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| 1. Mali |
| c. 1235 |
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| Sundiata Keita, military leader of Mali, defeated Sumanguru (r. c. 1200–1235), king of Soso, at the battle of Kirina. The battle ended decades of warfare and strengthened Sundiata's claim to rule over the Malinke. Sundiata united the various Malinke clans and chiefdoms in the surrounding territories into the powerful Mali empire, the successor of Ghana. The rise of Mali permitted a more thorough political and military organization of the empire and set the stage for the future expansion of Islam. | 1 |
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| 1325–54 |
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| Voyages of Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta's records provide precious details on sub-Saharan Africa. In 1328 (or 1330), he journeyed by sea to East Africa, and in 1353–55 he journeyed across the Sahara to the western Sudan before returning home. | 2 |
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| 1325 |
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| Mansa Musa ruled Mali from 1307 to 1332; at the time of his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325, he was the most powerful king in the Sudan. His huge entourage, including thousands of porters, servants, and praise singers, left a deep impression on the territories through which it passed on the way to Mecca—especially Egypt. Mansa Musa was received in Cairo with great honor, and he distributed large amounts of gold among his Egyptian hosts. Following his return to Mali, Mansa Musa encouraged the building of mosques and the development of Islamic learning. His pilgrimage to Mecca strongly boosted Mali's international prestige. Egypt, Portugal, Italy, and societies of the Maghrib began vying to do business with this wealthy Sudanese empire, and knowledge of Mali became a central part of the emerging geography of the world. European efforts to tap into the West African gold trade contributed to Portuguese exploration of the West African coast. | 3 |
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| c. 1382 |
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| Death of Mansa Musa II ushered in a succession crisis in Malian Empire between descendants of Sundiata and Sundiata's younger brother, Mande Bory. Led to a weakening of the empire. | 4 |
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