History of Mali facts for kids
Mali is a country in Africa. Its history can be split into different parts: the time before big empires (before the 1200s), and the time of the powerful Mali Empire and Songhai Empire (from the 1200s to the 1500s).
The borders of modern Mali were drawn by the French in 1891. These borders connect different parts of the larger Sudan area with parts of the Sahara Desert. Because of this, Mali is a country with many different ethnic groups, but most people belong to the Mandé peoples.
Mali's history is mostly about its role in the trans-Saharan trade. This trade connected West Africa with North Africa. The city of Timbuktu in Mali is a great example of this. It's located on the edge of the Sahara and near the Niger River. Timbuktu became very important in trans-Saharan trade after the Mali Empire started in the 1200s. After the Mali Empire, the Songhai Empire grew powerful in West Africa.
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Ancient Times
Stone Age
The Sahara Desert has changed a lot over time. Sometimes it was very dry, and other times it was much wetter than it is today. When it was dry, it was hard for people to live there, except in special places with water. During wetter periods, the desert became green, and animals and humans could spread out. For example, a huge lake called Mega Lake Chad once covered a massive area.
In Mali, we know that hunter-gatherers lived there over 150,000 years ago. We have found tools and other signs of their presence. The Stone Age in Mali ended very early because of an extremely dry period about 25,000 to 20,000 years ago.
New Stone Age
After the last ice age ended, the climate became much wetter. The Niger River formed a huge inland lake near Timbuktu. This wet period started around 9500 BC.
The New Stone Age, or Neolithic period, is when people started growing their own food instead of just hunting and gathering. This period had three main parts, separated by dry spells. People began planting crops like sorghum and millet. Around 8000 BC, large herds of cattle grazed in what is now the Sahara. Sheep and goats were brought in later from West Asia, but cattle were first tamed in Africa.
Some of the oldest pottery in the world was found in central Mali, dating back to about 9400 BC. This shows that people in Mali might have invented pottery on their own.
Around 4000 BC, nomadic cattle herders appeared again. The climate became drier around 3500 BC. People kept sheep, cattle, and goats, but they also continued to hunt, gather, and fish. It seems that successful animal herding might have delayed the start of farming for a long time.
Around 2500 BC, more people moved into Mali from the Sahara as it became a huge desert. This dryness forced people to move south. By the second half of the 2000s BC, millet farming reached the region. However, this period of farming ended around 400 BC due to another extreme drought.
People in Mali used a red powder called ocher in burials, even for animals. There are also rock carvings and paintings in Mali from ancient times, showing symbols, animals, and people.
Scientists found that people in the Tilemsi Valley, north of Gao, changed their teeth for ritual reasons around 4500-4200 years ago. Women had their teeth removed or filed to a point. This custom continued until the 1800s.
These ancient people also got most of their food from grass seeds, either wild or farmed. This is some of the earliest evidence of farming and cattle breeding in West Africa.
Some settlements from 1800 to 400 BC were between one and eight hectares in size. These areas were not good for cattle farming during the rainy season because of the tsetse fly. Other groups of people lived mainly by fishing, gathering wild grasses, and hunting. Both groups used copper, which they got from Mauritania, and traded with each other.
Early Iron Age
Early cities and towns were built by Mande people, who are related to the Soninke people, along the middle Niger River in Mali. One of these cities was Dia, which started around 900 BC. Another important city was Djenné-Djenno, which was lived in from about 250 BC to 800 AD. Djenné-Djenno was a large city with many mounds, covering a big area.
Djenné-Djenno traded locally and with faraway places. Later, it grew even bigger and developed permanent mud brick buildings, including a city wall that was almost two kilometers long.
Mali is mentioned in some early Islamic writings. For example, a writer named al-Bakri mentioned "Pene" and "Malal" in 1068. Another writer, Ibn Khaldun, wrote about an early ruler named Barmandana who converted to Islam.
Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire was an important empire in West Africa.
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire began in 1230 and became the largest empire in West Africa. It greatly influenced the culture of the region by spreading its language, laws, and customs.
Timbuktu remained an important trading hub until the 1800s. It was a key place for the trans-Saharan trade. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became famous for the great wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I. The Mali Empire had a huge impact on West Africa, spreading its culture along the Niger River. It covered a large area and included many smaller kingdoms and regions.
The empire was known for its rich gold mines. This gold helped pay for amazing buildings, like the famous Great Mosque of Djenné. The Mali Empire also had a busy trade network that crossed the Sahara Desert and reached North Africa and the Middle East.
Today, the Mali Empire's territory would include parts of Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Mali itself was the heart of the empire.
Songhai Empire
The Mali Empire started to get weaker in the mid-1300s. The Songhai took advantage of this and became independent. The Songhai made Gao their capital and began to expand their own empire across the western Sahel. By 1420, the Songhai were strong enough to demand payments from other regions. The growing Songhai Empire and the weakening Mali Empire existed at the same time for much of the late 1300s and 1400s. In the late 1400s, the Songhai Empire took control of Timbuktu.
After the Empires (1591–1892)
The Songhai Empire eventually fell apart because of pressure from the Moroccan Saadi dynasty. A key battle was the Battle of Tondibi on March 13, 1591. After this, Morocco tried to control Gao, Timbuktu, Djenné, and the trade routes. This was difficult, and their control lasted until the late 1600s.
After the Songhai Empire collapsed, no single state controlled the region. The Moroccans only managed to take over a few small parts of the country, and even there, their power was weak. Several smaller kingdoms rose up. The most important ones in what is now Mali were:
Bambara Empire or the Kingdom of Segou
The Bambara Empire was a strong state from 1712 to 1861. Its main city was Ségou. It ruled parts of central and southern Mali. This empire lasted until Umar Tall, a conqueror from the Toucouleur people, swept across West Africa. Umar Tall's army easily defeated the Bambara, taking Ségou on March 10, 1861, and ending the empire.
Kingdom of Kaarta
A disagreement within the ruling family in Ségou led to the creation of a second Bambara state, the kingdom of Kaarta, in western Mali in 1753. It was defeated in 1854 by Umar Tall, the leader of the Toucouleur Empire.
Kenedougou Kingdom
The Senufo Kenedugu Kingdom started in the 1600s near what is now the border of Mali and Burkina Faso. In 1876, its capital moved to Sikasso. It fought off Samori Ture, the leader of the Wassoulou Empire, in 1887. It was one of the last kingdoms in the area to be taken over by the French in 1898.
Maasina
An Islamic uprising in the Inner Niger Delta region, mainly by the Fula people, happened in 1818. This led to the creation of a separate state. It later joined forces with the Bambara Empire against Umar Tall's Toucouleur Empire and was also defeated by him in 1862.
Toucouleur Empire
This empire was founded by El Hadj Umar Tall of the Toucouleur people. Starting in 1864, it eventually ruled most of what is now Mali until the French took over the region in 1890. This was a difficult time, with ongoing resistance and increasing pressure from the French.
Wassoulou Empire
The Wassoulou Empire was a short-lived empire (1878–1898) led by Samori Ture. It was located in the area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern Mali. It later moved to Ivory Coast before being conquered by the French.
French Sudan (1892–1960)
Mali became a French colony in 1892. By 1893, the French appointed a governor for the territory they called Soudan Français (French Sudan). However, people continued to resist French rule. By 1905, most of the area was firmly under French control.
French Sudan was part of the Federation of French West Africa. It provided workers for France's colonies along the West African coast. In 1958, the Sudanese Republic, as it was renamed, gained full control over its internal affairs and joined the French Community. In early 1959, the Sudanese Republic and Senegal formed the Mali Federation. On March 31, 1960, France agreed to the Mali Federation becoming fully independent. On June 20, 1960, the Federation of Mali became an independent country, and Modibo Keïta became its first President.
Independence (1960–present)
After Senegal left the federation in August 1960, the former Sudanese Republic became the Republic of Mali on September 22, 1960. Modibo Keïta became its president.
President Modibo Keïta quickly declared Mali a single-party state and followed socialist policies, which meant the government took control of many businesses. Keïta also had close ties with the Eastern bloc countries. However, Mali's economy got worse. In 1967, the government decided to rejoin the Franc Zone and change some of its economic policies.
From 1962 to 1964, there was a Tuareg uprising in northern Mali.
Under Moussa Traoré
On November 19, 1968, a group of young army officers took power in a peaceful coup. They formed a military committee with Lt. Moussa Traoré as president. The military leaders tried to fix the economy, but they faced political problems and a terrible drought.
A new constitution was approved in 1974, creating a one-party state. This was supposed to lead to civilian rule, but the military leaders stayed in power. In 1979, Moussa Traoré was elected president with almost all the votes. However, student protests and three coup attempts challenged his rule in 1980.
The political situation became calmer in the 1980s. In late 1985, a short war broke out between Mali and Burkina Faso over a border area rich in minerals. The government tried to fix Mali's economic problems by reforming state-owned businesses and fighting corruption. They also worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on economic changes. But people were unhappy with the strict measures of the IMF plan and felt that the ruling elite was not following the same rules.
As demands for democracy grew across Africa, the Traoré government allowed some limited political freedom. However, they refused to create a full democratic system.
By 1990, strong opposition groups started to appear. The political situation became more difficult with ethnic violence in the north in mid-1990. Many Tuareg who had moved to Algeria and Libya during a long drought returned to Mali. This increased tensions between the nomadic Tuareg and the settled population. Fearing a Tuareg movement to separate from Mali, the Traoré government declared a state of emergency and harshly stopped the unrest. Even after a peace agreement in January 1991, unrest and armed clashes continued.
2000s
After serving two terms, President Konaré stepped down in 2002. Touré, who had been a military leader, ran for president as a civilian. He won the election, promising national unity. The 2002 election was a big step for Mali, as it was the first time one democratically elected president successfully handed power to another. Touré then formed a government that included different political groups and promised to work on Mali's social and economic problems.
2010s
In January 2012, a group called the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) started an uprising. On March 22, 2012, rebel soldiers announced on TV that they had taken control of the country. They said they were unhappy with how the president was handling the conflict. The former president had to go into hiding.
However, because of the uprising in northern Mali, the military government only controlled the southern part of the country. The northern part, known as Azawad, was controlled by MNLA rebels. The rebels took Timbuktu, which is 700 km from the capital. In response, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) froze Mali's money and stopped trade, leaving the country with very little fuel. Mali relies on fuel brought in by trucks from Senegal and Ivory Coast.
By July 2012, the Tuareg rebels were pushed out by their allies, the Islamists, Ansar Dine, and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (A.Q.I.M.). The collapse of the earlier coup led to an unexpected extremist state in northern Mali.
Refugees described the Islamists as wanting to force a strict form of Islam on Malian Muslims. In Timbuktu, the Islamists destroyed several old tombs of holy men, saying they were against their beliefs.
The African Union discussed sending a military force to reunite Mali. They said they would not negotiate with terrorists but were open to talks with other armed groups.
On December 10, 2012, Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra was arrested by soldiers. Hours later, he announced his resignation on national television.
On January 10, 2013, Islamist forces captured the important town of Konna, 600 km from the capital. The next day, the French military launched Opération Serval, stepping in to help.
By February 8, the Malian military, with international help, had retaken the territory held by Islamists. Tuareg separatists also continued to fight the Islamists.
A peace deal between the government and Tuareg rebels was signed on June 18, 2013.
Presidential elections were held in Mali on July 28, 2013. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta won and became the new President of Mali.
The peace deal between the Tuareg rebels and the Malian government broke down in late November 2013 due to fighting in the northern city of Kidal. A new ceasefire was agreed upon on February 20, 2015.
In August 2018, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected for another five-year term.
2020s
Starting on June 5, 2020, street protests in Bamako called for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to resign. On August 18, 2020, rebel soldiers arrested President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé. President Keïta resigned and left the country. The National Committee for the Salvation of the People, led by Colonel Assimi Goïta, took power. This was the fourth coup since Mali gained independence in 1960. On September 12, 2020, the military committee agreed to an 18-month plan to return to civilian rule. Soon after, Bah Ndaw was named interim president.
On May 25, 2021, Colonel Assimi Goïta removed the interim president Bah N'Daw and prime minister Moctar Ouane from their positions. On June 7, 2021, Mali's military commander Assimi Goita was sworn in as the new interim president. According to Human Rights Watch, Malian troops and suspected Russian mercenaries killed about 300 civilian men in central Mali in March 2022. France had pulled its troops out of Mali in February 2022.
In 2023, Burkina Faso suggested forming a federation with Mali. The goal was to make both nations stronger politically and economically by combining their resources and people. This idea was part of a larger trend of African countries forming regional alliances. However, the proposal faced criticism due to concerns about cultural, historical, and economic differences, as well as questions about power sharing and a potential loss of national independence.
See also
- History of Africa
- History of West Africa
- List of heads of state of Mali
- Politics of Mali
- History of Timbuktu
