The Soninke are a Mande speaking ethnic group found in West Africa. They are also called the Sarakole, Seraculeh, or Serahuli. Initially, this group occupied parts of Ghana, where they founded the Wagadou Empire. However, because of modern civilization, the Soninkes spread to different parts of Mali, Senegal, Dakar, Mauritania, Fouta Djallon, and Guinea Bissau. Thus, to date, the Soninkes are diverse across the continent.
Among all African ethnic groups, the Soninke are the first to ever convert into Islam. And they majored in the trade as their main source of wealth. In this article, we will look at the political, social, and economic accounts of the Soninke, citing relevant examples. It is important to note that the Soninke Empire collapsed because of Muslim encroachers.
The Social Life of The Soninkes
The Soninke are a predominantly Muslim community occupying parts of Western Africa. This ethnic group converted to Islam around the 11th century. Today, the Soninke people are approximately 2 million. This shows that this group of individuals has escalated over time. The Soninkes speak Maraka, which is one of the Mande languages. However, there are different Mande languages. They include; Niger-Congo, Malinke, Bambara, and Dyula language.
Among the Soninke, people belonged to different social strata. The least ranked were the slaves, also known as Komo. This group of people worked as servants under poor conditions. Whereas the topmost were members belonging to the noble family. They received first-class treatment at all times. Another name for the nobility was Tunkanlenmu.
The Soninkes also celebrated marriages to mark the love relationships which existed between them. However, unlike other communities that honored their traditional deities during the marriage ceremony, the Soninkes honored their Islam God. The Soninkes permitted blood marriages, e.g., cousin marriages. As such, when both families of the couple consent to the marriage, both the couples engaged in the mosque. After the engagement, they conduct a marriage and then payment of dowry. Then the community assigns both the wife and husband marriage advisors. The man’s advisors are called the Khoussoumanta- yougo, while the women is Khoussoumanta- yakhare. Then, the couple conducts celebrations.
Circumcision ceremonies among the Soninke also united the community members. According to their culture, they referred to circumcision as birou. Preparations for circumcision involved already circumcised men providing mentorship and guidance to boys who were yet to undergo circumcision. This step prepared the young boys psychologically before they underwent the right of passage. Other than male circumcision, the Soninkes also conducted female genital mutilation or the female circumcision.
The staple food of the Soninkes includes fonde, porridge, demda tere, and takhaya. Their porridge comprised of millet, sugar, milk, and salt, while the demba tere and takhaya comprised of rice and peanuts. Nonetheless, millet is their chief crop.
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Economic Lifestyle of Soninkes
History predates the Soninkes as merchants, right from the pre-colonial times. They engaged in both agricultural activities and traded merchandise. Most of the time during the onset of rains, men and women would engage in farming activities. Nonetheless, the woman’s major role was to stay at home and look after the children.
The Soninke were prominent traders in the west, as they even traded cattle with the French colonials. They would supply Frenchmen with herds of cattle often. Due to their popularity, they were an influential ethnic group throughout the west African states.
Other than cattle, the Soninkes also traded gold. This was between the 7th and 11th centuries. The Kingdom of Ancient Ghana was rich in gold reserves. This trading of goods happened during the trans- Sahan trade, where the west African states would exchange gold for salt. Initially, the gold trade occurred between the Arab merchants and the Berbers. However, the need for more gold in the Arab nations prompted the idea to trade with the Soninkes. The Arabs were using the gold as a raw material for minting.
For a very long time, the Soninke kept the location of their gold mines a secret, away from the Muslim traders. Through trading activities, the Ghana Empire expanded its territory. It is not only the Soninkes who relied on gold trades across the continent. But most African empires, especially most of the prominent African monarchs who were successful. Some of them even gained honor through trading valuable gold ore. During those times, one’s wealth depended on the number of pure gold metals they had accumulated. The people who benefited most were the kings and queens of the empire.
The presence of camels in the region was quite significant. This is because these animals came in handy during the transportation of the gold, slaves, salt, copper, textiles, and beads to different parts of the continent.
Political Organization of The Soninkes
The Wagadou Empire consisted of several villages that were all under one governance. And because of a strong army, the Empire was powerful. The availability of raw materials like iron made it easier for the Kingdom to access weapons.
The founders of the ancient Soninke Empire played a significant role in putting up an organized system of government. Upon establishment of the Wagadou Empire, which today is Ghana, Dinga Cisse became its very first ruler.
Al- Bakri, a traveler, described the Ghana King as:
“The king presents himself as a woman, wearing necklaces and bracelets, and when he sits before the people, he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in turbans of fine cotton. Behind the King stands ten pages holding shields and swords decorated with gold. And on his right are the sons of the vassal kings of his country wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold.”
Dinga established a capital at Kumbi Saleh, allowing the formation of more trade routes within the region. However, when Dinga passed away, his two sons, Khine and Dyabe disagreed over the throne. Simply because both of them wanted to sit on it. As such, they organized combat and agreed that whoever won would be the ruler.
After conducting a spirited fight, Khine defeated his brother. Dyabe loss made him feel humiliated, and thus he resorted to heinous ways to steal the throne from his brother. Some works of history document that Dyabe promised to offer a sacrifice to a serpent every year so he could get the throne.
Another popular Soninke leader was Prince Gassire Lute. The latter so much wanted to succeed his father. He could wait for his old man to die. However, his wish was not the case, for his father was a potent monarch among the Soninkes. Therefore, what did Gassire do? He trained himself to become a warrior so he could show off his strength. He also asked a wise man what destiny had in store for him. Nonetheless, the news saddened him. The old man told him that he would abandon his father’s throne for the lute. And as such, he would not become a king. Instead, other people would succeed his father. All that would then lead to the collapse of their empire.
The prophecy made Gassire run away from home. As a result, running from his true purpose brought more trouble to himself and his community. However, when he accepted his true purpose, he attained what he wanted all along, for his name to never die. He had lived in his purpose, leaving a legacy behind.
Another Soninke dynasty is the Askiya Dynasty. Originally the Askiya dynasty is of Soninke descendent, though it is in Songhai. Amid trade interactions, the Soninke influenced other west African communities, hence impacting their lineages.
Askiya the great, who is of Soninke lineage founded the Askiya dynasty. He had a lot of sons who became princes and continued his lineage.
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The Fall of Soninke Empire
Although the Soninke Empire was a powerful kingdom, it crumbled after Islam Invasion. How is this so? Upon the arrival of Arabs in Ghana, Islam started spreading in the region. As a result, the king ordered the construction of mosques. And it was not long before Islam became the dominating religion in the region. It had even reached a point where the King recruited Muslim merchants who were Arabs to act as interpreters and help in decisions concerning the economy of the state. These merchants would even control and manage the goods which were entering and leaving the dynasty. When goods arrived in Ghana, they would be taxed twice, and similarly, when they left, they would also be taxed twice.
The Soninke King welcomed the Arab traders, making it easy for them to plot and destroy his kingdom. The King had granted the Arabs so much freedom, making them feel a sense of identity in a land that didn’t belong to them. As a result, this promoted the ease to launch an attack. And mainly since the Arabs also had connections from within the Kingdom.
I state it’s never wise to trust a stranger regardless of if they come in peace. A stranger will always be a stranger; thus, it is important to take necessary precautions before they rob you of something you consider priceless.
