History of Mali
The history of Mali can be divided into several major periods:
- Pre-Imperial Mali
- The Mali Empire
- The Songhai Empire
Throughout its history, Mali's position at the crossroads of Trans-Saharan trade routes played a crucial role in its development. The city of Timbuktu, situated near the Niger River on the southern edge of the Sahara, became an important center of commerce, Islamic scholarship, and culture from the 13th century onward.
This prosperity peaked during the rise of the Mali Empire, followed by the expansion of the Songhai Empire, both of which established Mali as a major power in West African history.
Prehistory
Paleolithic
The Sahara has experienced significant climatic fluctuations throughout its history, with periods of both drier and wetter climates than today. It was inhospitable to human life between 325,000 and 290,000 years ago and again between 280,000 and 225,000 years ago, except for a few favorable refuges like Lake Tihodaïne in the water-retaining Tassili n'Ajjer region. During these arid phases, the desert expanded far beyond its present-day boundaries, leaving behind sand dunes that stretch well beyond the modern Sahara. Human occupation is primarily linked to the wetter "green" phases when ecological conditions were more suitable for settlement and migration.It is possible that anatomically modern humans, who may have emerged in isolation south of the Sahara between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago, already inhabited the humid, water-rich regions during a prolonged green phase over 200,000 years ago. Around 125,000 to 110,000 years ago, an extensive network of rivers and lakes enabled the northward spread of fauna, followed by human hunter-gatherer groups. Among these water systems was Mega Lake Chad, which, at its largest extent, covered over 360,000 km2. However, during a subsequent arid phase between 70,000 and 58,000 years ago, the Sahara once again became a formidable barrier to migration. Another green period followed between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago.
In present-day Mali, archaeological evidence is less abundant than in northern neighboring regions. However, excavations at the Ounjougou complex on the Dogon Plateau, near Bandiagara, have revealed signs of human presence dating back over 150,000 years. Evidence of continuous habitation is firmly established for the period between 70,000 and 25,000 years ago. The Paleolithic period in Mali ended relatively early, likely due to the onset of another extremely arid phase – the Ogolia – around 25,000 to 20,000 years ago, which transformed the region back into a dry savannah landscape.
Neolithic
Following the Last Glacial Maximum and the retreat of northern ice sheets, the climate in the Sahara region was significantly more humid than it is today. The Niger River formed a vast inland lake near Timbuktu and Araouane, while a similarly large body of water developed in the Lake Chad basin. During this period, which began around 9500 BCE, the landscape of northern Mali resembled the savannah ecosystems found in southern Mali today. The humid phase that followed the Younger Dryas was eventually replaced by increasing aridity around 5000 BCE.The Neolithic period, marked by a transition from foraging to food production, developed during this wetter era. It is usually divided into three phases, separated by distinct dry intervals. Sorghum and millet were among the earliest cultivated crops, and by 8000 BCE, large herds of cattle – closely related to modern zebus – grazed across what is now the Sahara. Sheep and goats were introduced much later from West Asia, whereas cattle were likely first domesticated within Africa.
Pottery appeared independently at several sites, including Ounjougou in central Mali, with ceramics dated to around 9400 BCE – one of the earliest known examples in West Africa. Some of the earliest Neolithic cultures practiced a productive way of life without fully developed agriculture or animal husbandry. At the Ravin de la Mouche site, origin dates between 11,400 and 10,200 years ago have been recorded. Other nearby sites, such as Ravin du Hibou 2, date to between 8000 and 7000 BCE. However, a hiatus in occupation is evident between 7000 and 3500 BCE, likely due to unfavorable climatic conditions that hunter-gatherers could not withstand.
Archaeological and paleoenvironmental data suggest a return of nomadic pastoralists around 4000 BCE, just prior to the end of the last humid phase, which waned around 3500 BCE. Sites like Karkarichinkat and possibly Village de la Frontière, along with sediment layers at Lake Fati, illustrate this period of climatic transition. Lake Fati existed between 10,430 and 4660 BP, with a 16-centimeter sand layer indicating a desiccation event around 4500 BP – approximately 1,000 years later than comparable changes on the Mauritanian coast. Increasing aridity peaked about a millennium later, prompting southward migrations of cattle-herding populations into Mali as northern lakes dried up.
This late Neolithic period also saw further immigration from the Sahara around 2500 BCE, as the region transitioned into an increasingly arid desert. Archaeological surveys based on ceramic typology identified three cultural groups living around Méma, the Canal de Sonni Ali, and Windé Koroji around 2000 BCE. Key excavation sites include Kobadi, MN25, and Kirkissoy near Niamey, Niger. These suggest a southward movement of populations, culminating in the introduction of agriculture, including the cultivation of pearl millet and possibly wheat and emmer – grains domesticated much earlier in eastern Sahara, now reaching Mali. Ecological evidence implies tillage began as early as the 3rd millennium BCE, though this phase ended abruptly around 400 BCE due to severe drought.
The use of ochre in funerary practices – sometimes extending to animals – persisted into the 1st millennium BCE. A striking example is the burial of a horse at Tel Matamata, west of the Inland Niger Delta near Thial in the Tenenkou Cercle, where the remains were covered with ochre. Rock art, including both symbolic and anthropomorphic depictions, is found across Mali in areas such as Boucle du Baoulé National Park, the Dogon Plateau, and along the Niger River Delta.
Further excavations at Karkarichinkat Nord and Karkarichinkat Sud – located in a fossil riverbed roughly 70 km north of Gao – revealed the earliest known evidence in West Africa south of the Sahara for ritual tooth modification among women, dating to ca. 4500–4200 BP. These practices, which included tooth filing and extractions resulting in pointed teeth, resemble similar customs documented in the Maghreb. The modification was predominantly observed in female remains, and similar traditions continued in the region into the 19th century.
Isotopic analysis from these sites showed that 85% of dietary carbon came from C4 plants, particularly grasses, indicating either the consumption of wild cereals or early domesticated species. These results offer some of the earliest evidence of agriculture and cattle herding in West Africa, around 2200 cal BP.
The Dhar Tichitt tradition, centered in the Méma region – a former river delta west of today's Inland Niger Delta – represents another major cultural development. Settlements ranged from 1 to 8 hectares but were not continuously occupied, likely due to environmental limitations. The tsetse fly, prevalent during the rainy season, posed a significant obstacle to cattle rearing and limited expansion to the south.
By contrast, the Kobadi tradition, which developed in the mid-2nd millennium BCE, relied primarily on fishing, gathering wild grasses, and hunting, and remained relatively sedentary. Both traditions used copper sourced from Mauritania and maintained interregional exchanges, as evidenced by material culture and stylistic similarities in ceramics.
Earlier Iron Age
A number of early towns and cities were established by Mandé-speaking peoples related to the Soninke, along the middle Niger River in what is now Mali. Among the earliest was Dia, which was settled around 900 BCE and reached its peak around 600 BCE. Another major site was Djenné-Djenno, occupied from approximately 250 BCE to 800 CE. Djenné-Djenno formed a substantial urban complex, consisting of 40 mounds spread across a 4-kilometer radius. The site itself likely extended over 33 hectares and participated in both local and long-distance trade networks.During Djenné-Djenno's second phase – which occurred during the first millennium CE – the site expanded significantly, possibly covering over 100,000 square meters. This period also saw the emergence of permanent mud-brick architecture, including the construction of a city wall. The wall, built using cylindrical mud-brick technology, was approximately 3.7 meters wide at its base and extended for nearly two kilometers around the town.
References to Mali appear sporadically in early Islamic literature. The 11th-century geographer al-Bakri mentions the regions of "Pene" and "Malal," which may correspond to areas within early Mali. The historian Ibn Khaldun, writing in the late 14th century, recounts the conversion to Islam of an early Malian ruler known as Barmandana. Additional geographical details are found in the 12th-century works of al-Idrisi.