The Ghana Empire (Wagadu) - Africa's Land of Gold

[@SomasAcademy]

This video is part of Untold Black History, a collaboration intended to shed light on the history of Africans and the African diaspora. Check out the full playlist here: kzbin.info/aero/PLivC9TMdGnL93RMFHi6DnoJP_tYYXqQbR Special thanks to @schrodingersmoose for providing the voice of al-Bakri, @KenKwameWrites for providing the voice of al-Zūhri, and to @MostlyMiSinging for providing the collaboration theme! Their channels can be found here: MostlyMiSinging: kzbin.info/door/MZ0SXd9OQ_M5sw1oHsu0ew Schrodinger's Moose: www.youtube.com/@schrodingersmoose Ken Kwame: kzbin.info/door/hkErBP823aJbf1awvOu84A

[@FromNothing]

Another gem of a video just like the one in the last collab. Thanks for joining me again and contributing this masterpiece! I love seen the cumulative knowledge from the community manifested in the maps as well as new and independent research conducted by you. Well done!

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you, and thanks for organizing the collab!

[@YungSeti]

Fantastic video. The attention you pay to West African history is both unparalleled and appreciated!

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you!

[@asadsillah1437]

This is my people soninke people today you can find us only in few countries like mali gambia senegal and Mauritania but we do travel all over the world to find this money 💰 🤑 so we still got the love for the cash and we still Muslims we are ethnic that has no other blieve but Islam

[@ryanziller220]

Can you seriously pride yourself on being firstly colonized by Muslims. Not unless you are actually the descendants of an Arabian invader? I don't know that you know anything about the facts in regards to the collapse of the Wagadu or Soninke Kingdom along with the Malian Kingdom. If you are yet another lying half-breed or European then no such Empire existed. No Native Africans invaded Europe. You are still the problem. If you are native then you should learn to speak.

[@Eziopct]

I respect the Soninke people, from a Gambian brother!

[@deepminds777]

What are some names of tribes that decend from soninke today?

[@thefrenchkiwi9435]

I've always been curious about this empire since it always appeared on a lot of historical maps, but I could never be bothered to look more into it. This video was great source of information.

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you!

[@FromNothing]

8:45 sounds like Jenne. I've seen many writings about Jenne being surrounded by water depending on the time of year. Still haven't finished watching but I'll comment more after!

[@kelsonlewis9252]

Found your channel trying to find pre-colonial history vids about the African continent! I watched a video by Economics Explained and immediately saw ommissions and inaccuracies. (Bringing up Mobutu but completely failing to mention Lumumba and how he was assassinated with CIA involvement). Then I saw your critique of an Economics Explained vid. Awesome stuff. Sick of the colonial version of events.

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you! I plan to cover a lot more pre-colonial African history in the future, so stay tuned!

[@OrvilleScott]

Thank you so much for contributing to this Untold Black History playlist! I feel like I've learned something new today!

[@SomasAcademy]

I'm glad, thank you for watching!

[@anim8dideas849]

I know your channel is small but thanks for the hard work and for the time spent to make these videos, keep on making these videos!

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you so much!

[@TheFenixFallen]

Excellent video! You went more into depth than any video I’ve seen on the Ghana Empire. Often times they either focus the basics of Wagadu or mainly mention it and focus on the Mali, or Songhai empire. Again good video. 😄👍

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you! I've noticed that a lot of videos on Wagadu are pretty surface-level, so I did my best to bring something new to the table.

[@Buurba_Jolof]

Great video. I hope videos about the Jafunu kingdom, Mali and Songhay empires etc.

[@SomasAcademy]

Mali and Songhai are on the list, but I'm not familiar with the Jafuna Kingdom, could you tell me a bit about them?

[@Buurba_Jolof]

@@SomasAcademy Jafunu is a Soninké state like Wagadou and which emerged after him and became very powerful even more powerful than the declining Almoravids. An author in Arabic, a slave of Byzantine origin by the name of Yaqut al Hamawi wrote a book Mu'jam al-Buldan (= dictionary of countries) around 1224. He is our source about the Jafunu. The King of Diafounou on his way to Mecca probably towards the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century was passing through Marrakech, capital of the Almoravid empire. The Lemtouna traders were the main customers of the Diafounou traders and at that time they depended on the Sudanese states because they were weakened by internal struggles and quarrels between Saharan Berbers to such an extent that the Lemtouna had to accept the status of vassals of the Diafounou Kingdom. This explains the respect with which the King was received and the humility of Prince Almoravid in front of him who greets him on foot while the King of Jafunu enters his palace on horseback. Historian Tadeusz Lewicki wrote an article in French available in Persée.fr which is called "the kingdom of Zāfūn, an unknown medieval Sudanese state."

[@SomasAcademy]

@@Buurba_Jolof Interesting stuff, I'll definitely put Jafuna/Diafounou/Zafun on my list and look into it further after I've improved my French skills, it seems like an underdiscussed topic.

[@Buurba_Jolof]

@@SomasAcademy If I have more time I will translate it for you

[@laconnaissance6273]

@@SomasAcademy Zafunu was sonnike state like Wagadu, located in Mali.According to an eyewitness account recorded by Al Yaqut this state would have dominated the Almoravids for a while. it should also be noted that Al zuhri says that the capital of the Almoravids is Ghana, and mention that the elite of Ghaba comes from a Sudanese tribe. All this assumes that Ghana and Zafun were allies of Ghana and that the Almoravids when they became weak, they were forced to become vassals of Ghana

[@medievalafrica]

Great video. Love the illustrations!

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you!

[@CraftDayFriends]

you always have the most faithfully done stuff about obscure topics that don't get much if any attention on here

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you so much!

[@hannibalnecros1684]

Wow this was so well done, I learned more about west African history in this one video then i ever learned in school i hope to see more videos like this archaeology is a wonderful thing.🎉

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you! West African history (and African history in general) unfortunately tends to get overlooked in schools, I plan to cover more West African history in future videos to help shine a spotlight on it. If you haven't seen it yet, I also have a video about the Kingdom of Benin on my channel if you'd like to learn about some more West African history!

[@noahjackson8174]

i love learning about these empires, there so much to discover about them.

[@qus.9617]

I didn't realise Wagadu was so influential.

[@yvonnetaylor]

The more reason why Nkrumah adopted the name Ghana so that it will always be remembered in akan history that their ancestors originated from old Ghana empire

[@bezalxxl9753]

Indeed. How both bury their kings are too similar to ignore. Even the style of dressing and courtship are similar.

[@sarauniyaGH]

That's not true.. Akan people didn't even originate from the Ghana empire. The people of the Ghana empire were Soninke people of the Mandé group in present day Mali, Senegal, Mauritania. Akans are not Soninke or even Mandé.

[@micayahritchie7158]

​@@sarauniyaGHsince when do Politicians motivate their plays eith only facts

[@RasLesGoldcoastnupe]

@@sarauniyaGHyou’re wrong, it’s known that akans are Mande and from the empire of mali they ran from mali empire to not convert to Islam. Stop your stupidity

[@myztroogeegibson3568]

​@@sarauniyaGH Most tribes in Ghana were not indigenous to the land. Most came as a result of Islamic invasion, farming etc. Most of the tribes in Ghana came from North east and north west of Africa. The first tribe that came from old Ghana empire was the guans, later the gyaman, bonos, adansi, fantes. People of Nzulezu who are Akans have their origin in Mali. Those that came through the west were the Gas, Voltaren and krobos with ancient Hebrew and Kemet culture.

[@nanabai329]

As a soninke from Mali this is interesting. My father's village is goigui in niouro not far from the border of Mauritania. It's great to learn about my culture. Wagadou is interesting as waga/wagah means next year even as a part of our eid greetings we say "Arina waga meh kaleh koyi" which means may we get to see next year's eid/Ramadan.

[@SomasAcademy]

Interesting! From what I read during my research for this video, the "waga" in "Wagadu" probably comes either from a clan called the Waga or from a word for "herds," though the etymology isn't certain.

[@micahistory]

great overview of this often forgotten history

[@deshawnmoore1731]

Great Video as always And @12:45 just a small tidbit/Factoid, Serpent worship is also seen in Diaspora Religions such as Voodoo

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you!

[@sonikku956]

This was a pleasant watch Soma, keep up the good work! 👍🏿

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you!

[@redspiritmask]

There is also a story of a multi-headed snake in an East African legend. Its been years since I read it but I think it was titled Rubiya.

[@SomasAcademy]

Interesting! I wish there was more comparative religion material on Africa, I've heard a bunch of examples of stories with similar characteristics between different African cultures, but no solid investigation into these similarities.

[@nanabai329]

Thank you so much I learned alot and it's so detailed. I am so uneducated about my own history as a soninke from Mali. I will research some good sources to learn west african history. Its great to finally learn more about when we become Muslims as all my life I just know that we are for centuries but not how. You don't have to be conquered to conver to a religion just look at the Indonesian and Malaysian Muslims who became Muslims through trade.

[@reiseimperadores]

Very good, thanks you

[@SomasAcademy]

Thanks for watching!

[@MsFrancois1]

Good job. You've made one of the better videos on this subject

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you! I found that most older videos I could find about it were a bit surface-level and tended to repeat the same information, so I tried to bring something new to the table.

[@MsFrancois1]

@@SomasAcademy Yeah, sadly the vast majority of KZbin content on African history is surface-level or insane Afrocentrists. We need more serious content creators

[@MsFrancois1]

My only suggestion would be to have incorporated some ethnographic sources on the Soninke people today and to try to get your hands on Abdoulaye Bathily's article (very hard to find)

[@SomasAcademy]

@@MsFrancois1 Some ethnographic sources might have been a good idea. I'm not familiar with Bathily, what is the article in question?

[@MsFrancois1]

@@SomasAcademy "A discussion of the traditions of Wagadu with some reference to ancient Ghāna, including of review of oral accounts, Arabic sources and archaeological evidence" but good luck trying to find it. I think a university with a good inter-library loan system might be able to get you a copy

[@cynthiastanley5938]

Current GHANA 🇬🇭 can be traced back to the Ghana Empire through the Ashanti Kingdom and the rest of Akans. That’s why the leaders named the country GHANA 🇬🇭

[@norrisessel5496]

Now that’s explains a lot

[@Artur_M.]

It's really a fascinating topic, and your videos always show quality and care for doing proper research. Edit: Also, first! 😁

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you!

[@saratmodugu2721]

@@SomasAcademy Incredible video that finally puts some nuance on that subject. However, I thought Gao or kawkaw would be bigger (even "subjugating" the sanhaja amazigh): "Then there is the kingdom of the Kawkaw, which is the greatest of the realms of the Sudan, the most important and powerful. All the kingdoms obey its king. Al-Kawkaw is the name of the town. Besides this there are a number of kingdoms of which the rulers pay allegiance to him and acknowledge his sovereignty, although they are kings in their own lands. Among them is the kingdom of al-MRW, which is an extensive realm. Its king has has a town called al-HYA. Also, the kingdom of MURDBH, the kingdom of al-HRBR, the kingdom of Sanhaja, the kingdom of TDHKRYR, the kingdom of the Zayanir, the kingdom of 'RWR, and the kingdom of BQARWT. " - Al-Yaqubi, Tarikh (872-873 AD) And I thought ghana conquered the capital of Gao? (idk if the capital payed tribute or if the Gao king moved his capital)

[@SomasAcademy]

@@saratmodugu2721 You could be right, I largely worked off of the maps presented in From Nothing's mapping video for my own maps, so I couldn't tell you the primary sources for the borders I show. I didn't see anything about Wagadu conquering the capital of Gao in any of the sources I read, so I can't confirm whether or not that happened.

[@saratmodugu2721]

@@SomasAcademy now that you mention it, i wonder why from nothing ever show ghana conquering Gao on his map

[@redwallzyl]

@@saratmodugu2721 The source is page 26-27 of African Dominion. Like all events it's one of several possibilities that had to be picked.

[@Wakobear.]

Fascinating.

[@KhadijahMusa-ow1wc]

Interesting love it

[@theculturedjinni]

Cool I saw this in connection to the other videos regarding African history!

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you for watching!

[@theculturedjinni]

@@SomasAcademy You make good content! 👍

[@johnmonteiro5825]

Another excellent video

[@SomasAcademy]

Thanks!

[@muhamadoutouray1370]

Yes I'm soninke and we still around, since the fall of our Empire we split all around the world, ❤

[@bezalxxl9753]

Does that mean soninkes are the distant brothers of the Akans?

[@Mswaggerful]

Touré here diakhanke ( mandingue )

[@Eziopct]

⁠@@Mswaggerful Touray from the Gambia here, bless you.

[@nanabai329]

Yes I am soninke from Mali west soninke are in many areas in westafrica Mali, Gambia, senegal and others

[@amamansaafriyie]

You are just describing the Ashante people of Ghana 🇬🇭. How the leader sits in state to settle disputes and also the matrilineal system… Wow And gold was traded with salt?! Who knew?!

[@SomasAcademy]

Yes, the same system was also used among the Fante, another group of Akan peoples also focused in modern day Ghana. There's some evidence that the Akan people may have once lived in the Empire of Wagadu before migrating south into modern-day Ghana some time after the empire began to decline, so the similar cultural elements might reflect this connection, although this isn't known with absolute certainty!

[@diawaraoussey9091]

Modern Ghana has nothing to the ancient Ghana empire. The similarities of the west African cultures are well known.

[@amamansaafriyie]

@@SomasAcademy we truly are one people even with all the borders. This is a wealth of information! Thank you 🙏🏽

[@SomasAcademy]

@@diawaraoussey9091 As I said, we just don't know for sure. It certainly shouldn't be taken as a given that the people of modern Ghana have roots in the Empire, but it also shouldn't necessarily be dismissed. It's just one possibility.

[@Kingoftheimmigrants4646]

@@diawaraoussey9091 U so but hurt that modern day ghana is said to be part of ancient Ghana 😂 Cry more because the Akans were part of ancient Ghana

[@cokedupnormies2651]

Next make a video on the Sosso empire!

[@EwePeopleTV]

Thanks for this interesting video, But please how can I edit or do a video like this

[@SomasAcademy]

The editing software I use is Hitfilm Express. All the editing I do uses simple tools from that; you can find lots of tutorials online showing you how to do different things. Most of my editing just uses three basic features; layering images, making images move/slide, and making images grow or shrink. It takes some practice (if you look at my older videos, you'll see that I've figured out some more tricks over time), but those basic things are how you get started. Before you consider getting Hitfilm Express, I'd suggest searching KZbin for some tutorials on how to make things move, grow/shrink, etc. with the editing software you currently have, in case it has similar features! Also, I use a lot of images with transparent backgrounds, like whenever you see a person slide onto screen over a map in this video; those images I make with GIMP, which is a free image editing software you can also find tutorials for online. I'm glad you enjoyed my video, and best of luck in your own work!

[@EwePeopleTV]

@@SomasAcademy wow thank you so much for the Explanation And I really do appreciate 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@LassSamou]

The first empire of west Africa was this one ❤, soninkara alive.

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

Who do you consider the greatest ruler of Ghana?

[@SomasAcademy]

Unfortunately we only know a handful of the names of Wagadu's rulers, and little about their reigns, so there's not a lot to go off of in ranking them! However, Al-Bakri spoke highly of a king named Basi, who ruled before Tunka Manin; according to al-Bakri, Basi "led a praiseworthy life on account of his love for justice and friendship for the Muslims," and said that in his old age Basi had gone blind, but concealed this by having his advisors use coded phrases to indicate how he should react when asked to look at things. Not a lot of information, but it's an interesting tidbit!

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

@@SomasAcademy Thank you for replying!

[@khadijadia1750]

I think dinga cisse the founder or tunka manin the diplomat

[@qus.9617]

Has anyone played The Wagadu Chronicles?

[@SomasAcademy]

Isn't it still in development?

[@qus.9617]

@@SomasAcademy oh okay.

[@mohammedabass-nu9dp]

Beautiful history of north west Africa 🌍 mauritania

[@hiddenhist]

Cool*

[@Hfil66]

I would have thought one reason for the introduction of Islam is the introduction of writing. Much as in central and northern Europe, the power on the Christian church lay to a substantial extent in the usefulness of the clergy as civil servants, through their literacy useful for record keeping and diplomatic communications with far away lands, so too I would imagine that Muslim clerics could have served a similar role in the empires of West Africa.

[@SomasAcademy]

I couldn't tell you for sure, but that seems like a very plausible explanation as to why the Ghana would favor Muslim ministers and treasury officials even while continuing to practice local religion himself.

[@DanielMartins-rg2ff]

15:33 This is funny because Ibn Battuta centuries later does exactly that: bow to the king and put some dust on his face. And many centuries later european travellers did the same on the further kingdom of Kaabu, so this tradition was widespread and indicate common cultural origins or most probably indicate how much the big ones (Ghana, Mali) influenced their vassals.

[@vaktus3380]

You didnt reflect Sheryl Burkhalters stronger counter arguments properly, was very vague with her while you went into details with fishers works as if they had the stronger arguments.

[@SomasAcademy]

My greater coverage of Conrad and Fisher is the result of me reading their work earlier in the script-writing process, and the fact that their work counters a narrative I frequently saw taken for granted during my research; I didn't have the time to do a similar summary of Burkhalter's points, but mentioned her by name just so that the audience would have a place to start if they wanted to look into the specific counterarguments against Conrad and Fisher.

[@vaktus3380]

@@SomasAcademy That’s the point you covered the counter to the traditional narrative very well, but the most conclusive works to date have been mostly ignored. A laymen watching this video would feel it’s very disputed and inconclusive when Fisher just has limitations in his understanding of the Arabic language and instead resorted to a standard not held to any other campaign in west Africa, a question of archeology as if the almoravids would have had to destroy everything

[@SomasAcademy]

@@vaktus3380 At the end of the day it IS disputed, and Burkhalter's response to Conrad and Fisher isn't the final word as you seem to suggest, just one argument. I ran the first draft of my script by a friend who focuses on the Sahel and took his comments into account, and in this case he noted that Burkhalter wasn't a specialist in a relevant field and pointed me to Bennison. That's the best I can do.

[@vaktus3380]

@@SomasAcademy everything is disputed, it’s about measuring the evidences and claims against one another. You presented this video as if Fishers work is the stronger conclusion while brushing Burkhalter who actually knows the Arabic language. The mistakes Fisher made were very embarrassing from basic Arabic structure and it’s clear that there was a pre conceived bias to make it appear a fable when the Arabic sources are clear. You could try to do the reading instead of dismissing work don’t by someone who actually bothered learning the language of the original texts

[@SomasAcademy]

@@vaktus3380 Again, I'm not a specialist in the Sahel, I'm not qualified to that weighing; I can just repeat what I've read and been told by scholars in relevant fields. I didn't see anything about Fisher and Conrad (who I'm not sure why you keep omitting) being unable to read Arabic; if that's the case then that's fairly damning, but I didn't see anything in my research to lead me to that conclusion (unless you're being hyperbolic about Burkhalter's grammatical criticisms of their readings). I did my best to illustrate the fact that Fisher and Conrad's conclusions have been contested and don't represent the final word, that's why I pointed to Burkhalter and Bennison. I'm sorry I didn't cover Burkhalter's arguments in the same level of detail, I already told you why.

[@cokedupnormies2651]

In both Koumbi Saleh and the Moplah we see the same thing. Come as traders, then convert the whole town and distort local traditions. It's actually crazy how much ideology can drive people to get the same results in several places across geography. We should learn the good and reject the bad from this all.

[@myztroogeegibson3568]

Akan tribe of of Morden day Ghana and ivory Coast fled down to the coastal forest belt from Arab invasions.

[@caesarmatty]

You flash the text WAY TOO FAST. I would like to read it, but It means I have to pause constantly, which makes a 24 minute video into something more like a 40 minute video and is extremely annoying. Your content is great, and eventually your channel will get big, but please stop doing that with the text.

[@SomasAcademy]

Most of the text I display in this video is not strictly important to read - like the screenshots from Conrad and Fisher's paper, which I largely included just because I didn't have any better visuals (I summarize all the important information in the script). I'll definitely keep this comment in mind for future videos though, thank you for your feedback and I'm glad you mostly enjoy my content!

[@caioalmeida4139]

What was happening in the Congo area, Central Africa and further south (Angola, Uganda etc) during this time? These regions seemed so disconnected from the outside world

[@SomasAcademy]

Unfortunately we know very little about that region during the early middle ages. Archaeological remains from those areas go back thousands of years, but there is a large gap in archaeological data through much of the middle ages, and to my knowledge, oral traditions from West Central Africa (the area of modern Congo and Angola) and the Great Lakes region of East Africa (Uganda and its neighbors) only stretch back to around the 14th century, after the time when Wagadu had disappeared. They probably weren't disconnected from the rest of the world, though; trade routes stretched across most of the African continent by the Middle Ages (which I talk about a bit in my response video to Economics Explained, if you want to check that one out!), and I wouldn't be surprised if they existed earlier, as I know that there were earlier trade routes between the East African coast and the interior of Southern Africa, and between the Sahel and the forest region of modern-day Nigeria (Igboland)!

[@Liliphant_]

Let's go

[@dimunche]

Contrary to popular belief, there were actually some Christians in the kingdom of Takrur. They found some documents from Nobles in King Mansa Moussa Empire, stating some of the Christian communities gold resorts. I wonder if there were any more.

[@SomasAcademy]

Yes, I'm not sure what specific evidence you're referencing but there are Arab accounts mentioning both Christian and Jewish communities in West Africa during the Middle Ages. "King Mansa Musa" is redundant, Mansa is a title meaning "Emperor," his name was Musa.

[@dimunche]

@@SomasAcademy West African Christians The Living Bra. "I heard the magistrate Fakhr al-Din, Inspector of the victorious army, say: "I asked the king of the Takrur ('äl-takwur): What is the source like where the gold grows among them ?' Then he said: 'It is not in our land which is the property of the Muslims; rather, it is in the land that is the property of the Christians of Takrur ('al-nasary min 'äl-takwur). We send to take from them a collection that is due to us and is required of them. These are special lands that produce gold in this way: they are small pieces of various textures, some are like small rings, some are like carob seeds, and so on.'' The magistrate Fakhr al-Din replied, saying: "Why don't you conquer the land by force?' He said: 'If we conquer them and take it, it does not produce anything. We have done this in various ways, but we have not seen anything in it. But when it returns to them, it produces according to its average. This is a fascinating dynamic, and this is perhaps an increase in the dominance (tugiy'ăn) of the Christians." - Ibn al-Dawadan, Kanz al-durar wa jami "al-ghurar I’d like to know more of your sources if you have any. I’d like to show them with a professor that has been gathering information on this.

[@SomasAcademy]

I couldn't give you more info off the top of my head, mentions of Christians and Jews during my research piqued my interest but I didn't make specific note of them. The main source I've read for Arabic accounts of West Africa, however, is Levtzion and Hopkins' "Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History."

[@dimunche]

@@SomasAcademy Awesome, thanks! I’ll plunge right in! Meanwhile, if you come across any more in the future please let me know.

[@SomasAcademy]

@@dimunche Will do!

[@teejay197]

❤️❤️❤️

[@RPNDWORLDWIDE]

Awaggadun empire has an antiquity which goes back 15000 BC

[@SomasAcademy]

Source?

[@RPNDWORLDWIDE]

@@SomasAcademy books that only exist in the hearts and minds if the great African griots of whom I had great access to one.

[@RPNDWORLDWIDE]

@@SomasAcademy it is mythical speculation like most antiquated history.

[@SomasAcademy]

@@RPNDWORLDWIDE Okay so you heard it from some guy who was making a guess, got it.

[@RPNDWORLDWIDE]

@@SomasAcademy I'm African. Griots are ancient historical reference in African communities. You got it now.

[@TheHistoryofBiology]

Many animals like birds or squirrels find the shiny objects like gold and silver nuggets or gemstones interesting enough to take to their nest. Just like humans I suppose. I never really wondered why, they don't really have any purpose for survival as far as I understand.

[@cokedupnormies2651]

Bring back Wagadu paganism 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@nanabai329]

No AlhumduliAllah for islam. You take the good of your culture and leave the bad. Paganism is bd and evil. As a soninke from Mali west are muslims but we still have our culture.

[@Sonsofthesun1]

There where two kombi salleh one is the economic capital and the other is where the kings live but is not known or opened to strangers

[@Amandasteffle]

I’m not sure what the point of this statement means

[@SomasAcademy]

How do you expect anyone to know what statement you're talking about

[@Toatl-ub8sz]

Egypt also used to believe in 🐍snake which is the proof of their Egyptian origin. Number two, the name (sonin+ke) the suffix kè=inhabitant of (asuani) asuani is precisely where we are originated from.

[@SomasAcademy]

...The Old Norse, Ancient Greeks, and Hindus also all believed in giant snakes, so by the same logic one could claim the Soninke had origins in Scandinavia, Greece, or India. And the suffix "ke" does not mean "inhabitant of" in Egyptian, nor is "Sonin" particularly similar sounding to "Aswan."

[@Eziopct]

@@SomasAcademy​​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠ For clarity, the suffix is from mande languages. Some use ké or ka, depending on which manding language you speak.

[@adamasakho9019]

Translate to french please

[@SomasAcademy]

I don't speak French, but I can google translate the transcript into French to add French subtitles. Is that what you mean?

[@SomasAcademy]

Okay, I've now added auto-translated French subtitles, hopefully they're accurate!

[@Amandasteffle]

Gana has a king called DIABÉ CISSÉ

[@KabiroCeesay-l7i]

The cisse were the kings of Ghana empire.

[@KabiroCeesay-l7i]

All the kings of ancient Ghana empire were the cisse.

[@Amandasteffle]

😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫

[@Ibnou999]

Soma means eldest son in Soninke language.

[@Abstract.Noir414]

GHANA, MALI, SONGHAY

[@frankscott1708]

As far as you can tell the connection between the Akan kingdoms living in modern Ghana and their connection to Ancient Ghana was not a consideration in naming the country??? Say what Soma? It very much was a consideration. Most of the work was done by Gold Coast historian (and Akan luminary) JB Danquah. Wagadu collapsed, splintered and was partially reformed in the smaller kingdoms that rose up in and around present day Ghana, with the Dagomba and Akan kingdoms being most recognizably faithful to the political organization and governance model of Ancient Ghana. That's why they chose the name Ghana. Just Wikipedia "History of Ghana". It's not complete, but it's a decent overview.

[@SomasAcademy]

Wikipedia is not a reliable source, but even your own source doesn't support the claim that the alleged connections between the Akan people and Wagadu had anything to do with the name of modern Ghana, saying "As the Gold Coast colony prepared for independence, the nation's founder Kwame Nkrumah settled on Ghana, aiming to evoke a sense of unity and liberation among the Ghanaian people. The name was a powerful reminder of their shared heritage and the legacy of the ancient empire that once thrived in the wider region." Nothing about the Akan in particular. As far as I can tell this narrative that the Akan in particular descended directly from people who moved south from Wagadu after its collapse (a narrative with minimal evidence supporting it) only developed after Ghana's name was chosen, rather than motivating the name choice. The Wikipedia page on the History of Ghana also does not claim that the Akan originated in Wagadu anywhere else either; it might have in the past since anyone can edit Wikipedia, including nationalists asserting spurious claims, but it doesn't currently. If you can point me to specific work by JB Danquah asserting a connection between the Akan and Wagadu, that would be much better support for such a proposal factoring into the decision to name Ghana after Wagadu than a Wikipedia page which says no such thing.

[@frankscott1708]

@@SomasAcademy Wiki has one thing correct - speaking of Nkrumah's choice of name. It says "The name was a powerful reminder of their shared heritage and the legacy of the ancient empire that once thrived in the wider region." Now which shared heritage & legacy would that be? Right - Ancient Ghana. So then the name and legacy of Ancient Ghana WAS indeed a consideration in choosing a name for modern Ghana. But here are your words that I objected to: "As far as I can tell the connection between the Akan kingdoms living in modern Ghana and their connection to Ancient Ghana was NOT a consideration in naming the country". The work you should have touched on in your video is "The Akan Doctrine of God" by JB Danquah (1944). Published long before Gold Coast's independence movement, it proposes a MIGRATION of the Akan from Wagadu. So, no, Akan migration theory did not "only develop after Ghana's name was chosen". In it Danquah lays out the case for connection between Akan and Wagadu. Akan, he writes, was a minority group within the larger polity. I have no beef with you for contextualising the name of modern Ghana so conservatively ("nationalistic assertions", "spurious claims" etc.). I do fault you for completely disregarding the oral and academic tradition of connection (not just Akans) through sheer omission. It's a rather Euro stance.

[@SomasAcademy]

@@frankscott1708 Nkrumah was a Pan-Africanist, and not all Ghanaians are Akan. "Shared heritage" does not mean "Akan heritage" in this context, that would be baffling. Why would Nkrumah choose a name specifically tied to the Akan to pull the people of Ghana, not all of whom are Akan, together? From the context I could find, I interpreted this choice as one meaning to link Ghana with a shared African heritage going back to the earliest West African kingdom known by name. Thank you for sharing a specific source, as I said that is much more effective support for your point than the Wikipedia page. Checking the book, I see that the author does indeed lay out a narrative of migration of the Akan from Ghana, though he also notably claims that the word "Ghana" is a "corruption by the Arabs of Sudan" of the word "Akane," rather than identifying the Akan as a minority group in Wagadu as you said. He also claims that the Akan were originally from West Asia, so uh... that's certainly an interesting bit of pseudohistory, presumably influence from the colonial Hamitic Hypothesis that many African historians educated during the colonial era unfortunately embraced. Regardless of the accuracy of Danquah's work, however, this source certainly refutes my previous understanding, demonstrating that the hypothesis of Akan migration from Wagadu already existed at the time. However, I still question the idea that this was Nkrumah's motivation for choosing the name Ghana, as favoring individual groups like the Akan would be a strange move in context. It still seems more plausible to me that the choice was made based on the Ghana Empire's place in West African history as a whole, rather than connection to any specific ethnic group, though I accept the possibility of the alternative.

[@frankscott1708]

@@SomasAcademy Perhaps your perspective isn't sufficiently Gold Coast. The reality of the Gold Coast on the eve of independence is pretty different from that of Ghana today. Leading up to independence, all of the action took place in the two urbanised territories, which were majority Akan: Gold Coast & Ashanti Protectorate. These two integral territories held political and economic power and contained most of the infrastructure. The other two British possessions being Northern Territories Protectorate and British Togoland, were of little consequence in deciding the fate of the new country, and played a minor role in the struggle, especially rural British Togoland. The Akan kingdom of Ashanti, still a quasi-independent kingdom even under British rule, included elite interests which were able to win concessions from Nkrumah in order to cement their support for his incipient independent nation. They did so by threatening to withdraw support for Nkrumah's nation building project while simultaneously engaging in low intensity terrorism. Nkrumah placated the majority Akan in various ways, including I believe in choosing the name Ghana, a nod to Akan & Dagomba history. The situation in Ghana today is much different from Nkrumah's time. The old British Northern Territories & Togoland are currently extremely influential to electoral outcomes and to national resource assets. Ergo the official line has changed: for four decades now, we have a new more politically hygienic narrative consensus being pushed, which wants us to believe that Nkrumah's choice of "Ghana" was not Akan-centric at all, but rather a general hearkening back to the inspirational grandeur of old Ghana! We are being played. Ghana is masterful at narrative and narrative control.

[@SomasAcademy]

​@@frankscott1708 You make a compelling argument, I appreciate you sharing that context.

[@princeowusu3561]

Thats where our forefathers came from to present day Ghana after the fall of the empire. They moved from Israel to Egypt ,southern egypt to old Ghana Empire before settling in modern Ghana land

[@MrSivram28]

Your forefathers did not come from Ghana Empire. Stop stealing the history and culture of others. Nkrumah appropriated the name "Ghana" for your country. That's it.

[@myztroogeegibson3568]

​@@MrSivram28some Ivorian and Ghanaian tribes like the ancient Akan tribe of Begho now know as Bono people among the first settlers in Ghana came from there. other people from the northern part of Ghana like Dagombas of Moshi tribe also largely found in Burkina Faso. Tribes like the Nzulezu people of Ghana also trace their origin from Mali as other trace their roots from Gao /Kawkaw in the Ancient stone age era. Most tribes came to Ghana in avoidance of Arab invasion

[@SomasAcademy]

There actually is a legitimate hypothesis that the Akan originated in the Wagadu Empire before migrating south. However, narratives of Israelite or Egyptian origins stem from unfounded colonial era claims which sought to deny the indigenous origins of great West African civilizations.

[@MrSivram28]

@@SomasAcademy there is no connection between modern Ghana and ancient Ghana. Nkrumah appropriated the name

[@SomasAcademy]

@@MrSivram28 As I said in my comment and in a written note in the video, there may be a genuine connection, although this isn't known for certain; it's just a hypothesis. But yes, the main reason the name was chosen for the modern state of Ghana was just because it was a historically significant name, not because of a percieved direct connection.

[@jahmight6279]

This is a name of those that migrated out of the area into present day Ghana. The tribes the were in Wagadu are todays Akan, Ewes and the GaDanbes….the very ppl of todays Ghana. Please research what the present day ppl say about their history.

[@myztroogeegibson3568]

Not the ewes and Ga people, they migrated from the north east Africa with major similarities of ancient Hebrew culture.

[@hedgehog3180]

Those puppil less drawings look so creepy.

[@akhonambalula9436]

Nok civilization is earliest civilization in west africa

[@SomasAcademy]

The Tichitt culture emerged around 2200 BCE, while the Nok culture emerged around 1500 BCE, so the Tichitt culture is about 700 years older. The Kintampo complex is also similarly old, though we don't have a firm estimate on exactly when it was founded - we just have an estimate range of 2500-1400 BCE, so it could be older than Tichitt, younger than Nok, or somewhere in between.

[@myztroogeegibson3568]

Really what of the Dogon civilization? I believe it's the oldest.

[@patrickchosen1brobbey]

GHANA = GOD has APPOINTED NKRUMA ALREADY Pb720+ KWASIA

[@Personatge]

Niger-Congo is tentative at best, and it's validity is far from being proven but great video otherwise

[@SomasAcademy]

Thank you! Yes, though taken for granted by many scholars including in the sources I drew from, Niger-Congo is not a firmly established language family, but simply a proposed grouping between the better established Atlantic-Congo language family and a collection of languages from in and around the Niger River, including Mande languages like Soninke. I learned this after making this video, because Niger-Congo is so widely discussed that I never realized it wasn't firmly established, even though I know some other even less firmly established language family proposals (like Nilo-Saharan, which originated as a wastebasket taxon, and Khoisan, which is widely recognized by linguists to be a completely invalid grouping of languages based on a single shared feature) are also taken for granted in many scholarly sources! At some point I may make a video about Africa's major proposed language families and talk about that, and I intend to avoid referencing "Niger-Congo" without providing some kind of disclaimer or contextualization in the future.

[@موسى_7]

Mr. Soma, why do you draw yourself to look so much like a woman?

[@SomasAcademy]

...I just have long hair?

[@afrkleaks4991]

Worship snake damn liarrr 😮😮😮😢😢😢😢

[@Tu51ndBl4d3]

The Almoravid and Almohads were "black". Regardless of the contention around the physical description of Moors as a whole, the one thing that isn't disputed is whether the Almoravids and Almohads in particular were "black". You can consults "Berbers"/"Amazigh"/whatever you want to call them about the make up of lamtuna, masmuda etc.

[@Buurba_Jolof]

No Almoravids and almohads were "white" berbers

[@akachiikenga617]

No they wasn't Blood

[@croixfadas]

@@akachiikenga617 they were for sure, they were a coalition of tuareg, toucouleur, and sahaja berbers.

[@moderatecanuck]

Why are you erasing Amazigh history?

[@croixfadas]

@@moderatecanuck because its a lie

[@icedteacatfish]

we love fortnite we love fortnite

[@mohammedabass-nu9dp]

Beautiful history of north west Africa 🌍 mauritania