-states, with Kano, Katsina, Gobir and Zambara being the major one to name just a few. The Hausa appear to have been in regular contact both with the peoples of Lake Tchad, with their Songhai neighbours to the west and the Niger-Congo peoples of the Lower Niger.
Between the Niger Delta, the Benue and the Adamaus Mountains, it appears that the Igbo Kingdom of Nri was being formed. Further westwards, the Yoruba were also living in organized urban communities, based around Ile-Ife.
The empire of Gao, ruled by the Songhay people has come to dominate most of the Niger Bend. The Songhay by now would have mostly accepted Donatist Christianity to such extent that it would have effectively become the state religion; however many original Songhaic traditions would still remain vibrant, especially in the rural communities. Gao had become a major center of trade, in stark competition with neighbouring Timbuktu, and being a departure point of caravan trade across the Sahara.
The caravan trade would be conducted mainly by the Tuaregs, and go either in the northwesterly direction towards Taoudenni and Sijilmassa, or in a northeasterly direction towards Assoude in the Ahaggar Mountains, and then either towards Bilma or towards Ghat, and Tripoli or Awjila, Siwa and Alexandria.
The Songhai people thus would be fully in the Berber cultural sphere, and the Songhai language would be written in an abjad derived from the Tifinagh script (2), and a Donatist church structure would be established in the entirety of the Songhay state.
To its south (3), the Mossi people would create the Kingdom of Wagadougou; however this realm appears to have been outside of major trade routes, with limited contact with to the lands further north, and gravitating more to the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. After all the Volta River flows southwards, and is not a tributary of the Niger.
The realm of Wagadou (4) based on the upper reaches of the Niger River has grown to become the dominant state in the area. Organized in a feudal-like manner, Wagadou profits greatly from the trans-Saharan trade, and the cities of Timbouktu, Kumbi Saleh and Awdaghast have grown to major centers of trade. The majority of the inhabitants are ethnic Soninke or related peoples. In contrast to the Songhay, Christianity hasn’t made significant inroads with the exception of the city of Timbuktu itself. The reason for this can be found on the other side of the Sahara, in southern Morrocco. The Barghatawa dominating the region have been sticking to their own unique monotheist faith. During the course of the 10th century, the Sijilmassa have managed to project power in a southwestward direction on the Saharan slopes of the Atlas Mountains, seizing Tamdoult which becomes an important oasis on the western trans-Saharan trade route.
However, Donatist communities would be either very scarce or rather non-existent along the western trade route, and the Imeraguen people inhabiting the western Sahara.
The valley of the Senegal River was controlled by the kingdom of Takrur, controlled by the Serer ethnic group. Takrur appears to have had regular contacts with Wagadou further east and the emergent Jolof state further south (6).
And yet unmentioned is the state of Niani or Manden Kurufaba (7) at the cource of the Niger River. Its population was mainly Mandinke and Bambara.
In general the kingdoms of the Savannah would take advantage of pack animals such as camels and horses usable also in warfare. Further southward expansion into the forest zone would be impossible due to climate factors – cavalry would be useless in the rainforests, and camels could not be supported in such conditions.
The overall cultural face of the region would be very much different- the slave trade would be butterflied away, as Christendom would not support large-scale slave trade, resulting in more manpower being kept within the Sahel. Furthermore, racism as such might not fully develop in the Occident- without Arab slave trade, the Niger-Congo peoples are not perceived as slaves or serfs, and the existence of Christian communities among peoples as far apart as Songhay and Turkmen butterflies away any early modern era racism.
(1) The slave trade in the Kanem Empire would not be as extensive as it was in OTL, due to Christiainity dominating the entire Mediterranean basin. Christianity at this time would go away with slavery as an institution.
(2) The differences between the Songhai abjad and the Tifinagh abjad could be comparable to Greek and Coptic script – with the Tifinagh abjad used as base and new letters invented to suit Songhai phonology.
(3) Roughly in the region of Burkina Faso
(4) Commonly called Ghana. But that was the title of the monarch, not the name of the entire country.
(5) Meaning Western Sahara plus larger parts of Mauritania
(6) The Jolof realm was inhabited by the Wolof people, and is based in present-day central Senegal around Dakar.
(7) Known generally as Mali
The region of Lake Tchad, home of the Kanem peoples would be transformed into the Zaghawa Empire, and would expand greatly to incorporate the lands of the Lake Tchad basin(1). By this time we can see the establishment of a Donatist diocese in Njimi; this is however as of yet still not connected to a wide-scale conversion to Christianity.
The southwestern neighbours of the Zaghawa are the Kotoko; a people who established themselves a kingdom in the northern reaches of the Adamaus mountains and the upper reaches of the Benue river. Not much else is known about them, except that they consider themselves to be the heirs of the Sao civilization and their language called Lagwan is a Chadic language of the same stock as Hausa of the Afro-Asiatic group.
The Hausa further westwards, are organized into a handful of city-states, with Kano, Katsina, Gobir and Zambara being the major one to name just a few. The Hausa appear to have been in regular contact both with the peoples of Lake Tchad, with their Songhai neighbours to the west and the Niger-Congo peoples of the Lower Niger.
Between the Niger Delta, the Benue and the Adamaus Mountains, it appears that the Igbo Kingdom of Nri was being formed. Further westwards, the Yoruba were also living in organized urban communities, based around Ile-Ife.
The empire of Gao, ruled by the Songhay people has come to dominate most of the Niger Bend. The Songhay by now would have mostly accepted Donatist Christianity to such extent that it would have effectively become the state religion; however many original Songhaic traditions would still remain vibrant, especially in the rural communities. Gao had become a major center of trade, in stark competition with neighbouring Timbuktu, and being a departure point of caravan trade across the Sahara.
The caravan trade would be conducted mainly by the Tuaregs, and go either in the northwesterly direction towards Taoudenni and Sijilmassa, or in a northeasterly direction towards Assoude in the Ahaggar Mountains, and then either towards Bilma or towards Ghat, and Tripoli or Awjila, Siwa and Alexandria.
The Songhai people thus would be fully in the Berber cultural sphere, and the Songhai language would be written in an abjad derived from the Tifinagh script (2), and a Donatist church structure would be established in the entirety of the Songhay state.
To its south (3), the Mossi people would create the Kingdom of Wagadougou; however this realm appears to have been outside of major trade routes, with limited contact with to the lands further north, and gravitating more to the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. After all the Volta River flows southwards, and is not a tributary of the Niger.
The realm of Wagadou (4) based on the upper reaches of the Niger River has grown to become the dominant state in the area. Organized in a feudal-like manner, Wagadou profits greatly from the trans-Saharan trade, and the cities of Timbouktu, Kumbi Saleh and Awdaghast have grown to major centers of trade. The majority of the inhabitants are ethnic Soninke or related peoples. In contrast to the Songhay, Christianity hasn’t made significant inroads with the exception of the city of Timbuktu itself. The reason for this can be found on the other side of the Sahara, in southern Morrocco. The Barghatawa dominating the region have been sticking to their own unique monotheist faith. During the course of the 10th century, the Sijilmassa have managed to project power in a southwestward direction on the Saharan slopes of the Atlas Mountains, seizing Tamdoult which becomes an important oasis on the western trans-Saharan trade route.
However, Donatist communities would be either very scarce or rather non-existent along the western trade route, and the Imeraguen people inhabiting the western Sahara.
The valley of the Senegal River was controlled by the kingdom of Takrur, controlled by the Serer ethnic group. Takrur appears to have had regular contacts with Wagadou further east and the emergent Jolof state further south (6).
And yet unmentioned is the state of Niani or Manden Kurufaba (7) at the cource of the Niger River. Its population was mainly Mandinke and Bambara.
In general the kingdoms of the Savannah would take advantage of pack animals such as camels and horses usable also in warfare. Further southward expansion into the forest zone would be impossible due to climate factors – cavalry would be useless in the rainforests, and camels could not be supported in such conditions.
The overall cultural face of the region would be very much different- the slave trade would be butterflied away, as Christendom would not support large-scale slave trade, resulting in more manpower being kept within the Sahel. Furthermore, racism as such might not fully develop in the Occident- without Arab slave trade, the Niger-Congo peoples are not perceived as slaves or serfs, and the existence of Christian communities among peoples as far apart as Songhay and Turkmen butterflies away any early modern era racism.
(1) The slave trade in the Kanem Empire would not be as extensive as it was in OTL, due to Christiainity dominating the entire Mediterranean basin. Christianity at this time would go away with slavery as an institution.
(2) The differences between the Songhai abjad and the Tifinagh abjad could be comparable to Greek and Coptic script – with the Tifinagh abjad used as base and new letters invented to suit Songhai phonology.
(3) Roughly in the region of Burkina Faso
(4) Commonly called Ghana. But that was the title of the monarch, not the name of the entire country.
(5) Meaning Western Sahara plus larger parts of Mauritania
(6) The Jolof realm was inhabited by the Wolof people, and is based in present-day central Senegal around Dakar.
(7) Known generally as Mali
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1k