The Historical Facts & Events Of Modern Ghana
Ghana is one of the earliest known Negro empires in recorded history. It was first
mentioned by an Arab geographer, Al-Fazari, in AD 773 in his book Al-Masudi, where
he referred to it as "a Land of Gold". Ghana is also found on the
first Islamic world map produced by a Persian geographer, Mohammed Khwarizmi, in
the ninth/9'th Century. The Arab traveler Al-Bakri, writing in AD 1067, tells us
that the name "Ghana" was the title of the Soninke kingdom called
Aoukar. The title means "war chief". It was visiting Arabs and people from other
parts of the Sudan who referred to the kingdom by the title of its kings; and by
the ninth Century,
The Ancient Ghana Empire AD 300 - 1067
Aoukar was popularly known as "Ghana" It is not yet certain how and when Ghana was
founded. But from Arab sources, particularly; the Tarikh as Sudan, it appears to
have been founded by a Soninke dynasty between AD 300-400. The Ghana Kingdom was
situated on the grassland north of headwaters of Senegal & Niger. It's capital,
Kumbi Saleh, is said to have been found by Kaya Maghan, who is reputed to have overthrown
the immigrant minority ruling class of "white"(Products of Intermarriages between
Berber Settlers and Negro indigenous) about AD 770 and established a pure Soninke
dynasty. By AD 1000 the Soninke kingdom had extended its territory west to the river
Senegal, south to Bambuk region, east to the Niger and north to the Berber town
of Audoghast on the southern edge of the Sahara desert. By the middle of the eleventh
century, when Ghana was at the zenith of its imperial expansion, it controlled the
area covering modern states of Senegal, Mali and Mauritania - a territory of roughly
650 000 square kilometers with a population of several millions.
History Of The Land &
People Of Ghana Before Independence
The present boundaries of Ghana, enclosing an area of about 240,000 km sq., and
with a population of about 18 million in 1998, were carved out in stages from nineteenth
century, by foreign powers when they began spreading their sphere of influence in
West Africa. Until the country's present frontiers took shape, what is today the Republic of Ghana comprised of many independent states and kingdoms. Through a number
of "treaties" of "Friendship" and forced annexations, the independent states were
merged as one territory under the British imperial rule. In 1874, after a long period
of loose association with the people, the British formally proclaimed as a colony
the southern part of the country, from
then on has been called the "Gold Coast"
colony. Two years later, the British moved the headquarters from Cape Coast to Accra,
which was since remained the capital of the country. On 1'st January 1902, both
Asante and Bono-Ahafo Regions and what became the Northern territories were annexed
by the British as a crown Colony and a Protectorate Territory respectively. After
World War I(1914-1918), the western portion of the former Germany colony of Togo
was ceded to the British under the mandate system of the League of Nations. This
territory later became known as the Trans-Volta Togo Thus, by 1920, the present
frontiers of the country had taken complete shape. The main groups of the people
of Ghana are distinguished largely by language and, to a lesser degree, by the their
political, social and other cultural institutions. The Akan constitute more than
half the country's population. The Ga-Adangbe and the Ewe both inhabit the southern
part of the country, while in the northern half of the country is the Mole-Dagbani,
comprising the Mamprusi Mossi, Dagomba and Gonja. Other groups in the north include
the Dagarti, Sisala, Kusasi, Lobi, Konkomba and Nanumba.