51..History of Ghana

The Republic of Ghana is named after the medieval Ghana Empire of West Africa, though this empire was actually known as Ouagadougou, now the name of the capital of present-day Burkina Faso, previously known as Upper Volta. Ghana was the name for the warrior kings who ruled Ouagadougou. The Mandé name of the Empire was Wagadou. Ghana was the title of the kings who ruled the kingdom. It was controlled by Sundiata in 1240 AD, and absorbed into the larger Mali Empire. (Mali Empire reached its peak of success under Mansa Musa around 1307.) Around 1235 a Muslim leader named Sundiata united warring tribes. He then brought neighboring states under his rule to create the Mali empire.

 

Geographically, the old Ghana was approximately 500 miles (800 km) north of the present Ghana, and occupied the area between Rivers Senegal and Niger. Some inhabitants of present Ghana have ancestors linked with the medieval Ghana. This can be traced down to the Mande and Voltaic people of Northern Ghana—Mamprussi, Dagomba and the Gonja. Anecdotal evidence connected the Akans to this Empire. The evidence lies in names like Danso shared by the Akans of present Ghana and Mandikas of Senegal/Gambia who have strong links with the Empire , as well as common nouns shared betweenAkan and Mande languages, such as the word for lion, Djata (In Ghanaian orthography: Gyata), a shared symbol of strength among both peoples.

 

Ghana was also the site of the Empire of Ashanti which was perhaps the most advanced black state in sub-Sahara Africa. It is said that at its peak, the King of Ashanti could field 500,000 troops.Until March 1957, Ghana was known to much of the world as the Gold Coast. The Portuguese who came to Ghana in the 15th Century found so much gold between the rivers Ankobra and the Volta that they named the place Mina - meaning Mine. The Gold Coast was later adopted by English colonists. The French, impressed with the trinkets worn by the coastal people, named the area to the west "Cote d'Ivoire," or Ivory Coast.

 

In 1481, King John II of Portugal commissioned Diogo d'Azambuja to build Elmina Castle which was completed the next year. Their aim was to trade in gold, ivory and slaves, consolidating their burgeoning power in the region.