African rice domesticated in fourth millennium BC

On buildings:

The oldest stone building in sub-saharan west africa I can find refrence to are the buildings in Dhar Tichitt. Sure, it's further to the west and north than the centre of *Mali, but with earlier agricultural and urban societies in the region, perhaps the some of the western most rice cities would adopt imported stone as a building material for some highly prestigious structures around 1500 to 1000 BC.

Interesting. That area would still be inhabited when the *Malians start building cities, and it's close enough to be on their trade routes. Maybe stone would be seen somewhat like wood - not an ordinary building material, but something to incorporate in gates, inner sanctums, statues etc. of monumental structures to show how important they are. This probably means that the *Malians wouldn't develop very advanced stone construction techniques, but small structures would certainly be possible.

Tile, too. The *Malians would have that, and it would be a lot more common than wood or stone. Their temples might have very colorful tile floors or walls.

I don't know if it's likely to happen with a local bacteria. However, conditions are ripe for the disease, so even if that doesn't happen water-spreading bacteria from other locations will establish themselves quite quickly once they arrive. Different types of dysentery-causing bacterium and polio-like illnesses could do quite well for themselves. Schistosomiasis too.

Probably not cholera, then - it was confined to India at the time, AFAIK - but different strains of dysentery from up and down the Niger, with varying degrees of virulence. Still not fun.

One interesting way to combat these illnesses could be to create brackish paddies using salt brought in from the desert and brackish-tolerant rice (which some modern strains of African rice are!) At the cost of lowering the harvest (and using a huge amount of salt), paddies could be cleared of freshwater parasites and salt-intolerant aquatic bacteria. This is the sort of project you'd need a strongly-functioning government to pull off, however, and it would take a lot of scientific development before people have the knowledge that this could be done, let alone the will.

This doesn't seem like something a Bronze or Iron Age society would be able to do, and would they even want to do it if it meant they couldn't feed their people? The city will survive plagues, after all, but not persistent starvation.

I wonder, though - would soil salinization result in this happening to some degree, albeit by accident?

Why don't' they go directly to iron, like in OTL?

Ironworking's a lot harder - you need hotter fires and more advanced smelting and forging techniques. It's not impossible to imagine a third-millennium culture having the tech, but it's not the way to be - and if such a culture has copper, gold and tin in easy reach, they probably won't wait until they're up to blacksmithing to start working the other metals.

I'm figuring copper around 2500-2700 BC, bronze around 2300-2200, and then iron between 1500 and 1000.

I'm still very interested in this but the problem is I don't have the knolledge necessary to really comment on the culture of the *Mali ITTL.

Thanks. I'm just being childish - I like world-building, but I like it more when it's a conversation. :)

Anyway, back to law and justice. The following comment was made to me off-list:

Chuck Häberl said:
In a verbomoteur environment like your *Malians, things like law, justice, and commerce would depend more upon the skillful deployment of language than an established code of ethics (think of the difference between purchasing something at Whole Foods and purchasing it at a Bazaar). As I understand it, traditional West African law entails the skillful use of traditional proverbs in a trial situation, the outcome of the trial dependent upon the appropriateness of the proverbs cited. I have a couple of articles about it somewhere here.

Obviously, oral proverbs, which are anonymously authored and known to everyone (kind of "up in the cloud" culture-wise), have a greater authority to oral folk leading a verbomoteur lifestyle than laws written on paper do.

That sounds about right, and would sill allow for lawgiver-kings and prophets: they'd announce new proverbs rather than promulgating law codes as such. On the other hand, what happens after the rise of literacy, and later, after the rise of empires? This would be a society in which eloquence and oral advocacy would still be important even after the development of writing, so I don't think literacy would necessarily spell the end of trial by proverb, but there might be a tendency to write the proverbs down Code of Leke-style, which could lead over time to them solidifying into a law code. The empires of he late second millennium might encourage this: they'd want the legal system to reflect their dictates, not a communal sense of fair play (which is what trial by proverb would amount to in most situations).

I get the idea that justice and famous trials during the city-state period might have a profound influence on *Malian theater - and vice versa. It might also point to a judicial role for *griots. This tendency would be muted during the imperial period, but it would still be there under the surface, and might manifest from time to time in prophecies and uprisings.

Also the following on the *Malian pantheon:

Mitya Dobrovolsky said:
A weaver goddess could be reminiscent of Neith in the Egyptian pantheon. Perhaps she is also a primordial creation goddess who "weaves" (literally or metaphorically, depending on one's interpretation) the cosmos into existence, and weaving the symbolism of the cloth patterns (and the associated writing) into the fiber of creation in the process...

... sounds just about perfect.
 
Most definitely a *shigella/cholera like enteric disease will come along; eventually some one is going to pollute the river with feces, and some opportunistic bug will find its way to use humans as their host. As you pointed out dysentery occurs in te Niger, though dysentery has many possible causes and may have been a recent migrant to the region (relatively speaking). Also, a TB/leprosy disease will likely emerge from close proximity of the livestock and commensals to humans. Brucellosis, forms of Malaria (the modern strains which blight Modern Africa come from birds), and exotic stuff ala some kind of ancient Hanta-virus facsimile and etc. Influenza, HIV, and Ebola are too recent to pop up and may never get the chance to evolve at all, though anthrax and yellow fever will be permanent members of the plague pantheon.

Interesting note, there will likely also be a plethora of fungal diseases; people working in muddy/semi-flooded paddies all day, there is too much opportunity to not have an *athletes foot, or perhaps something more dangerous. Plus the proximity to tropical areas with massive biodiversity means the chances of a fungus finding a happy niche in people is higher: more tinea versicolor like diseases, as well as the usually rusts, smuts, and delightfully named fungal crop pests.

I feel bad I have little to contribute culturally outside biological and viral impacts, though I really enjoy this world building stuff
 
What fibers would the *Malians have available for weaving before significant exchanges occur with Egypt and elsewhere?
 
Anyway, back to law and justice. The following comment was made to me off-list:



That sounds about right, and would sill allow for lawgiver-kings and prophets: they'd announce new proverbs rather than promulgating law codes as such. On the other hand, what happens after the rise of literacy, and later, after the rise of empires? This would be a society in which eloquence and oral advocacy would still be important even after the development of writing, so I don't think literacy would necessarily spell the end of trial by proverb, but there might be a tendency to write the proverbs down Code of Leke-style, which could lead over time to them solidifying into a law code. The empires of he late second millennium might encourage this: they'd want the legal system to reflect their dictates, not a communal sense of fair play (which is what trial by proverb would amount to in most situations).

I get the idea that justice and famous trials during the city-state period might have a profound influence on *Malian theater - and vice versa. It might also point to a judicial role for *griots. This tendency would be muted during the imperial period, but it would still be there under the surface, and might manifest from time to time in prophecies and uprisings.

A random idea I got early regarding proverbs and written language:

Historically, the Akan people used symbols called Adinkra, starting from the early 19th century. Each Adinkra stands for a proverb and can be either a geometrical figure, animal, household good (like combs), plants, etc. If the *Mali people develop a writing system to keep record of agricultural production, taxes, trade, etc., perhaps they develop a system similar to the Adinkra a few centuries later, once the idea of writing has established itself in *Mali culture more thoroughly. *Adinkra could be used similar to today to decorate things, buildings, clothing, etc. while still transporting a meaning. i see no reason why a similar system should not be developed millenniua earlier, if their is a concept of writing. It could lead to a mundane writing system for record keeping and other every day needs and a more philosophical / spiritual sign system to convey more profound messages.

(Just a bit of context: In OTL, the Akan used it to decorate things of high social or material value. For example, I've never seen an akan stool, that what not decorated with Adinkra or even carved in the shape of one.

To further demonstrate how important the Adinkra and the corresponding proverbs are, the akan dominated intellectual movement of the late 19th and early 20th century of english-educated citizens of the Gold Coast colony, that promoted the use of Akan languages, founded the first akan school in Cape Coast and wrote a lot about the social and legal practices of "traditional" akan society, is often referred to as the Sankofa movement.)
 
Most definitely a *shigella/cholera like enteric disease will come along; eventually some one is going to pollute the river with feces, and some opportunistic bug will find its way to use humans as their host. As you pointed out dysentery occurs in the Niger, though dysentery has many possible causes and may have been a recent migrant to the region (relatively speaking).

One thing about dysentery or even cholera, though, is that they'd have the cure right there: give the victim large amounts of rice gruel and boiled water (or maybe the small-beer version of *sake [1] with low alcohol content) and s/he would stand a good chance of living. But historically, did people living in cholera or dysentery areas know to do this, or is rehydration therapy a more recent invention? (If the later, I may have TTL's first story.)

Would they have had any ways to combat fungal crop pests at the time, or would it just be a matter of destroying infected crops before the blight spread?

[1] I think I'll call *sake madolo, after the Bambara words malo (rice) and dolo (beer). Yes, I know it's ridiculous to project the modern Bambara language back five thousand years, but nobody's yet reconstructed Proto-Niger-Congo, language will evolve in different directions ITTL anyway. Madolo is as good a word as any other.

What fibers would the *Malians have available for weaving before significant exchanges occur with Egypt and elsewhere?

They were too far north for native raffia, although they could trade for it and it might become a key import. I believe there was already wild cotton of the Gossypium herbaceum in Mali at this time, from which they could make something like mud cloth. I'm not sure what other plant fibers existed in Mali that early, although at minimum, they'd have wool or goat hair.

Historically, the Akan people used symbols called Adinkra, starting from the early 19th century. Each Adinkra stands for a proverb and can be either a geometrical figure, animal, household good (like combs), plants, etc. If the *Mali people develop a writing system to keep record of agricultural production, taxes, trade, etc., perhaps they develop a system similar to the Adinkra a few centuries later, once the idea of writing has established itself in *Mali culture more thoroughly. *Adinkra could be used similar to today to decorate things, buildings, clothing, etc. while still transporting a meaning.

Thanks! I hadn't known about this, and it's fascinating stuff - both like and unlike the nsibidi. It definitely sounds like something the *Malians would develop, but wouldn't it come before writing? The Adinkra-like symbols seem like they'd be useful as mnemonic aids to the *griots or symbols linking a proverb with a particular community or family, in the days before it's possible to write the sayings down. And there would certainly be crossover between proto-writing systems, cloth patterns, and decoration of public space and sacred objects, which would be important to the survival of the symbols.

Anyway, speaking of *griots and proverbs, I'm more and more convinced that there could be some odd synergies between theater and justice. On the one hand, famous trials and proverbial jurisprudence would influence the theater; on the other hand, plays are one of the places new proverbs come from. I could see the *griots with one foot in the world of storytelling, song and theater, and the other in the world of jurisprudence.

I wonder if legal oratory would be one of the ways griots or aspiring public figures prove themselves - maybe a standard component of any illustrious ancestor's story would involve him showing his wisdom in judging a lawsuit or speaking for the prosecution or defense. Law, oratory, poetry, theater: this sounds like a society in which the god of music and speech would also be the god of justice, although that's far from unique.
 

Faeelin

Banned
Ironworking's a lot harder - you need hotter fires and more advanced smelting and forging techniques. It's not impossible to imagine a third-millennium culture having the tech, but it's not the way to be - and if such a culture has copper, gold and tin in easy reach, they probably won't wait until they're up to blacksmithing to start working the other metals.

But the region skipped the bronze age OTL, right?
 
Rehydration is paramount in enteric diseases, and it is true that folk versions of rehydration therapy have been seen in India (epicenter of a host of enteric disease). I'm unsure how widespread this practice was, though evidence I have found suggests the introduction of Islam pushed this folk remedy out of the light of scholars. The modern practice only began recently in the 80s.
Antibacterial agents in food no doubt help though; in response to a diarrheal epidemic in the wake of a smallpox plague, the 6th century Japanese state mandated boiled onions (containing the antibacterial Allicin) for a cure to these secondary infections. It seems to have helped, though the Japanese had the bigger problem of the previously mentioned smallpox epidemic and that took significantly more attention than the after-infections. I can't imagine West Africa lacking a host of herbal medicines and remedies along the lines of ayahuasca or boiled onions
 
Okay, so there is a bit of dissemination of power in this society; obviously authoriarians will rise as they do in most civilizations, religious leaders or warlords or whatever; but theatre and the court system give some voice to a middle/artisan class; the patriarchal structures will be significantly less rigid than Mesopotamia or Greece, as female labour is relevant to the society; and the farmers, well, they can revolt should things get bad.
Even the nomadic invaders will have to overcome the disease threshold as well as their assimilation into *Malian society.
The disease factor is not good, as insect and waterborne pathogens will eat workers constantly, and there will be parasites and fungal diseases that find happy homes, alongside normal enteric disease and crowd communicable diseases that accompany an urban civilization. This constant turnover of the working class farmers means private property is ultimately less important than simply maintaining the food supply. This could lead to a more top-heavy bureaucratic society in the vein of China, though as previously mentioned the middle class and even the working class can usually find ways to get what they want too. In the long run, I see the bureaucratic authoritarian tendencies being the more successful states (get massive state projects done like canals and defensive walls, keep order with might, repel the barbarians), though there will be more balance than the Chinese autocracy, and *quasi-democracy may find a home in neighboring communities. On the good side women will likely not be completely marginalized as private property is less common in a big brother state with lots of diseased workers unable to farm.
 
Thanks! I hadn't known about this, and it's fascinating stuff - both like and unlike the nsibidi. It definitely sounds like something the *Malians would develop, but wouldn't it come before writing? The Adinkra-like symbols seem like they'd be useful as mnemonic aids to the *griots or symbols linking a proverb with a particular community or family, in the days before it's possible to write the sayings down. And there would certainly be crossover between proto-writing systems, cloth patterns, and decoration of public space and sacred objects, which would be important to the survival of the symbols.

Adinkra-like symbols could be developed before a writing system, but I was going with a different idea. I think the strong emphasis on remembering and quoting proverbs as a sign of wisdom could very well hamper the development of a somewhat codified system of mnemonic symbols representing proverbs. If knowing a large number of proverbs by heart and quoting them in appropriate situations to provide counsel or resolve a problem is valued as a sign of great wisdom and authority, people that rely on symbols to remember proverbs could be seen as lacking wisdom or as merely posing as a wise man. Afterall, proverbs are already a mnemonic system to preserve and communicate knowledge. I think there is a reason why systems like the Adinkra are not that widespread among west african cultures and why they are only documented for the Akan for the last 200 years: the strong oral tradition. The people actually deriving authority form their knowledge of proverbs - old people, *griots, etc. - might be (initially) opposed to an "easy" way to remember them. Learning something by heart could be seen as properly internalizing the message conveyed by the proverb.
On the other hand, there would be probably much less resistance to the development of a proto-writing system for counting harvests, trading goods and taxes.

But the main reason why I proposed Adinkras to be developed after a writing system is because I like the idea of a society that develops a writing system that helps to manage an urbanizing and agricultural society, yet still retains a very strong oral tradition for resolving conflicts and counseling. After the idea of linking symbols and abstract meaning is well established in the society, Adinkra-like symbols might develop to decorate personal belongings, buildings and religious items with something meaningful. This way, you could get two mnemonic systems: one to accurately document mercantile, economic and diplomatic matters, and one where every symbol conveys more meaning. "Reading" an *Adinkra would still require knowing the proverb by heart and interpreting it to select the one fitting the current situation.

Anyway, speaking of *griots and proverbs, I'm more and more convinced that there could be some odd synergies between theater and justice. On the one hand, famous trials and proverbial jurisprudence would influence the theater; on the other hand, plays are one of the places new proverbs come from. I could see the *griots with one foot in the world of storytelling, song and theater, and the other in the world of jurisprudence.

I wonder if legal oratory would be one of the ways griots or aspiring public figures prove themselves - maybe a standard component of any illustrious ancestor's story would involve him showing his wisdom in judging a lawsuit or speaking for the prosecution or defense. Law, oratory, poetry, theater: this sounds like a society in which the god of music and speech would also be the god of justice, although that's far from unique.

I really like this idea.
 
But the region skipped the bronze age OTL, right?

They did, but not until much later - sometime between 1500 and 500 BC, with the most likely dates IMO being 1100-900. A *Malian society in the third millennium, even one that is developing into a sophisticated urban culture, won't necessarily have the technological advances that enabled the people of the Termit massif to invent bloomeries IOTL - after all, other urban cultures took 2000 years to go from bronzeworking to ironworking.

Also, the Termit bloomeries occurred before West Africa had any large cities. It's hard to imagine that if there were cities from the third millennium onward, and if the craftsmen of those cities started playing around with beaten copper and gold (as they would), none of them would come up with the idea of copper metallurgy. There would be too much metal lying around for too long a time for them to just wait until they were up to working iron.

As I said before, I don't think it's impossible to imagine a third-millennium society developing bloomeries, and that would provide an interesting counterpoint to OTL (not to mention giving the *Malians a considerable edge over any other civilized cultures they might meet), but it's not the way to bet.

Antibacterial agents in food no doubt help though; in response to a diarrheal epidemic in the wake of a smallpox plague, the 6th century Japanese state mandated boiled onions (containing the antibacterial Allicin) for a cure to these secondary infections. It seems to have helped, though the Japanese had the bigger problem of the previously mentioned smallpox epidemic and that took significantly more attention than the after-infections. I can't imagine West Africa lacking a host of herbal medicines and remedies along the lines of ayahuasca or boiled onions

They probably would. The challenge would be responding to the new illnesses that come out of the river every generation or two, and for which the established folk remedies don't work. The fact that the *Malian physicians frequently have to contend with new maladies might make them willing to experiment.

Of course, as to most serious illnesses, they'd still be ineffective at best and dangerous at worst, like all premodern doctors. Also, if (as I suggested earlier) the plague god and his plagues are seen as part of what makes the people strong, there may be an aversion to treating some infectious diseases - after all, people who die of plague are the plague god's chosen sacrifices, and it might be a bad idea to interfere with that. If that attitude exists, the fact that it's rooted in religion will make it hard to overcome, and it might also be a point of contention between the physicians who work for the temples (who hold it) and the folk healers (who might not).

Okay, so there is a bit of dissemination of power in this society; obviously authoriarians will rise as they do in most civilizations, religious leaders or warlords or whatever; but theatre and the court system give some voice to a middle/artisan class; the patriarchal structures will be significantly less rigid than Mesopotamia or Greece, as female labour is relevant to the society; and the farmers, well, they can revolt should things get bad.

Even the nomadic invaders will have to overcome the disease threshold as well as their assimilation into *Malian society.

The disease factor is not good, as insect and waterborne pathogens will eat workers constantly, and there will be parasites and fungal diseases that find happy homes, alongside normal enteric disease and crowd communicable diseases that accompany an urban civilization. This constant turnover of the working class farmers means private property is ultimately less important than simply maintaining the food supply.

I'm not sure the farmers would be in that short a supply. Life expectancies will certainly be low and mortality from disease high, as in many premodern societies, but fertility will also be high and adequate nutrition will be the norm. I'd guess, based on the experience of premodern West African cities IOTL, that the trend over time would be for the population to increase, even counting losses from plague and war.

Anyway, I agree that the city-states would tend to develop an authoritarian bureaucratic structure, because that's what would be necessary to build and maintain irrigation canals, roads and defensive works. On the other hand, they wouldn't necessarily be absolutist. As you say, there would be competing centers of power - the throne, the priesthood, the landowners, the griots, the urban artisans and the peasants - and they'd all have ways to get what they want on occasion. The palace economies would also be more complete in some cities than others. Forms of government would probably range from absolute monarchy or theocracy on the one hand, to quasi-republican oligarchy on the other, and while formal democracy probably wouldn't be in the picture, most of the city-states would depend on a consensus and their governments would have unwritten limits. With time, as infrastructure expands and the city-states coalesce into empires, the trend would probably be toward absolutism, as it was in most contemporary societies IOTL, although the coming of iron would shake things up again.

You know, there are some fairly unsavory aspects to *Malian society - the disease environment, pastoralist invasions, endemic warfare between cities, corvee labor - and like nearly all societies of that period, they'd probably have slavery and some form of human sacrifice, but the city-state period is shaping up to be a time of lively politics, cultural creativity, and substantial freedom for women and the lower orders. In spite of everything, that period may be considered a golden age by later generations.

Adinkra-like symbols could be developed before a writing system, but I was going with a different idea. I think the strong emphasis on remembering and quoting proverbs as a sign of wisdom could very well hamper the development of a somewhat codified system of mnemonic symbols representing proverbs. If knowing a large number of proverbs by heart and quoting them in appropriate situations to provide counsel or resolve a problem is valued as a sign of great wisdom and authority, people that rely on symbols to remember proverbs could be seen as lacking wisdom or as merely posing as a wise man. Afterall, proverbs are already a mnemonic system to preserve and communicate knowledge. I think there is a reason why systems like the Adinkra are not that widespread among west african cultures and why they are only documented for the Akan for the last 200 years: the strong oral tradition. The people actually deriving authority form their knowledge of proverbs - old people, *griots, etc. - might be (initially) opposed to an "easy" way to remember them. Learning something by heart could be seen as properly internalizing the message conveyed by the proverb.

Then again, unless everyone knows the proverb, they won't necessarily accept it as a basis for judgment.

With that said, though, I could see proto-writing developing for simpler concepts first, such as inventories and commercial transactions, and then developing on a two-track path to true writing on the one hand and more abstract mnemonics on the other. Maybe these would be seen as sacred and profane writing, with the Adinkra-like symbols associated with proverbs and other religious concepts and used to decorate things (including cloth) that have cultural symbolism or value.

But the main reason why I proposed Adinkras to be developed after a writing system is because I like the idea of a society that develops a writing system that helps to manage an urbanizing and agricultural society, yet still retains a very strong oral tradition for resolving conflicts and counseling. After the idea of linking symbols and abstract meaning is well established in the society, Adinkra-like symbols might develop to decorate personal belongings, buildings and religious items with something meaningful.

This could work, yes - *Mali would be a society where storytelling, oral eloquence and proverbial wisdom would continue to matter, and where architects and weavers might want to symbolize it.
 
The African Wildcat, which is thought to be the wild ancestor of domestic cats, is found all over Africa so locals would probably use those as pets/granary guards.
Fair point, and certainly more likely (in my opinion) than the Sand Cat...

According to the linked article, they were small ponies indigenous to West Africa and adapted to a semi-arid environment. Their use is dated from before the time that Hyksos horses would have arrived from Egypt.
Inmplying an actual wild population of Equus caballus (or some other stock that was about as closely related to it as Przewalski's Horse is) in the Sahel, and an independent domestication of horses there? I'd need to see significantly more evidence before I'd be convinced of that.


Servals or African golden cats would be suitably exotic, but the African Wildcats might be the most likely to invite themselves into the granaries.
Okay. The Serval is apparently quite easy to tame, so maybe there might be a role for it -- dealing with larger pests, and/or helping in the hunt -- as well. However the African Golden Cat, on the other hand, is allegedly too untameable...
 
Implying an actual wild population of Equus caballus (or some other stock that was about as closely related to it as Przewalski's Horse is) in the Sahel, and an independent domestication of horses there? I'd need to see significantly more evidence before I'd be convinced of that.

See here for more discussion. I'll admit the evidence is uncertain, although one of the alternative hypotheses for the finds in question - that they represent early domestication of the African wild ass - is at least as much so.

Of course, a developing urban civilization might cast a wider net for pack animals: it's possible that during the time before the Sahara becomes fully desiccated, the *Malians might adopt donkeys or dwarf ponies from northern trading partners that they didn't have IOTL.

Okay. The Serval is apparently quite easy to tame, so maybe there might be a role for it -- dealing with larger pests, and/or helping in the hunt -- as well. However the African Golden Cat, on the other hand, is allegedly too untameable...

Are Servals trainable as hunting animals in the way dogs are?
 
Based on the discussion thus far, here's a rough chronology of the first three thousand years of *Malian civilization:

3900-3700 BC: Prompted by the 5.9-kiloyear event and the growing aridity of the Sahara and Sahel, early pastoralists from the Sahara and hunter-gatherers from *Burkina Faso migrate to the Niger Valley. They alternately fight, trade and intermarry with the people already living there, ultimately becoming a hybrid of the three cultures. In the process, they learn wild rice harvesting, which the indigenous people have practiced for centuries.

3800-3400: Rice cultivation develops in the usual way: first, people notice that discarded seeds take root and grow; then they start planting seeds in places where rice is known to grow well; then they start laying out fields, trapping floodwater to create controlled water-rich environments and selectively breeding for higher yields. By 3400, rice-paddy agriculture is practiced throughout the Inner Niger Delta along with goat and sheep-herding in outlying areas. Brewing of rice-beer begins around 3600 and becomes more common as crop yields increase and people realize that it’s safer than water.

3400-2500: Village and town society of increasing sophistication. Domestication of millet and yams in areas where rice cultivation is impractical. Cultivation of vegetables, date palms and fruit trees by ca. 3000. Domestication of guinea fowl (3300), cats (about 3100), pouched rats (3000) and cattle (2900), farming of termites and other edible insects (after 3000). Invention of cattle-drawn plows (2900), copper smelting (2800) and potter’s wheel (2750). After 3000, trading and religious centers begin to grow into cities, with the largest having 2000 population in 2900 and 6000 population in 2500. Growth of social stratification and palace bureaucracy as towns expand their control over the hinterland, impose seasonal corvee labor, and manage irrigation projects, defensive works and quarantines. Beginning of proto-writing systems for accounting and commercial transactions. (2900-2800). First monumental architecture, primarily religious but also, after 2800, palaces and governmental buildings.

2500-2350: Transitional phase between the early period and the age of city-states. Warfare between cities increases in frequency and, by the end of this period, the entire inner delta is under the protection of one city or another. Growth of a military-religious-bureaucratic aristocracy, into which successful pastoralist raiders are absorbed. Growth of specialized labor and trade routes, reaching *Mauretania, the Niger headwaters and the lower Niger delta by 2400. *Griots’ informal judicial and religious role solidifies, both in support of and as a check against emerging state structures. The classical *Malian pantheon is largely complete by 2350, although the roles of gods and divinized ancestors will continue to evolve as society changes. Introduction of ducks and waterfowl into rice paddies (after 2500). First bronzeworking (2400) and true writing (2350). Cities reach 10,000 to 15,000 population.

2350-1700: The height of the *Malian city-state period. The spread of writing leads to more efficient bureaucracy and agricultural advances increase food surpluses, enabling cities to grow larger and expand their influence. Some cities reach 50,000 population although the norm is less. The period of aridity that follows the 4.2-kiloyear event (2200-2100) necessitates expanded irrigation, resulting in more widespread regimentation of labor and solidifying urban control of the hinterland. This also sharpens competition for agricultural land and hegemony. Endemic warfare between cities and periodic pastoralist raids lead to stronger defensive works and beginning of professional armies.

Palace gift economies develop, although some cities temper them with republican institutions and the urban artisan/professional class maintains its importance. Evolution of theater from religious pageants and praise-songs (2200); class conflict mediated through jurisprudence, theatrical performances and periodic peasant rebellions. Adinkra-type symbols develop among the illiterate and semi-literate classes as a non-elite mnemonic system, becoming common in cloth patterns, household shrines and building decoration. Monumental architecture increases in scale and sophistication, featuring imported wood and stone and including amphitheaters and public gardens as well as the traditional palaces and temples.

This is an era that features prominently in later *Malian myth and is the source of many literary and folk heroes.

1700-1250: The First *Malian Empire. About 1700, the city-states’ struggle for hegemony ends in unification of the inner Niger Delta under a single king. By the empire’s height (1550-1375), its boundaries extend to the northern limit of the *Guinean forest, with the forest peoples and surrounding pastoralists vassalized. Trade routes reach the Chari basin and, via the maritime states of the lower Niger Delta, the emerging Bantu kingdoms of the Congo.

After 1650, a single centralized palace economy and bureaucracy extend control over the state. Social stratification becomes more rigid and traditional checks and balances are muted, although a few cities maintain local republican institutions, and village theater and veneration of folk heroes provides an alternative social rallying point. Craftsmanship attains peak of refinement but innovation slows. Monumental architecture glorifies the dynasty and state cult.

1400: Invention of ironworking, which spreads rapidly through the Niger Valley. Extensive trade routes are no longer required to fashion tools and weapons, resulting in *Mali losing its advantage in the arms race. Pastoralist tribes break free of vassalage to the empire and raids become frequent.

1300: Arrival of horses via Upper Egypt, Iam and the Chari basin. By 1250, mounted pastoralists overcome the empire. *Mali experiences a population crash as irrigation works are damaged or destroyed and cities overrun.

1250-1000: This period is portrayed as the *Malian Dark Age, although that perception has recently been revisited. After the population crash, the empire dissolves into cities and small kingdoms, many under pastoralist dynasties and all warring among themselves. Catastrophe and conquest disrupt the pre-existing social hierarchies and break down the palace economy. Village smithies enable peasants with iron spears and bows, and their patrons among the rural landowners, to compete with the military aristocracy. Mass religious movements, elevation of folk heroes to the pantheon, sporadic restoration of republics, renewed cultural and military innovation. Adoption of horses, chariots and pastoralist forms of warfare by the city-states, leading to wars of hegemony and ultimately to a second unification.

1000-650: The Second *Malian Empire: a semi-feudal tributary state, less centralized than the first empire, with a landowning aristocracy and self-governing cities under petty kings and councils. Arrival of domestic camels (900) and beginning of trans-Saharan trade (800); establishment of merchant colonies along the *Senegal, the middle Niger and strategic oases. After 700, rural magnates and merchant dynasties increase their power at the expense of the state, weakening it in the face of desert raids and epidemics; this leads to another interregnum around 650 and paves the way for the rise of Classical *Mali.

I haven’t plotted out the rest of Africa in nearly as much detail, but the very rough outline is as follows: Rice cultivation in the lower Niger Delta about 3000, urban civilization in 2200, becoming Africa’s first maritime culture and establishing colonies westward along the Atlantic coast. In the Chari basin and around Lake Chad, a mixed rice-growing and fishing culture rises around 2500, with cities and small kingdoms developing by 1800; this region will ultimately be a commercial and cultural bridge between West Africa and the Nile Valley. Both the Lower Niger and Chari cultures have widespread *Malian influence but, given the long distances and geographic barriers between them and the Inner Delta, interpret *Malian culture in a syncretized and idiosyncratic way, somewhat like Japanese interpretation of Western culture IOTL.

The proto-Bantu get their push during the dry spell following the 4.2-kiloyear event, establishing themselves in *Gabon and the Congo basin and reaching southern Angola by 1100. The losers in the competition for agricultural land are pushed to the Great Lakes and East Africa, where yam-and-millet agriculture keeps population densities lower and the Nilotic and Khoisan-speaking peoples provide stiff competition. The small states and tribal societies that develop by 1000-500 are typically dominated by one of these groups with the others forming subordinate classes. Cities lag behind, but the beginnings of urban culture exist along the east coast by 700, fueled by the beginnings of a Red Sea and Arabian trade. The southern third of Africa is still dominated by Khoisan-speakers, with iron weapons giving them greater staying power and early agriculture taking root among those having closest contact with the peoples to the north.
 
Just a thought I had: might *Mali develop a form of caste system, particularly an idea of untouchability? The people most likely to get sick would be those working in the rice paddies, due to their increased exposure to the elements and poverty. If possible, the elite might want to avoid direct contact with these people. Combined with a stratified, hierarchical social structure and a need for bonded labour, and you get the elements for a caste system based on ritual purity.
 
See here for more discussion. I'll admit the evidence is uncertain, although one of the alternative hypotheses for the finds in question - that they represent early domestication of the African wild ass - is at least as much so.

Of course, a developing urban civilization might cast a wider net for pack animals: it's possible that during the time before the Sahara becomes fully desiccated, the *Malians might adopt donkeys or dwarf ponies from northern trading partners that they didn't have IOTL.



Interesting. I was about to comment that I doubt Egyptian bred Horses will be resistant to the West African disease environment- or be as much use to pastoralist horse nomads given drier pasturage north of the sleeping disease zone compared to Central Asia. But if there are native horse breeds to cross Egyptian stock with that will be less of an issue.

I wonder though- wouldn't Camel based cavalry be more likely to be used by Nomad tribes given the sparse pasturage in the upper Niger? I think domesticated Camels crossed over to Somalia fairly early though I'm not sure when they got to the Sahel.

All other things being equal, rice paddy based agriculture would seem to lend itself less well to domestication of large animals than millet or wheat, etc. Less plowing and more hand labor (I think Rice was adapted in China as the wheat and barley based agriculturists spread southwards).

Another point- why would the earlier agricultural package be adopted by the Khoisians and give them more staying power Vs Bantu migrations than OTL? Wouldn't it be more likely to cause a (relative) Bantu population explosion and push migrants capable of overwhelming the Khoisians as OTL earlier?
 
Just a thought I had: might *Mali develop a form of caste system, particularly an idea of untouchability? The people most likely to get sick would be those working in the rice paddies, due to their increased exposure to the elements and poverty. If possible, the elite might want to avoid direct contact with these people. Combined with a stratified, hierarchical social structure and a need for bonded labour, and you get the elements for a caste system based on ritual purity.

Hmmm. Caste is far from unknown in West Africa. However, groups like the Dalits in India or the Burakumin in Japan are typically associated with ritually impure occupations having to do with death or waste disposal. It's much harder to treat farming and farmers as ritually impure, given that everyone will have to eat food they have cultivated and touched. If rice-growers are untouchable, how would the elites be able to eat rice?

Also, societies with slavery generally don't have untouchability, and the *Malians would use slaves for ritually impure jobs.

As you say, though, the urban elites won't want to get too close to the peasants - it will be their subordinates, not they, who manage the rural corvees, and elite literature might portray the country as an unhealthy place. Also, if the *Malians draw the connection between water contamination and disease, some cities might treat the people who handle waste disposal as a particularly low class of slave.

Interesting. I was about to comment that I doubt Egyptian bred Horses will be resistant to the West African disease environment- or be as much use to pastoralist horse nomads given drier pasturage north of the sleeping disease zone compared to Central Asia. But if there are native horse breeds to cross Egyptian stock with that will be less of an issue.

Horses did well enough in the Sahel IOTL: the Nok statues of horsemen date from the first millennium BC, and later, cavalry-based empires existed everywhere north of the tsetse line. Whether this is due to crosses with hardy native horses is something I can't say, but I don't think there would be any obstacle to horse cultures in *Mali in the late second millennium.

I wonder though- wouldn't Camel based cavalry be more likely to be used by Nomad tribes given the sparse pasturage in the upper Niger? I think domesticated Camels crossed over to Somalia fairly early though I'm not sure when they got to the Sahel.

There's evidence of very early camel domestication in Somalia and the Arabian peninsula, but it took a long time to spread - camels were unknown in Egypt or the Levant until the first millennium. Somalia is a long way from *Mali, and while I have camels getting there somewhat earlier than OTL (IMO a plausible result of early-developing African trade routes), I think it would be a stretch to get them there before horses. Once they do appear, of course, any *Malian merchants who go into the desert will adopt them with alacrity, and they might see military use too.

All other things being equal, rice paddy based agriculture would seem to lend itself less well to domestication of large animals than millet or wheat, etc. Less plowing and more hand labor (I think Rice was adapted in China as the wheat and barley based agriculturists spread southwards).

Yeah, the pastoralists would probably be the first to domesticate cattle (which would be the only really large domesticate the *Malians would have) and they might spread from there into the millet and yam-growing outskirts and then to the rice region. The ponies would, as mentioned before, be domesticated as pack animals first.

Another point- why would the earlier agricultural package be adopted by the Khoisians and give them more staying power Vs Bantu migrations than OTL? Wouldn't it be more likely to cause a (relative) Bantu population explosion and push migrants capable of overwhelming the Khoisians as OTL earlier?

In *Gabon, the Congo basin and *Angola, there would be a relative population explosion, but it would stop at southern Angola as in OTL due to arid conditions. In eastern Africa where rice culture is less viable, Bantu populations would be sparser; also, with the proto-states in the Chari basin and upper Nile Valley driving competing Nilotic and Nilo-Saharan peoples south, the con between those groups and the Bantu would absorb some of the resources that would otherwise go into southward expansion. I think that, with the spread of ironworking to the Khoisan-speakers,they might be able to hold on long enough to start forming pastoral and agricultural societies in, say, *Zambia.

On another subject, any thoughts on what the lower Niger thalassocracy would be like? Sub-Saharan Africa hasn't really had a maritime culture in OTL, and although it would start out under heavy *Malian culural influence, it would go its own way quickly, and might also pick up some traits from the Bantu and Atlantic coastal peoples with which it trades. Would the lake peoples of central Africa be a good place to look for cultural threads?
 
As you say, though, the urban elites won't want to get too close to the peasants - it will be their subordinates, not they, who manage the rural corvees, and elite literature might portray the country as an unhealthy place. Also, if the *Malians draw the connection between water contamination and disease, some cities might treat the people who handle waste disposal as a particularly low class of slave.

That would be cool. To flip the same idea on its head, the waste-disposal people might be both despised as untouchable and treated as holy, a sort of blood sacrifice to the god of plague. I could imagine orphaned boys, unwanted sons of the elite and, in times of great plague, a prince being handed over to the priesthood of the plague god, to work on the sewage works.
 
In *Gabon, the Congo basin and *Angola, there would be a relative population explosion, but it would stop at southern Angola as in OTL due to arid conditions. In eastern Africa where rice culture is less viable, Bantu populations would be sparser; also, with the proto-states in the Chari basin and upper Nile Valley driving competing Nilotic and Nilo-Saharan peoples south, the con between those groups and the Bantu would absorb some of the resources that would otherwise go into southward expansion. I think that, with the spread of ironworking to the Khoisan-speakers,they might be able to hold on long enough to start forming pastoral and agricultural societies in, say, *Zambia.

Is there any OTL analog to hunter gatherers adopting Mettalurgy (not just trading for metal goods but having native smiths) before adopting an agricultural, or at least a pastoral, package?

On another subject, any thoughts on what the lower Niger thalassocracy would be like? Sub-Saharan Africa hasn't really had a maritime culture in OTL, and although it would start out under heavy *Malian culural influence, it would go its own way quickly, and might also pick up some traits from the Bantu and Atlantic coastal peoples with which it trades. Would the lake peoples of central Africa be a good place to look for cultural threads?

Not to sidetrack your world building away from alternate native African development (which is incredibly fascinating) but Carthaganian predecessors almost certainly had some trade links with West Africa (though not as far as the Niger Delta) as early as 800 BCE and the Phonecian Circumnavigation of Africa took place at the end of the period you are describing (600 BCE or so).

A more populous and more advanced West African civilization might well offer more goods for adventurous merchants as well as have more demands for Med goods and thereby result in earlier trade links (maybe with tartessos rather than Phonecians?). While the disease environment would initially be lethal for long term carthaginian settlement I can see them forming permanent colonies on the Canary and Cape Verde islands, if trade links justify it, and importing slaves and intermarrying with them.

Maybe eventually colonization/conflict with native thassalocracy at Sao Tome?

Point is, whatever maritime culture develops would probably have at least some Med influences.

Which, of course, raises the issue of another possible domesticate. A bit of a trope, but...
 
For that matter, overland trade with Carthage and it's predecessors will probably take place Earlier TTL, which will provide an added incentive for deliberate early exploration of the West African coast.

A Hanno equivalent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_the_Navigator
might be sent out as early as 700 BCE if gold and Ivory (probably not slaves except as a few exotics, too many cheaper sources in Europe and North Africa) are reaching Carthage by caravan.
 
See here for more discussion.
H'mm. I note that that's only arguing for a date of 2'500 BP, which is to say approximately 500 BC, i.e. well after the documented spread of horses from Asia into Egypt & NorthAfrica...

Are Servals trainable as hunting animals in the way dogs are?
I though that I'd seen this mentioned somewhere, but can't find the reference now. They certainly seem relatively easy to train, but their hunting style is more ambush-based rather than chase-based and (at least in the wild) they prefer to hunt at night. I think that the optimum use in this context would be in areas of reeds or tall grass close to rivers, to catch waterfowl that have been startled into flight by the humans (as they've been observed jumping several yards up to catch birds).

Another possibility might be the Caracal, which was apparently used for hunting in OTL India, although that was only tamed rather than domesticated and apparently less tolerant of humans than are either the Serval or the Cheetah.
 
Last edited:
Top