The Sahel are the grasslands which stretch southward from the vast Sahara Desert. The western area also referred to as the Western Sudan encompasses a vast region that extends from the Atlantic Ocean eastward past the Lake Chad basin. This area was home to four empires that dominated the trade and culture of the region’s people. With the introduction of Islam by the militant Berber tribes of the north, these empires spent most of their existence conducting Jihad against their neighbors for various religious or covertly political reasons.

Three of these empires occupied primarily the same territory along the Niger River valleys. Ghana was the earliest of these followed by the Mali and then the Songhai dynasties. The fourth of the Sahel empires, Kanem-Bornu, was founded further east along the shores of Lake Chad.

The purpose of this article is to provide gamers with additional background data which will enable them to create pre-gunpowder historical campaigns and design realistic forces. While the authors of the popular DBA and DBM gaming systems have a generic list for the Western Sudan, my research differs in regards to some of the troop types and list composition. I hope that the players of those systems will do their own reading about these empires and their enemies. Players of other systems should be able to adapt the information for use with their rules.

The pre-colonial history of the Sahel can be divided into distinct eras with specific factors dominating the culture of the time period. The culture of the earliest Pre-500BC era, can be classified as a hunter gatherer nomadic pattern characterized by small tribes focusing on the everyday demands for survival. Conflicts were normally skirmishes over the control of hunting grounds.

Circa 500BC, tribes developed the skills of mining and processing iron. This led to the ability of the tribes to efficiently till the ground. With increased food production, came increased population and the development of towns as centers for trade. The population boom resulted in the Bantu migration across Africa just as the Aryan migration had spread across Europe and western Asia centuries earlier. As they moved to establish mew homes, the Bantu brought their new culture of mining, agriculture and trade with them. As a result numerous small ‘city states’ were established across Africa. The nature of warfare of these ‘city states’ was to dominate the tribes of the local countryside and limit the influence of rival ‘city states.’ During this era, only a few Sub-Saharan nations managed to establish empires that dominated vast lands and multiple towns. One of these was the western Sahel power of Ghana.

The next era begins with the introduction of Islam into Sub-Sahara Africa. The Islamic traders and conquerors introduced religious zeal, better recorded history, extended trade markets, and more powerful horses. These factors combined to produce a suitable atmosphere for the growth of empires. It is in these conditions that the Mali, Songhai and Kanem-Bornu powers blossomed and flourished. The desire to obtain massive numbers of the Arab horses caused tribes to need to control ever increasing amounts of land in order to obtain the gold and salt resources needed for trade. These conquests also produced an additional product, slaves, to be traded for horses.

The final era began with the introduction of firearms into the region. Such devastating weapons, with the support of European and Arab trading partners, allowed specific tribes to annihilate their neighbors.

These tribes needed more and better firearms. As in earlier times they launched more campaigns to obtain additional gold and slaves as demanded by the trading partners. Old empires collapsed while new ones, such as the Fulani, filled the void.

The history and supportive data about the post-1600 empires and regional kingdoms will be covered in a later article. The use of firearms caused the adoption of different tactics, as well as, changes in army organizations.

Oral history mentions that early governments were established by white and red conquerors from the North and East. Some writers have concluded that the white men were mainly Berbers but fail to establish an origin for the red men. While the Berber conclusion is easy and plausible, it does not answer the question about the red men. Later Islamic translators changed the red men origin to one of ‘suntanned’ Arabic or Yemeni decent. This helped with their ability to justify local rule and Jihad but must be regarded objectively as propaganda. The conquerors may have been the Moors or Berbers in the extreme west and Arabs or Yemeni in the east. However based on the local African tribes use of the colors red and white, the origin of the conquerors may have a simple answer. They may have been tribes who wore primarily white or red robes which still allows for the Berbers and Arabs to be the invaders. However, the conquerors may have actually been African tribes of Negroid origin who used large amounts red and white paint as a ‘war paint’ on their skin.

Bibliographic Material

Much of the pre-Islamic history of the region was based on oral recitation. With the arrival of Islamic merchants, the use of writing to record events was introduced. Being directly related to Islamic practice, the surrounding tribes which maintained a traditional religion failed to adopted the practice of written history. As a result much information about the surrounding pagan tribes was lost or based on the biased recordings of the now Islamic empires of the region.

Most modern books on the Medieval Western Sudan (Sahel) provides background data and facts about key leaders. However the amount of detail on equipment and tactics is limited. A person who wants to thoroughly research the military aspects of their history must be prepared to reads massive amounts of material looking for a random reference to a weapon or troop type. Personally I never regard my research as complete. Even after I finish my work on an article, additional facts may be uncovered.

Below is a list of some of the sources used to construct my article. It is not a complete list of sources. A time consuming search of the internet can locate additional sites which may contain other, though often minor, facts about various tribes in the region.

Internet sites:

“Art and Life in Africa Online” by Lee McIntyre and Christopher Ray. www.zyama.com
“African Odyssey” by the Kennedy Center. www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org “Western Sahara” www.xavier.xula.edu

Books:
“African Kingdoms” by Basil Davidson. Time-Life, 1966.
“African States and Rulers by John Stewart. Mcfarland Press, Jefferson, NC.
“Africa to 1875” by Robin Hallett. U. of Michigan Press, 1970. Page 2
“A History of the African People” by Robert July. Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, Illinois, 1992.
“Oriental Costumes: Their Designs and Colors” by Max Tilke, Berlin, 1922. A translation of this book can be found on the internet at: www.indiana.edu/libcsd/etei/tilke It contains examples of clothing from several African countries, Middle Eastern countries and central Asian countries.
“A Short History of Africa” by Oliver and Fage. Facts on File, 1988.

Medieval Empires of Africa's Sahel

Historical Background
Ghana
Mali
Songhai
Kaneum-Bornu
Minor Powers of the Region