Koumbi Saleh, or Kumbi Saleh, is the site of a ruined ancient and medieval city in south east Mauritania that may have been the capital of the Ghana Empire. It is also a commune with a population of 11,064 (census 2013).[1]
From the ninth century, Arab authors mention the Ghana Empire in connection with the trans-Saharan gold trade. Al-Bakri who wrote in eleventh century described the capital of Ghana as consisting of two towns 10 kilometres (6 mi) apart, one inhabited by Muslim merchants, and the other by the king of Ghana. The discovery in 1913 of a 17th-century African chronicle that gave the name of the capital as Koumbi led French archaeologists to the ruins at Koumbi Saleh. Excavations at the site have revealed the ruins of a large Muslim town with houses built of stone and a congregational mosque but no inscription to unambiguously identify the site as that of capital of Ghana. Ruins of the king's town described by al-Bakri have not been found. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the site was occupied between the late 5th and 14th centuries.
^"Koumbi Saleh (Agricultural Urban Commune, Mauritania) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
KoumbiSaleh, or Kumbi Saleh, is the site of a ruined ancient and medieval city in south east Mauritania that may have been the capital of the Ghana Empire...
architectural and material cultural elements similar to those found at KoumbiSaleh in the 1920s. The earliest proto-polity ancestral to Ghana likely arose...
grew through the Almoravid movement. In 1076 they sacked the capital KoumbiSaleh and many subject peoples broke away, including the Sosso. Their leader...
desiccated and the settlements began to decline, most likely relocating to KoumbiSaleh. Architectural evidence and the comparison of pottery styles suggest...
desiccated and the settlements began to decline, most likely relocating to KoumbiSaleh. From the type of architecture and pottery, it is believed that Tichit...
the 11th century. Around 750 AD, these kingdoms grew into Awkar, or KoumbiSaleh. 11th century Arab historian Al-Bakri wrote about this great kingdom...
Twelve Doors of Mali Ghana Empire (c. 700 – c. 1200) Soninke people KoumbiSaleh Mali Empire (c. 1235–1670) Musa I of Mali Mandinka people Kouroukan Fouga...
Twelve Doors of Mali Ghana Empire (c. 700 – c. 1200) Soninke people KoumbiSaleh Mali Empire (c. 1235–1670) Musa I of Mali Mandinka people Kouroukan Fouga...
the Maghribi commercial city of Sijilmasa and its southern terminus in KoumbiSaleh, capital of the Ghana Empire. Later, the southern trade route ended in...
and themselves set out on a road of conquest, they take its capital KoumbiSaleh in 1203 1235 Great warrior leader Sundiata Keita of the Mandinka people...
in Burkina Faso, Diouboye in Senegal, Gao Ancien, Essouk in Mali, and KoumbiSaleh in Mauritania, all in twelfth- to fourteenth-century contexts. Ilé-Ifè...
Levtzion & Hopkins 2000, p. 46. As Tegdaoust is 318 km (198 mi) north of KoumbiSaleh, the likely site of the Ghanaian capital, each stage would correspond...
his rule the heretic Barghawatas were destroyed. In 1076, he conquered KoumbiSaleh capital of the Ghana Empire, and is credited to have brought Islam in...
the trans-Saharan trade, particularly after the Almoravid conquest of KoumbiSaleh destroyed competing commercial centers. A target for conquerors, however...
Ghana Empire is attacked by the Almoravids, who sack the capital of KoumbiSaleh, ending the rule of king Tunka Manin 1076: the Chinese Song dynasty places...
desiccated and the settlements began to decline, most likely relocating to KoumbiSaleh. Architectural evidence and the comparison of pottery styles suggest...
Diara Kanté (var: Jara Kante), Soumaoro's father gained control of KoumbiSaleh, dethroned a Muslim dynasty and continued the Diarisso Dynasty (variation:...
Twelve Doors of Mali Ghana Empire (c. 700 – c. 1200) Soninke people KoumbiSaleh Mali Empire (c. 1235–1670) Musa I of Mali Mandinka people Kouroukan Fouga...
Kingdom 1500–1701 AD Gao Gao Empire 9th century–1430 AD Ghana Empire KoumbiSaleh Empire 400–1235 AD Great Fulo Anyam-Godo Empire 1490–1776 AD Gyaaman...
Upper Niger. Under the leadership of Soumaro Kanté, the Sosso seized KoumbiSaleh, former capital of the Ghana Empire, and expanded outward, conquering...
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Mauritania