Mali's Historical Background

People settled down in Mali thousands of years ago. It was famous for its richness and gold, even as far away as Europe. Islam came to Mali in the seventh century AD, shortly after the death of Prophet Mohammed, but it was only in the 13th century that Sundiata Keita, the King, officially declared the country an Islamic state.

With the rule of Sundiata Keita, the first empire came into being in this region and stretched from the Atlantic to present day Nigeria and controlled nearly all trans Saharan trade by land. Cities in Mali, like Djenne and Timbuktu, grew rich with the gold and salt trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean. The best years of this empire were under Mansa Moussa, from 1312 to 1337. The Songhai Empire, which came into being about 1400, centered on Gao and Timbuktu. This empire ended shortly after a Moroccan invasion in 1590. The Moroccans ruled over the region till around the 17th century when European ships began sailing directly to and from the coast of West Africa, and the trans-Saharan land trade routes lost their importance.

The French eventually colonized Mali in the 19th century and its people were forced to produce cash crops for export purposes to France. Mali gained her independence in 1960 though the country was clubbed with Senegal. Modibo Keita was the first President of Mali Republic. Keita was well known for his vision of a federal Africa and chose to ally himself with the Soviet Union. When the economic situation turned chaotic, Moussa Traore staged a military coup and came into power in 1968 but turned out to be a weak ruler who was plagued by his corrupt aides. The 1970s and 1980s saw epic dimensions of drought and famine that raged throughout Mali. Moussa Traoré was eventually toppled in 1991 when the military took control. They went on to hold the country’s first ever-democratic election in 1992 and Alpha Konaré was elected President and in 1997, he was re-elected. In May 2002, Amadou Toumani Toure', an army officer who had overthrown Moussa Traore to start the democratic process, won the presidential elections by a comfortable majority.