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Chapter 89: Collapse of Wagadou
On the southern edge of the Atlas Mountains, there is still the city of Sijilmassa. However, it fails to dominate the western trade route (the trade routes across the Teneré are however shifting again eastwards to the Great Bend of the Niger River. Losing profit from trade, the oasis of Sijilmassa is taken over by a dynasty of warlords, overthrowing the merchants from rule over the oasis. The individual oasis further southwards, were no more under control of Sijilmassa, but rather came under control of local tribes
Continuing further, we enter the regions to the south of the Great Desert of Teneré. At the western end, near the estuary of the Senegal River, is the realm of Takrur. This realm has already been superficially Christianized, however, Takrur was now coming into maritime contact with the Catholic kingdoms in Hispania, such as Lusitania but also Maurtain. This contact resulted in the establishment of Catholicism along the coast. Catholicism was spread by Latinate-speaking merchants from the sea, while contact with Donatist centres was largely lost by this time.
View attachment 515074
Catholicism has spread along the coast of Takrur. Traditional beliefs still predominate in much of the region
The realm of Wagadou by this time has crumbled into numerous successor states, each ruled by their own petty kingdoms. The successor states in the north have retained much of the ofrmer Wagadou institututions, such as the duchies of Sosso (in the east) and Djenné (on the Niger River). In the west, the Diafanu Duchy has returned to the old pagan ways, as has the Duchy of Niani[1]. This realm has found itself living in perhaps the metalurgically richst region in the world, where there was great abundance of gold; this enabled them to hire more mercenaries, and eventually become the unifier of the region, although not just yet.
View attachment 515072
A political map of the region
Further downstream, we have the realm of Songhay, based around the river of Niger on its middle course, around the city of Gao. Songhay was still in contact with the Tamashek[2] living in the desert; who brought ideas from across the desert.
While the Songhay were in contact with the ideological developments of the Donatists further northwards, the Mandinke peoples of the upper Niger River were heavily syncretizing the version of Christianity that reached them into a probably unrecognizable form.
Anyhow, contact with the Mediterranean is rather limited[3] as the West Mediterranean remains a unified cultural region, where the northern and southern shores ae culturally very interconnected, which results in the coastal realms of North Africa more carefully taking alook at the coast, with the desert regions cut off resources and access to the Mediterranean are the ones more southward-looking.
View attachment 515073
Most of the grasslands region is ruled in a feudal-like manner
For the realms found in the grasslands, the natural border of their oecumene are the Dunes of the Desert in the north, and the lush jungle forests in the south. The key axis of communication and travel is of course the Niger River, the source of which lies in the Guinean Highlands and then follows a path to the northeast, where it makes the Great Ben and again makes its path southeastwards and southwards, perhaps entering the Gulf of Guinea[4]. Of course, contact across the vast desert was existent, and caravan traders brought news from the Mediterranean Basin and from Egypt and Holy Land; however it was rather unusual for the inhabitants of the Sahel to cross the vast Teneré desert themselves[5]. (Some exceptions would include monks and devout kings go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem)Rather, the desert tribes acted as the key middlemen, taking part as caravan traders and guards.
View attachment 515076
The entrance of a Donatist Church
The architecture featured major cities built from adobe, that is unburnt bricks, practically mud. This would be dried on the sun and used to build major fortresses, and cities. The development of architecture, fortress architecture has also allowed the regional lords to fortify their castles more efficiently, giving the defenders advantage over the attackers, which allowed the crumbling of the Wagadou realm. One may also seek the reasons behind the decline of the Wagadou realm in waves of drought, as they hit the former cores areas of the realm in Koumbi Saleh, and the regions around the valley of the Niger River, such as Djenné grew more in influence
When speaking of the region, we must not forget that the region did have a written tradition at this time. There were two written languages in the region: Classical Songhaic and Classical Soninke. These two languages are unintelligible and unrelated, belonging to two different language families. Classical Songhaic was the language of Gao, spoken by the peoples living on the Great Bend of the Niger River, and belongs to the Songhaic branch of the Nilo-Tenerean languages[6], spoken also around Lake Tchad and Nubia. Soninke however belongs to the large Mandé grouping found in the Upper Niger Basin[7], which itself belongs to the large Niger-Congo branch. Therefore, Classical Soninke is likely to spread as a written language throughout much of the region (as it did in Takrur for example).
View attachment 515075
A linguistic map of the region
The writing was, however reserved for a small community of priests and scribes, but spread also to merchants and poets. However few noblemen or warriors were able to read and write.
As a matter of fact, the form of Christianity found in the region was highly divergent from what the people of Europe understood under Christianity. While the people of the region nominally belonged to Donatism, it took a highly syncretic form in the region, intertwining with previous regional beliefs. In fact the Pater Noster in Songhaic prayed not only “give us our daily bread” but also to provide rain. Many previously animistic spirits and forces were re-interpreed as angels or saints and remained an object of worship.
The further south we have the forest zone of West Africa, where there are emergent realms such as the realms of Kong, Bonoman or Mossi. These states are of course hit by some structural changes in the north, but are protected from meridional expansion due to differing climates and environments. These realms grew slower and smaller, as it was more difficult to keep control of a large realm without pack animals such as horse or camel.
[1] The endonym for the future empire of Mali
[2] Tuareg people
[3] In contrast to OTL
[4] The Niger Delta was not known to the Songhai and Mandinke peoples at this point in time.
[5] Without the duty of the hajj, one could observe much less dark-skinned people frm the Sahel in North Africa and the Middle East than in OTL. People in North Africa and Hispany, possibly in Italy and Guyany have heard of the fact that there are some dark-skinned Christians living in kingdoms beyond the desert, but in general, contact relied on Tamashek (Tuareg) merchants actingn as middlemen.
[6] Nilo-Saharan
[7] Much of southern and western Mali , as well as the eastern half of Guinea
Continuing further, we enter the regions to the south of the Great Desert of Teneré. At the western end, near the estuary of the Senegal River, is the realm of Takrur. This realm has already been superficially Christianized, however, Takrur was now coming into maritime contact with the Catholic kingdoms in Hispania, such as Lusitania but also Maurtain. This contact resulted in the establishment of Catholicism along the coast. Catholicism was spread by Latinate-speaking merchants from the sea, while contact with Donatist centres was largely lost by this time.
View attachment 515074
Catholicism has spread along the coast of Takrur. Traditional beliefs still predominate in much of the region
The realm of Wagadou by this time has crumbled into numerous successor states, each ruled by their own petty kingdoms. The successor states in the north have retained much of the ofrmer Wagadou institututions, such as the duchies of Sosso (in the east) and Djenné (on the Niger River). In the west, the Diafanu Duchy has returned to the old pagan ways, as has the Duchy of Niani[1]. This realm has found itself living in perhaps the metalurgically richst region in the world, where there was great abundance of gold; this enabled them to hire more mercenaries, and eventually become the unifier of the region, although not just yet.
View attachment 515072
A political map of the region
Further downstream, we have the realm of Songhay, based around the river of Niger on its middle course, around the city of Gao. Songhay was still in contact with the Tamashek[2] living in the desert; who brought ideas from across the desert.
While the Songhay were in contact with the ideological developments of the Donatists further northwards, the Mandinke peoples of the upper Niger River were heavily syncretizing the version of Christianity that reached them into a probably unrecognizable form.
Anyhow, contact with the Mediterranean is rather limited[3] as the West Mediterranean remains a unified cultural region, where the northern and southern shores ae culturally very interconnected, which results in the coastal realms of North Africa more carefully taking alook at the coast, with the desert regions cut off resources and access to the Mediterranean are the ones more southward-looking.
View attachment 515073
Most of the grasslands region is ruled in a feudal-like manner
For the realms found in the grasslands, the natural border of their oecumene are the Dunes of the Desert in the north, and the lush jungle forests in the south. The key axis of communication and travel is of course the Niger River, the source of which lies in the Guinean Highlands and then follows a path to the northeast, where it makes the Great Ben and again makes its path southeastwards and southwards, perhaps entering the Gulf of Guinea[4]. Of course, contact across the vast desert was existent, and caravan traders brought news from the Mediterranean Basin and from Egypt and Holy Land; however it was rather unusual for the inhabitants of the Sahel to cross the vast Teneré desert themselves[5]. (Some exceptions would include monks and devout kings go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem)Rather, the desert tribes acted as the key middlemen, taking part as caravan traders and guards.
View attachment 515076
The entrance of a Donatist Church
The architecture featured major cities built from adobe, that is unburnt bricks, practically mud. This would be dried on the sun and used to build major fortresses, and cities. The development of architecture, fortress architecture has also allowed the regional lords to fortify their castles more efficiently, giving the defenders advantage over the attackers, which allowed the crumbling of the Wagadou realm. One may also seek the reasons behind the decline of the Wagadou realm in waves of drought, as they hit the former cores areas of the realm in Koumbi Saleh, and the regions around the valley of the Niger River, such as Djenné grew more in influence
When speaking of the region, we must not forget that the region did have a written tradition at this time. There were two written languages in the region: Classical Songhaic and Classical Soninke. These two languages are unintelligible and unrelated, belonging to two different language families. Classical Songhaic was the language of Gao, spoken by the peoples living on the Great Bend of the Niger River, and belongs to the Songhaic branch of the Nilo-Tenerean languages[6], spoken also around Lake Tchad and Nubia. Soninke however belongs to the large Mandé grouping found in the Upper Niger Basin[7], which itself belongs to the large Niger-Congo branch. Therefore, Classical Soninke is likely to spread as a written language throughout much of the region (as it did in Takrur for example).
View attachment 515075
A linguistic map of the region
The writing was, however reserved for a small community of priests and scribes, but spread also to merchants and poets. However few noblemen or warriors were able to read and write.
As a matter of fact, the form of Christianity found in the region was highly divergent from what the people of Europe understood under Christianity. While the people of the region nominally belonged to Donatism, it took a highly syncretic form in the region, intertwining with previous regional beliefs. In fact the Pater Noster in Songhaic prayed not only “give us our daily bread” but also to provide rain. Many previously animistic spirits and forces were re-interpreed as angels or saints and remained an object of worship.
The further south we have the forest zone of West Africa, where there are emergent realms such as the realms of Kong, Bonoman or Mossi. These states are of course hit by some structural changes in the north, but are protected from meridional expansion due to differing climates and environments. These realms grew slower and smaller, as it was more difficult to keep control of a large realm without pack animals such as horse or camel.
[1] The endonym for the future empire of Mali
[2] Tuareg people
[3] In contrast to OTL
[4] The Niger Delta was not known to the Songhai and Mandinke peoples at this point in time.
[5] Without the duty of the hajj, one could observe much less dark-skinned people frm the Sahel in North Africa and the Middle East than in OTL. People in North Africa and Hispany, possibly in Italy and Guyany have heard of the fact that there are some dark-skinned Christians living in kingdoms beyond the desert, but in general, contact relied on Tamashek (Tuareg) merchants actingn as middlemen.
[6] Nilo-Saharan
[7] Much of southern and western Mali , as well as the eastern half of Guinea
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.2k