A Ghanaian Dynasty in Spain.

Recently I was going over the Almoravid dynasty, and happened on an interesting connection with a specific Ghanaian dynasty ruling in Spain.


A modern Sanhaja the type who spearheaded the Almoravid invasion,
As some of us know, the Almoravid started on the banks of the river Senegal under the leadership of the Sanhaja , after inflecting a mortal wound on the Wagadu empire aka Ghana..which equates to gold

Ghana was the first major empire in west Africa an urban center with deep roots going back to the same time urban developments were being undertaken on the Nile.
, later to be undone by ecological disaster and the rise of Mali.


Armored troops of West Africa the 10th century Ghanaian troops as well as their Almoravids rivals would similarly be outfitted.
we also know that troops, of the defeated nation volunteered themselves into the Almoravid empire, in much the same manner the Amazigh aka Berbers took to Islam from the Arabs.
but what was surprising to me was ,they seemed to have kept their distinct ethnic identity among the Almoravid and having a dynasty under that ethnic name of the Banu Ghaniya or people/ Children of Ghana.

matter of fact their dynasty founder was none other than Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Yusuf Ben Ghaniya. Who ruled the Balearic islands of Spain.

[Following the collapse of the Almoravid power at the hand of the Almohads in the 1140s, the Banu Ghaniya continued to govern the Balearic Islands as independent emirs until about 1203, with a brief interruption in the 1180s. Later leaders (Ali ibn Ishaq and Yahya) made a determined attempt to reconquer the Maghreb (and in particular Ifriqiya), taking Bougie, Constantine and Algiers, and conquering most of modern Tunisia from about 1180 onwards.

They were influential in the downfall of the Almohad Empire in Eastern Maghrib.[5] In Tunisia Ali ibn Ishaq adhered to the Abbasid Caliphate and was formally appointed by Al-Mustadi with the title of "heir of the Almoravids".[6]]
en.m.wikipedia.org...

There is a new book out on West African empires that's going on my to read list.
Kinda pricey, buuut?? Time to treat my self.

African Dominion
A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa
Michael A. Gomez
press.princeton.edu...

Michael Gomez offers a flowing narrative of innovations between the tenth and sixteenth centuries, when Africa was ahead of many other places around the world, and he provides a new understanding of caste, race, slavery, ethnicity, and gender as they evolved centuries ago. Brilliant, fascinating, and original, this is a revolutionary book."--Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin

Note I did not get any part of this thread on this book, but I'm interested in this long over due update on the history of these west African empires.
Klik the link for more.

a reply to: Spider879

A bit more information on the Wagadu people, they are of the Sonniki people one of the Mande speaking group, as was said earlier, they began urbanization quite early, not only in west Africa, but among the earliest in the world, following urbanization in China, Mesopotamia, India, they took off at about 2500 B.C , they decline about 1500 B.C but still having a pulse reemerged at 500 B.C ,gained empire status at about 750 A.D to 1066 A.D,


They became a highly mobile people after the final fall of their empire ,then scattered all across West Africa into the forest zone and North Africa from there into Moorish occupied Iberia as part of that contingent.

The present day Ghana, of the forest zone are not related to them, as these are of the Akan ethnic groups, however the Akan are related to the Mossi kingdom of the savannah and may share some the same pre Islamic culture, as they also great traders who dealt in gold , kola nuts and slaves.

There are two stories that makes the story of King Arthur seems young in comparison.
GASSIRE'S LUTE:

And

The tale of Bida the Black Snake :

www.abovetopsecret.com...&mem=Spider879

And old post of mine. Pls klik..

a reply to: Spider879

It's strange that you mention the Ghanaians ruling Spain. There's this girl on the checkout in the local supermarket, she's living over here now but recently come over from Ghana. I can't get over over how beautiful she is. Hey I'm happily settled down with my partner, it's just not a sexual attraction, just she is so beautiful like you'd admire a Ferrari or Rembrandt. Thing is even though she's west African she sort of looks very Spanish or Moroccan, now your posting about this Ghanaian empire into Spain sort of explains a lot.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

Oh but she would be of present day Ghana not the one further north, no doubt Akan females can be strikingly beautiful.. BTW a great many Jamaicans came from the Akan, Many AAs are of Mande extraction of which the Ancient and Medieval Ghanaians came from.

a reply to: Spider879

Wow it's all over my head at the moment as I haven't looked into ancient Ghanaian history but no doubt there's masses to research. Very interesting what you said about the Jamaicans. Spo much of this hidden history or shall we say negected, all they teach us in school is the latest stuff Nkrumah / first British colonial independence etc, the later stuff. You Spider are an enlightening gem and have lit the interest in this region.

a reply to: Spider879

Another awesome thread loaded with historical information I would not have known if it weren't for you posting it for us to digest.

That picture of the knight on the horse. The armour is pretty good. Never seen much about the armour used back then in this region, so interesting.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

Yeah today's Ghana is a new nation built on the remains of the old empire known as the Ashanti that dominated the forest zones, however there were trade links with ancient Ghana, Mali and Songhai empires.

matter of fact ancient Ghana did not have gold, the gold mines were found among the Ashanti and other Akan people, who traded with them, the Akan fiercely resist Islamic cultural and religious influence and stopped them from encroaching from the edges of the Savannah country, allowing Mande traders to pick up gold and slaves but keep their religion to themselves..or faced death.

originally posted by: ufoorbhunter
That picture of the knight on the horse. The armour is pretty good. Never seen much about the armour used back then in this region, so interesting.

Yes when people think of pre-colonial African Armies they have in their minds, infantry like the Zulus, and this is largely true below the Tsetse fly zones especially of East Africa, which is a disaster for horses, until you get to southern Africa proper.

However on the Savannah country in West Africa armies were made of massive cavalries numbering upwards of 40,000 and more, and were used long before camels were introduced, chariots were a thing at one time, according to Bernal one of the tribes that attacked the coastal cites from the interior were known as the Nigerate a people from the river Niger, on four rigged chariots called quadriga

They were certainly the famed Gramantians, a pain in the behind of Roman occupied North Africa who could never be bought to heel.
These were adopted even into the forest zones where they were of limited use among the folks like the Ashanti and Dahomey.

Ashanti general.

Of Benin rivals of the Ashanti.

Last two Savannah kingdoms.you

a reply to: Spider879

Great thread. Very well made. There is a vast disconnect from the past. Thanks for the bridge.

originally posted by: Spider879Yes when people think of pre-colonial African Armies they have in their minds, infantry like the Zulus, and this is largely true below the Tsetse flies zones especially of East Africa, which is a disaster for horses, until you get to southern Africa proper.

Yeah exactly. To be honest most of my knowledge about the pre colonial period is based on too much watching as a child the original Tarzan with Johnny Weismuller and Maureen Sullivan. That's it. We don't get taught anything about ancient Africa here in Britain, it's like the only thing they went to educate us about is the Egyptians. To be honest I never really got to look into these pre colonial periods due to this but if what you've placed here for us Spider is anything to go by then there is a wealth of interesting stuff and true civilistaion equal of anything in that period in Britain to study out there. I must say you do seem to have in amazing knowledge of this region, hats off to you for this and sparking an interest for the rest of us.

a reply to: ufoorbhunter

I have always had a love affair with history, not only of Africa but from all over, I sometimes found some surprising parallels and connections few knew about, but African history hold a special place for me as it' is least known and so hold many secrets ready to be revealed.

Thanks for the feedback..

a reply to: Spider879

Excellent article, there is a lot more to Africa than many think, remember the Portuguese raided and destroyed entire coastal city as they looted them for there wealth before getting in on the very lucrative long established Islamic slave trade (Actually it may be a lot older than the presence of Islam) and starting off the period of European enslavement of African's, these nations were also one of the main procurers and suppliers of those people whom were then shipped to the European colonies to be used as slave labor.

But in fact these same empires had also once had a very lucrative indeed practice of procuring European's for slavery raiding as far north as Scandinavia and even Iceland since blond blue eye's girls' - especially virgin's and also boy's fetched far more due to there exotic nature in the slave market's of north and west Africa much as also happened were the Turk's raided to the east.

But the evil side of all civilization's aside they were far more advanced than they were painted afterward's as far as culture, art, literature and architecture were concerned and could be seen as the heir's of a much older legacy of culture and civilization than is currently accepted by the mainstream whom are still trying to cope with the entrenched and racist view's of the past were it was once fashionable to portray them as simply savages and backward people.

Before that period there were Black west African merchant's whom traded freely throughout Europe with many of them settling in these nation's as there was gold to be made and so we can surmise that the trade network like the ancient Hansiatic league WHOM these west African merchant's may also have been members of crossed all religious and national boundaries linking the ancient world together in a network that was a true web of trade and commerce.

I was interested on another note to read about some Chinese artifact's found in the archaeological remains of Roman period London which would seem to indicate that the Silk Road during that period was far more established than anyone would have believed and that a community of Chinese merchant's may actually have lived and traded in Roman London, if they got here then they would certainly have formed trade link's to west Africa of the period as well.

We hear a lot about the lost civilization of East Africa but not so much about the Lost civilization's of west Africa but something does not come from nothing and so likely this was based on a foundation of many previous advanced African cultures in the region.

a reply to: LABTECH767

On point With your response, the interconnectivity between far off places is old and very deep, as you surmised there were African members of the Hansiatic league, there were/ is a secret society,The Bwiti trade and social institution that even Europeans had to join if they wanted to trade in the area..include slave trading, and how it's still very much around and governing politics to see who gets oil revenue dollars and who don't.

very good and interesting thread

a reply to: Spider879

Hey Spider,

Thanks for posting this. The Almohad dynasty / period is a truly fascinating period of Spanish / African history. If we forego all the wonderful architectural, medical, literature and navigational knowledge they contributed, it is still amazing purely for the co-existence with some of the Spanish Kingdoms.

The greatest of great Spanish Heroes, Rodrigo Bolivar (aka El Cid), eventually ended up going over to the Almohads (when he got sick on infighting in Leon). He also had Almohad friends throughout life.

As to the armour on the warriors of the Ghanain troops, that was actually pretty much in vogue throughout more Northern Europe in the 10 and early 11th centuries. It is more padded armour than metal armour (ie chainmail or scale armour).

a reply to: Flavian

The greatest of great Spanish Heroes, Rodrigo Bolivar (aka El Cid), eventually ended up going over to the Almohads (when he got sick on infighting in Leon). He also had Almohad friends throughout life. 

For entertaining if some what inaccurate account of the Cid I recommend the old classic starring Charlton Heston The Cid.
Needless to say that was an interesting time in history indeed.

a reply to: Spider879

Hi Spider,

I have a link you may find interesting. The first is to an article about Dr Amira Bennison's book on the Almohad and Almoravid dynasties. It is basically an overview of the book (first English book on the topic). Whilst a "light" article it is actually rather interesting.

The ALmoravid and Almohad Empires

I would also add that mathematically, the Moors (ok, precursors to both Almohads and Almovars) introduced the Hindu-Arabic number system. Europe (particularly Western) still used the Roman numeral system at this time. The Hindu-Arabic model is a positional system ,meaning that calculation are far easier to perform. From this, the Moors then gave us algebra, algorithms and the number zero. If you look at the Hindu-Arabic number system from around 1000 AD you will see that it is almost identical to our number system today (four is a bit skewiff but other than that....).

a reply to: Spider879

My name is Afia, tell me my fortunes.

a reply to: Flavian

Much thanks for the link Flavian, I just skimmed it, but it deserved some no rush down time to read, absorb and enjoy.. Much thanx again scholar...
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