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Please describe the geography of Gao, Africa. It would also be helpful if someone added a

drawing of what Gao (a trading city) looked like with some g...

Encyclopedia

Gao is a town in easternMali

on the River Niger lying 320 km (198.8 mi) ESE ofTimbuktu

. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of

the Gao Region

and had a population of 86,663 in 2009.

For much of its history Gao was an important commercial centre involved in the trans-Saharan

trade

. We know from external Arabic sources that by the 9th century Gao was already an important

regional power and by the end of the 10th century the local ruler was a Muslim. Towards the

end of the 13th century Gao lost its independence and became part of the Mali Empire

but in first half of the 15th century the town regained its independence and with the conquests

of Sunni Ali (ruled 1464-1492) Gao became the capital of the Songhai Empire

. The Empire collapsed after the Moroccan

invasion in 1591 and the invaders chose to makeTimbuktu

their capital. By the time ofHeinrich Barth

's visit in 1854, Gao had declined to become a impoverished village with 300 huts constructed

from matting.

Location

Gao is located on the eastern bank of theNiger River

at the junction with the Tilemsi Valley. The sprawling town is the largest in eastern Mali. It is

connected to the capital, Bamako

at the western end of Mali, by 1200 km of good paved road. In 2006 the Wabaria bridge was

inaugurated to replace the ferry service across the Niger. The bridge was constructed by the

China State Construction Engineering Corporation and financed by theIslamic Development

Bank

and the Malian government.

The town is strategically placed with road links (unpaved) to the desert Kidal Region

to the north and toNiamey

, the capital ofNiger

, to the south. The road to the south runs along the left bank of the river. The town of Ansongo

is 103 km from Gao. The border with Niger is just south of the village of Labbezanga, a

distance of 204 km.

There are also seasonal ferry services on the Niger River. A service between Gao and Koulikoro

, a distance of 1380 km, is managed by the Compagnie Malienne de Navigation (COMANAV).

It usually operates from the end of July, after the annual rains when there is sufficient water in

the river, until mid November. Smaller boats are able to operate for a longer season betweenBourem
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and Ansongo.

The town is expanding rapidly. In the 1998 census the population of the urban commune was

52,201. By the census in 2009 this had increased to 86,633, a 4.7% annual growth rate. For

administrative purposes, the commune is divided into nine quartiers: Gadeye, Farandjir,

Aljanabanbia, Djoulabougou, Saneye, Sosso Kora, Boulgoundj, Chteau and Djidara. Theurban commune is bounded to the north by the commune ofSoni Ali Ber

, to the east by the commune ofAnchawadi

and to the south and west by the commune ofGounzoureye

.

Climate

The climate is typical for theSahel region

. It is hot and dry with the only rainfall occurring between June and September. August is

normally the wettest month. The average annual rainfall is only 220 mm but there are large yearto year variations. May is the hottest month with an average maximum temperature of 43 C.

December and January are the coolest months with minimum temperatures of 15 C. From

October to March during the dry period the north-easterlyHarmattan

wind blows from the Sahara. When it blows strongly the dust-laden wind reduces visibility and

creates a persistent haze.

With the low rainfall the vegetation away from the river is sparse and consists mainly of various

species ofAcacia

(Acacia raddiana,Acacia nilotica

,Acacia ehrenbergiana ) andBalanites aegyptiaca

. The herbaceous plants are dominated byCenchrus biflorus

andPanicum laetum.

Annual flood of the Niger River

Almost all the local agriculture depends on river water for irrigation. The annual flood of the

Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in the headwaters of the Niger andBani

rivers inGuinea

and the northern Ivory Coast. The rainfall in the headwater areas peaks in August but the flood

water takes time to pass down the river system, through the Inner Niger Delta region and arrive

at Gao. AtKoulikorothe flood peaks in September, while in Gao the flood lasts longer and reaches a maximum in

December. There is a large year to year variation in the extent of the flooding. The existing and

proposed dams upstream of Gao reduce the overall flow of the river and could potentially have

a large effect on the local agriculture. When in flood the river is 4 km wide at Gao but during

the dry season a number of islands appear in the river. There is very little flow, only 5% of the

maximum, in June and July.

History

The history of the Gao Empire
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precedes that of the Songhay Empire in the region of the Middle Niger. Both empires had the

town of Gao as their capital. Apart from some Arabic epitaphs on tombstones discovered in

1939 at the cemetery ofGao-Saney

(6 km to the east of the city) there are no surviving indigenous written records that date from

before the middle of the 17th century. Our knowledge of the early history of the town relies on

the writings of external Arabic geographers living in Morocco, Egypt and Andalusia, most ofwhom never visited the region. These authors referred to the town as Kawkaw or Kuku. The

two key 17th century chronicles, the Tarikh al-Sudan and the Tarikh al-fattash

, provide information on the town at the time of the Songhay Empire but they contain relatively

little on the social and economic history. The chronicles do not, in general, acknowledge their

sources. Their accounts for the earlier periods are almost certainly based on oral tradition and

for events before the second half of the 15th century they are likely to be less reliable. For these

earlier periods the two chronicles sometimes provide conflicting information.

The earliest mention of Gao is by al-Khuwarizmi who wrote in the first half of the 9th century.

In the 9th century Gao was already an important regional power. Al-Yaqubi

wrote in his Tarikh in around 872:There is the kingdom of the Kawkaw, which is the greatest of the realms of the Sdn, the most

important and most powerful. All the kingdoms obey its king. Al-Kawkaw is the name of the

town. Besides this there are a number of kingdoms of which the rulers pay allegiance to him

and acknowledge his sovereignty, although they are kings in their own lands.

Ibn al-Faqih

(writing c. 903) mentions a caravan route from Egypt to ancient Ghana

via Kawkaw, but Ibn Hawqal

(writing c. 988) states that the old route from Egypt to the Sudan was abandoned in the reign of

the Egyptian rulerIbn Tulun

(ruled 868-884) as some of the caravans were attacked by bandits while others were

overwhelmed by the wind-blown sand. The more direct route was replaced by one that went to

Sijilmasa

before heading south across the Sahara.

In the 10th century Gao is already Muslim and is described as consisting of two separate towns.

Al-Muhallabi, who died in 990, wrote in a lost work quoted in the biographical dictionary

compiled by Yaqut:

Their king pretends before his subject to be a Muslim and most of them pretend to be Muslims

too. He has a town on the Nile [Niger], on the eastern bank, which is called Sarnh, where thereare markets and trading houses and to which there is continuous traffic from all parts. He has

another town to the west of the Nile [Niger] where he and his men and those who have his

confidence live. There is a mosque there where he prays but the communal prayer ground is

between the two towns.

The archaeological evidence suggests that there were two settlements on the eastern bank of the

Niger: Gao Ancien situated within the modern town, to the east of the Tomb of Askia, and the

archaeological site ofGao-Saney

(San in French) situated around 4 km to the east. The bed of the Wadi Gangaber passes to the

south of the Gao-Saney occupation mound (tell
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) but to the north of Gao Ancien. The imported pottery and glass recovered from Gao-Saney

suggest that the site was occupied between the 10th and 13th centuries. It is possible that Gao-

Saney corresponds to Sarnh of al-Muhallabi. Al-Bakri writing in 1068 also records the

existence of two towns, but al-Idrisi writing in around 1154 does not. Both al-Muhallabi (see

quote above) and al-Bakri situate Gao on the west (or right bank) of the Niger. The 17th century

Tarikh al-fattashalso states that in the 10th century Gao was situated on the Gourma side (i.e. the west bank) of

the river. A large sand dune,La Dune Rose, lies on the west bank opposite Gao, but at Koima,

on the edge of the dune at a site 4 km north of Gao, surface deposits indicate a pre 9th century

settlement. This could be the west bank Gao mentioned by 10th and 11th century authors. The

site has not been excavated.

Al-Sadi in his Tarikh al-Sudan gives a slightly later date for the introduction of Islam. He lists

32 rulers of theZuwa dynasty

and states that in 1009-1010 A.D. the 15th ruler, Zuwa Kusoy, was the first to convert to Islam.

He does not actually specify where they lived except for the legendary founder of the dynasty,

Zuwa Alayman who he claims came from the Yemen to Kukiya.

Towards the end of the 13th century Gao lost its independence and became part of the

expanding Mali Empire

. What happened to the Zuwa rulers is not recorded. Ibn Battuta

visited Gao in 1353 when the town formed part of the Mali Empire. He arrived by boat from

Timbuktu on his return journey from visiting the capital of the Empire:

Then I travelled to the town of Kawkaw, which is a great town on the Nl [Niger], one of the

finest, biggest, and most fertile cities of the Sdn. There is much rice there, and milk, and

chickens, and fish, and the cucumber, which has no like. Its people conduct their buying and

selling with cowries, like the people of Ml.

After staying a month in the town, Ibn Battuta left with a caravan forTakedda

and from there headed north back across the Sahara to an oasis in Tuat

with a large caravan that included 600 slave girls.

Sometime in the 14th century, Ali Kulun, the first ruler of theSunni dynasty

, rebelled against the Malian hegemony but the Malians were able to regain control. It was not

until the first half of the 15th century that Sunni Sulayman Dama was able to throw off the

Malian yoke. His successor, Sunni Ali Ber

(14641492), greatly expanded the territory under Songhay control and established theSonghay Empire. He made Gao his capital.

Leo Africanus

visited Gao sometime between 1506 and 1510 when the town was ruled byAskiya Muhammad

I

, the first ruler of the Askiya dynasty

. He observed that the large town lacked a surrounding wall and was full of rich merchants.

The town is very civilized compared to Timbuktu. Bread and meat are abundant, though you

cannot find wine or fruits. Actually, melons, cucumbers, and excellent squash are plentiful, and

there are enormous quantities of rice. There are many sweet water wells. There is a square

where on market days huge numbers of slaves are sold, both male and female. A young girl of
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fifteen is worth about six ducats, and a young man almost as much; small children are worth

about half as much as grown slaves.

Towards the end of the 16th century, Gao controlled an empire that extended for over

1,4000 km2

. The Tarikh al-fattash reports that a survey conducted during the reign of AskiyaAl-Hajj (15821586) found that there were 7,626 houses without counting the huts made of

straw. Assuming each house was occupied by an average of 6 people, this would imply a

population of around 45,000.

The Moroccan

invasion of 1591 led to the collapse of the Songhay Empire. The invaders chose to make

Timbuktu their capital.

The German explorerHeinrich Barth

visited Gao in 1854 on his return journey from Timbuktu

. He found a village of about 300 huts constructed of matting and grouped in clusters. Theinhabitants were very poor and had few boats as they lacked wood for their construction. The

site of the ancient town was overgrown withCapparis decidua

bushes.

The town remained small until French

rule was imposed in the early twentieth century, expanding the port and establishing a colonial

base.

Culture

The population of Gao mostly speakSonghay

but includes many ethnicities, including the Bozo

(traditionally nomadic river dwellers), Fulfulde/Fulani cattle herders, and Tuareg nomads, as

well as Bambara peoples from western Mali.

The seventhFestival des arts et cultures songhay was celebrated in February 2007 at Gao,

reflecting the city's importance as a Songhay cultural capital.

Sites

Attractions in Gao include the original fourteenth century Gao Mosque, the Askia Tomb (aUNESCO

World Heritage Site

) built in 1495 and incorporating anothermosque

, a museum devoted to the Sahel

, market

s including a night market, andLa Dune Rose

, a sand dune named for its appearance atdawn

and nightfall

.
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