ABSTRACT

Mande penetration of western Africa was characterized by two phases: a long period of peaceful trade and settlement from the early centuries a.d. and a subsequent era of conquest and state building by Mandekan warriors that began during the latter part of the dry period. Speakers of the Soninke language of the Northern Mande subgroup played a prominent role in the developments and were associated with trade and rulership in Ghana and other states founded between the bends of the Niger and Senegal rivers. The Mande trade routes were all associated with the Senegal River and its tributaries. The linguistic fragmentation of West Atlantic and Mande speakers in the Bambuk area reflects a history of extensive intermingling of groups. Overland trade networks connecting Senegambia, the Upper Guinea Coast, and the Malaguetta Coast with the interior of western Africa were pioneered largely by Mande-speaking traders.