The kingdom of Ghana emerged from the relatively small agro-pastoral settlements of the fourth century in the region known as Awkar. Between the years 750 to 800 a Mandé language people, known as the Soninké, united under Majan Dyabe Cisse or Dinga Cisse, the first warrior king, dominated Awkar (even today the surname Cisse is prominent in the politics of Mauritania and Mali). The Soninké were then the founders of the empire of Ghana that from the VIII century controlled the trans-Saharan trade. The Ghanas conquered numerous cities and annexed neighboring territories. Its apogee came in the ninth and tenth centuries.
